How to Enroll at Segerstrom High School
Segerstrom High School is both a neighborhood school and a Santa Ana Unified fundamental school. Under the district's Secondary Fundamental Procedures, students who live in the Segerstrom attendance boundary and choose the fundamental program have priority registration: a parent shows proof of address to pick up a registration packet from the Counseling Center during the designated dates and returns it by the deadline. Eighth-grade siblings of current students also have priority registration.
Ninth-grade seats left after priority registration are filled by lottery: parents submit a lottery card to the school during the designated period, the district's computer center orders the cards at random, and students not selected go on a waiting list in that order. Students who can document residence in Santa Ana Unified fill out lottery card A; others fill out lottery card B and are called only after list A is exhausted. Segerstrom keeps two waiting lists, and students who live in its attendance area are called before those who do not.
Enrolled students and parents sign a fundamental contract that sets out the conditions of enrollment. Students who violate it through behavior or attendance are placed on probation, and those who keep violating it while on probation must move to another high school with space at the end of the semester.
Students who live in another Santa Ana Unified attendance area and students who live outside the district both apply through the district's School of Choice Transfer process. Each student may submit only one application per school year, and it cannot be changed or withdrawn once submitted. The 2026-27 window ran from 8 a.m. on January 8 to 4 p.m. on January 23, 2026; the 2027-28 window had not been announced as of November 2026.
When requests exceed capacity, the district first places students in priority categories set by law and policy, including victims of violence or bullying at school, children of active-duty military parents, students with a sibling who will still attend the school, and children of employees who work there; remaining applicants are chosen by random lottery, without regard to academic or athletic performance, and no resident of the attendance area is displaced by a transfer student. Approved families must confirm within 10 school days of notification, and the 2026-27 waiting list expired on May 28, 2026. The district does not provide transportation for transfer students. The district's 2026-27 availability list placed Segerstrom High School among schools near capacity, with limited seats in grade 9 only.
Students who live outside the district, including Irvine residents, must first obtain a release from their home district, which forwards the approved inter-district permit to Santa Ana Unified for a decision; they must also file a School of Choice application during the window. Inter-district students must reapply every year to remain at Segerstrom High School.
Courses and Signature Programs at Segerstrom High School
In the 2026-27 University of California A-G course list, Segerstrom High School has 156 approved courses, including 21 AP courses and 32 UC-approved honors courses (courses that receive extra weight in the UC GPA). See the full A-G list.
- Project Lead The Way (PLTW) Engineering Honors
- PLTW is a project-based engineering curriculum. According to the 2026-27 School Profile, the school offers Intro to Engineering, Principles of Engineering and Aerospace as honors courses.
- Advanced Placement (AP)
- AP is the College Board's program of college-level courses. Segerstrom High School has an open enrollment policy for AP: students sign an AP compact to stay in the yearlong course and take the exam in May, and Santa Ana Unified subsidizes the exam fee. The 2026-27 School Profile lists courses such as AP Calculus AB and BC, AP Computer Science, AP Physics and AP Spanish Language.
- Dual Enrollment
- The 2026-27 School Profile lists English C1000 and C1003 and History 120 and 121 as dual enrollment courses. Dual enrollment is open to all students, like AP, and is weighted in the GPA the same way as AP and honors courses.
- AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination)
- AVID is an elective for students motivated to attend college, focused on writing, inquiry, collaboration and organization. At Segerstrom High School, AVID students work with trained college tutors twice a week, get help with college and financial aid applications, and visit college campuses each year.
- Child Development
- The school website describes a Child Development course that covers child growth and includes hands-on internships for students interested in teaching, childcare and human services. The website also lists engineering and Career Technical Education (CTE) courses.
Academic Results at Segerstrom High School: CAASPP and Graduation
In the 2024-25 California state tests (CAASPP), 61.7% of Segerstrom High School 11th graders met or exceeded the English language arts standard and 31.5% met or exceeded the math standard; the statewide figures for 11th graders were 57% and 30.5%. For the class of 2025, 98.5% of the 595 students in the four-year cohort graduated, and 64.2% of graduates completed the A-G courses required for UC and CSU admission.
| Segerstrom High School | California | |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 11 ELA met or exceeded | 61.7% | 57% |
| Grade 11 math met or exceeded | 31.5% | 30.5% |
Twelve Years of UC Application Data at Segerstrom High School: Applicants, Admit Rates and GPA
The University of California publishes applicants, admits and enrollees for every California high school. Combined 2023–2025, 291 of 423 applications from Segerstrom High School to the UC system were admitted (69%). 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 | 63 | 9 | 14% | 4 | 4.19 |
| UC Los Angeles | 88 | 10 | 11% | 6 | 4.29 |
| UC San Diego | 81 | 34 | 42% | 12 | 4.18 |
| UC Davis | 41 | 20 | 49% | — | 4.13 |
| UC Irvine | 115 | 29 | 25% | 7 | 4.16 |
| UC Santa Barbara | 57 | 17 | 30% | 4 | 4.24 |
| UC Merced | 52 | 52 | 100% | — | 3.74 |
| UC Riverside | 85 | 76 | 89% | 7 | 3.82 |
| UC Santa Cruz | 23 | 14 | 61% | — | 3.91 |
Student Body at Segerstrom High School
In 2025-26, 86.3% of Segerstrom High School students were socioeconomically disadvantaged and 13% were English learners.
Segerstrom High School: Frequently Asked Questions
Can Irvine families transfer to Segerstrom High School?
Segerstrom High School belongs to Santa Ana Unified, so an Irvine family is out of district: it must first obtain a release from its home district, such as Irvine Unified, and then apply to Santa Ana Unified during the January School of Choice window, which ran from January 8 to January 23, 2026 for 2026-27. The district's 2026-27 availability list showed limited seats at the school in grade 9 only, and under the district's fundamental school procedures, students without proof of Santa Ana Unified residence are placed on lottery list B, which is used only after list A is exhausted. Inter-district students must reapply every year, and the district does not provide transportation.
What should Irvine families know about the fundamental contract at Segerstrom High School?
Segerstrom High School is a fundamental school, and students and parents sign a fundamental contract setting out the conditions of enrollment. The School Profile says the model emphasizes student conduct and attendance, strong study habits and self-discipline, and parent involvement. Under district procedures, students who violate the contract through behavior or attendance are placed on probation, those who continue to violate it must move to another high school with space at the end of the semester, and students who improve for two consecutive semesters can be released from probation.
How does Segerstrom High School weight GPA and rank students, a question Irvine families often ask?
Segerstrom High School weights honors, AP and dual enrollment courses: according to the 2026-27 School Profile, they earn A=5, B=4 and C=3, while college prep courses earn A=4. The school ranks students by weighted academic GPA in two categories, grades 9-12 and grades 10-12, with the highest GPA ranked first.
How do Irvine families' students enroll in AP courses at Segerstrom High School?
Segerstrom High School has an open enrollment policy for AP and dual enrollment courses, so any interested student may sign up. Students sign an AP compact committing to the full-year course and the May exam, and Santa Ana Unified subsidizes the exam fee so that every AP student can take the test.
Other Public High Schools in Santa Ana
- Advanced Learning AcademySanta Ana Unified School District
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- Foothill High SchoolTustin Unified School District · in-depth guide
- Hector G. GodinezSanta Ana Unified School District
- Magnolia Science Academy Santa AnaSBE - Magnolia Science Academy Santa Ana · in-depth guide
- Nova Academy Early College High SchoolSanta Ana Unified School District
- OCSAOrange County Department of Education · in-depth guide
- Saddleback High SchoolSanta Ana Unified School District
- Samueli AcademyOrange County Department of Education
- Santa Ana High SchoolSanta Ana Unified School District
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Compare all public high schools in Santa Ana → · Orange County public high schools by city →
Sources15 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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