Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Survey Shows Different Goals for Graduates of 3 High Schools

A William S. Hart Union High School District survey released this week highlighted a disparity, albeit a narrowing one, between the goals of graduating seniors from the Santa Clarita Valley’s three high schools.

While more than a third of Hart High seniors who graduated in June said they planned on attending a four-year university, only one in five Saugus High students and one in four Canyon High graduating seniors said they will go immediately to either a public university or a private four-year college.

“It’s a reflection of the community that surrounds Hart High,” Saugus Principal Cheryl Brown said. “All of the other schools would like to have the stats that are being reflected by Hart High.”

Previous surveys of Santa Clarita’s high school students have shown that parents of Hart High students tend to be better educated than their Saugus and Canyon high counterparts, said Gary Wexler, the district’s director of curriculum. The education of a student’s parents has traditionally been an indicator to the academic success of a child.

Wexler downplayed the differences in the statistics of Hart and its sister campuses, saying a large percentage of the students attending College of the Canyons, the local community college, transfer to four-year universities.

“Community college is really a good transition step for our students,” Wexler said.

This year, 14% of the district’s seniors said they would enroll in either a University of California or California State University school immediately after graduation, matching the statewide figure, according to the state Department of Education.

But the survey also showed a marked increase in the percentage of seniors attending community colleges or vocational schools after graduating, up from 41% in 1986 to 58% this year.

Overall, 85% of the district’s 1993 graduates said they would continue their education beyond high school, the highest percentage ever.

In 1986, only 69% of graduates said they would be going to either a university, community college or vocational school.