How to Enroll at Bolsa Grande High School
Bolsa Grande High School enrolls students by Garden Grove Unified attendance area: students who live inside the boundary register by address, with no entrance exam. The district's Find Your School locator is the authority on which school an address is assigned to.
District residents who want a school other than their assigned one can apply for a Parental Choice Transfer; the district sets the number of seats at each school and fills them by random lottery. For 2026-27 the application window ran from January 12 to February 13, 2026. The district also accepts Specified Reason transfers for childcare, siblings, completing the school year, a special program, or parent/guardian employment. Parents must provide transportation for approved transfers, and students must reapply when moving from 8th to 9th grade.
Students who live outside the district, including Irvine residents, must first obtain a release from their home district and then submit an inter-district transfer application on the Garden Grove Unified website with the release attached. The district accepts inter-district requests only for childcare, siblings, completing the school year, a special program, or parent/guardian employment, and decides based on space at the requested school; 2026-27 applications have been accepted on a rolling basis since January 12, 2026. New applicants placed on a waitlist must plan to attend their school of residence until they receive an approval email, and inter-district students are not eligible for district transportation.
The Early College Academy (ECA) admits students as a cohort through a process that begins in the second semester of 8th grade and includes prerequisites, an application and an interview. The ECA FAQ states that all students in the Class of 2030 were eligible to apply, including those assigned to other schools; the application for the 2027-28 school year (Class of 2031) will be announced on the school's ECA page.
Courses and Signature Programs at Bolsa Grande High School
In the 2026-27 University of California A-G course list, Bolsa Grande High School has 142 approved courses, including 25 AP courses and 29 UC-approved honors courses (courses that receive extra weight in the UC GPA). See the full A-G list.
- Early College Academy (ECA)
- The ECA is a dual enrollment program run by Bolsa Grande High School with Golden West College (GWC): from 9th grade, students take two college courses each semester on campus, with tuition and books free, while meeting high school graduation and A-G requirements. According to the 2026-27 School Profile, students who complete the program earn up to 60 UC/CSU-transferable units and can earn a Golden West College Associate of Arts degree in Liberal Arts.
- Advanced Placement, Including AP Seminar and AP Research
- AP is the College Board's program of college-level courses. According to the 2026-27 School Profile, the school offers AP courses in social science, English, math, computer science, science, art and Spanish, including AP Seminar and AP Research, which focus on research and argument-based writing.
- Career Technical Education (CTE) Pathways
- According to the 2026-27 School Profile, the school offers eight pathways: Computer Science, Criminal Justice, Culinary Arts, Cybersecurity, Design, Visual, & Media Arts, Education, Engineering and Manufacturing, with dual enrollment in Criminal Justice, Cybersecurity, Design, Visual, & Media Arts, Education and Manufacturing. Students who complete two sequenced year-long courses with a C or better in the capstone earn a certificate and a cord at graduation, and CTE students can apply for the district's summer internship between 11th and 12th grade.
- AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination)
- AVID is an elective that prepares students for four-year colleges. The ECA FAQ states that students can take part in both ECA and AVID.
Academic Results at Bolsa Grande High School: CAASPP and Graduation
In the 2024-25 California state tests (CAASPP), 69.1% of Bolsa Grande High School 11th graders met or exceeded the English language arts standard and 49.8% met or exceeded the math standard; the statewide figures for 11th graders were 57% and 30.5%. For the class of 2025, 92.8% of the 433 students in the four-year cohort graduated, and 66.9% of graduates completed the A-G courses required for UC and CSU admission.
| Bolsa Grande High School | California | |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 11 ELA met or exceeded | 69.1% | 57% |
| Grade 11 math met or exceeded | 49.8% | 30.5% |
Twelve Years of UC Application Data at Bolsa Grande High School: Applicants, Admit Rates and GPA
The University of California publishes applicants, admits and enrollees for every California high school. Combined 2023–2025, 329 of 440 applications from Bolsa Grande High School to the UC system were admitted (75%). Categories with fewer than five students are not published by UC and appear as "—", not zero.
The ten lines are hard to tell apart where they overlap. Hover over any campus name below to highlight that campus’s trend; click to keep it highlighted, and click again to clear it.Tap any campus name below to highlight that campus’s trend; tap again to clear it.
| UC campus (fall 2025) | Applicants | Admits | Admit rate | Enrollees | Admit GPA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UC Berkeley | 47 | 11 | 23% | 5 | 4.24 |
| UC Los Angeles | 101 | 8 | 8% | 3 | 4.28 |
| UC San Diego | 115 | 35 | 30% | 12 | 4.19 |
| UC Davis | 45 | 12 | 27% | — | 4.11 |
| UC Irvine | 142 | 35 | 25% | 20 | 4.13 |
| UC Santa Barbara | 47 | 14 | 30% | — | 4.10 |
| UC Merced | 47 | 46 | 98% | — | 3.76 |
| UC Riverside | 93 | 83 | 89% | 13 | 3.80 |
| UC Santa Cruz | 11 | 6 | 55% | — | 3.83 |
Student Body at Bolsa Grande High School
In 2025-26, 87% of Bolsa Grande High School students were socioeconomically disadvantaged and 21.2% were English learners.
Bolsa Grande High School: Frequently Asked Questions
Can Irvine families transfer to Bolsa Grande High School?
Bolsa Grande High School belongs to Garden Grove Unified, so a family living in Irvine is out of district: the student must first obtain a release from the home district, such as Irvine Unified, and then submit an inter-district transfer application to Garden Grove Unified. The district accepts such requests only for childcare, siblings, completing the school year, a special program, or parent/guardian employment, and decides based on space at the school; Irvine students who do not fit one of these reasons have limited chances of approval. Approved students are not eligible for district transportation.
How do Irvine families apply to the Early College Academy at Bolsa Grande High School?
Bolsa Grande High School's Early College Academy (ECA) recruits 8th graders through a process that starts in the second semester of 8th grade and includes prerequisites, an application and an interview. The school states that the application for the 2027-28 school year (Class of 2031) will be posted on the ECA page. ECA students must stay enrolled at the school for all four years and cannot graduate early; the website does not say whether out-of-district students may apply, so Irvine families should confirm with the school first.
How does Bolsa Grande High School weight GPA and rank students, a question Irvine families often ask?
Bolsa Grande High School reports both weighted and unweighted GPA on the transcript, adding one grade point on the 4.0 scale for approved honors and AP courses. According to the 2026-27 School Profile, class rank is calculated from cumulative GPA starting in 9th grade, and Garden Grove Unified uses cumulative weighted GPA to determine honor cords, valedictorian and salutatorian.
Which AP and honors courses can Irvine families find at Bolsa Grande High School?
Bolsa Grande High School's 2026-27 School Profile lists AP courses including AP Calculus AB and BC, AP Precalculus, AP Computer Science A, AP Chemistry, AP Physics 1, AP Seminar and AP Research. Honors courses include English 1H and 2H, Vietnamese 4H, Multimedia Design H and Cybersecurity 1H.
Other Public High Schools in Garden Grove
- Garden Grove High SchoolGarden Grove Unified School District
- Pacifica High SchoolGarden Grove Unified School District
- Rancho Alamitos High SchoolGarden Grove Unified School District
- Santiago High SchoolGarden Grove Unified School District
Compare all public high schools in Garden Grove → · Orange County public high schools by city →
Sources20 sources · checked 2026-11-14
Enrollment, student body, CAASPP and graduation data come from the California Department of Education. UC admissions data come from the University of California Information Center public data tables, downloaded Nov 2026.
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