Posted on February 4, 2022
Categories: enrollment, school selection, system trends

This brief looks at geographical trends in enrollment at SDP high schools from 2017-18 to 2020-21 by examining the relationships between two key variables: 1) which SDP high schools first time 9th graders enroll in and 2) those students’ home zip codes.

Key Findings Include:

  • Most SDP high schools draw more students from a nearby zip codes than ones that are distant. This is especially true for Catchment schools, but also holds for most Citywide and Criteria-Based schools.
  • Similarly, in most zip codes the largest group of students attend a nearby school, rather than one that is more distant. There are some exceptions involving Criteria-Based schools.
  • For four of the most competitive high schools, students from some zip codes are represented in much higher percentages than others.