El Dorado High School

How to Enroll at El Dorado High School

El Dorado High School enrolls students by Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified (PYLUSD) attendance area: students who live inside the boundary register by address, with no entrance exam. The district's Find Your School tool is the authority on which school an address is assigned to.

Students inside and outside PYLUSD request a School Choice Transfer through the district's parent portal, choosing Intra District if they live in PYLUSD and Inter District if they live elsewhere. The priority window for 2027-28 ran from October 12 to November 6, 2026, with notification on or before November 13; requests received after November 6 are considered on a rolling basis through the first week of school, and families are notified if space opens. Every approval depends on capacity at the requested school, such as El Dorado High School; out-of-district families must apply for a release from their home district and attach it if available, and transportation is the parent's responsibility.

The E.D. LAW Academy and the Digital Media Arts Academy admit students through PYLUSD's common High School Academy Application. For 2027-28, applications closed on October 23, 2026, acceptances were sent on November 2, and November 6 was Academy Commitment Day; applying commits a student to at least one full year of academy coursework. E.D. LAW decides admission on the application, a one-minute speech and a short interview, plus an evaluation from a teacher or mentor who is not a relative; DMAA asks for three to five original works or a video under five minutes, along with a recommendation.

Courses and Signature Programs at El Dorado High School

In the 2026-27 University of California A-G course list, El Dorado High School has 174 approved courses, including 23 AP courses and 36 UC-approved honors courses (courses that receive extra weight in the UC GPA). See the full A-G list.

E.D. LAW Academy

E.D. LAW is a four-year academy built around the legal professions: over four years students complete 150 hours of supplemental experiences such as guest speakers from the legal community, visits to court proceedings and law firms, job shadowing and Peer Court jury service, and may audition for the Mock Trial team. The academy partners with the California Community Colleges and State Bar of California Pathway to Law School program, so students can begin some pathway coursework in high school.

Digital Media Arts Academy (DMAA)

DMAA has pathways including video production and photography and admits students on a portfolio and recommendation; applicants to the video pathway are strongly encouraged to submit video work. The school's honors courses include Graphic Design and Film Production.

Advanced Placement (AP) and Honors

According to the 2026-27 School Profile, AP courses include AP Calculus AB and BC, AP Physics 1, AP European History, AP Computer Science A, AP Japanese and AP French; honors courses include Japanese 2 and 3, French 2 and 3, Spanish 2 and 3, Geometry, Algebra 2/Trig and Precalculus.

AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination)

The AVID elective meets daily and mainly serves students in the academic middle who want to attend college, many of them the first in their families to do so. Students enroll in honors and AP courses and are supported through the WICOR method (writing, inquiry, collaboration, organization and reading) and college tutors.

Community College Dual Enrollment

The counseling website provides course information for Fullerton College, Santiago Canyon College, Irvine Valley College, Cypress College and Mt. San Antonio College; students who take courses outside PYLUSD must first discuss options with a counselor and submit the External Courses Application.

Academic Results at El Dorado High School: CAASPP and Graduation

In the 2024-25 California state tests (CAASPP), 79.8% of El Dorado High School 11th graders met or exceeded the English language arts standard and 50.5% met or exceeded the math standard; the statewide figures for 11th graders were 57% and 30.5%. For the class of 2025, 96.7% of the 428 students in the four-year cohort graduated, and 62.8% of graduates completed the A-G courses required for UC and CSU admission.

Twelve Years of UC Application Data at El Dorado High School: Applicants, Admit Rates and GPA

The University of California publishes applicants, admits and enrollees for every California high school. Combined 2023–2025, 265 of 403 applications from El Dorado High School to the UC system were admitted (66%). Categories with fewer than five students are not published by UC and appear as "—", not zero.

Campuses are listed in order of the U.S. News national university rankings. UC leaves a category blank when it has fewer than five applicants or fewer than three admits or enrollees.

Student Body at El Dorado High School

In 2025-26, 38.6% of El Dorado High School students were socioeconomically disadvantaged and 3.7% were English learners.

• Hispanic or Latino40.5%
• White33.2%
• Asian17.5%
• Two or more races4.4%
• Filipino2.6%
• African American1.1%

Other Public High Schools in Placentia

• Valencia High SchoolPlacentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District

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