SAN BERNARDINO, CA—During its April 21 meeting, the San Bernardino City Unified School District (SBCUSD) Board of Education honored Pacific High School for earning a 2026 California Exemplary Dual Enrollment Award from the California Department of Education (CDE).
“I think what makes earning the Exemplary Dual Enrollment Award extra special for Pacific is that we aren’t a school geared specifically towards dual enrollment. Instead, we are what many community members would see as a standard comprehensive high school, but we are doing extraordinary things to make sure that all of our students—no matter where they start out in life or where they plan on going—have as many opportunities as possible so they are free to choose the path they want to take,” Pacific Principal Dr. Natalie Raymundo said.
Pacific is one of only three schools in San Bernardino County to earn the award in 2026.
“I could not be more proud of Pacific for earning an Exemplary Dual Enrollment Award from the CDE,” SBCUSD Superintendent Mauricio Arellano said. “It is further proof that Pacific High and all of SBCUSD SHINES. It proves that we mean what we say when we tell the community that our District is a serious academic institution and that we are preparing all students to be both college and career ready.”
The benefits of being concurrently enrolled in high school and college courses are many. Participating students benefit from the additional rigor of college-level coursework, the opportunity to earn both high school and college credit for every college course, the financial benefit of not having to pay for college courses taken as part of a dual enrollment program and more.
One of the reasons Pacific earned the Exemplary Dual Enrollment Award is that the school’s program is designed and implemented to reflect the overall student population and address larger historical opportunity gaps in college access. Although open to all students, Pacific staff intentionally prioritizes students with disabilities, English Learners and African-American students. This is borne out by the data, with approximately 97% of Pacific’s Dual Enrollment students qualifying as socioeconomically disadvantaged and 14% as English Learners, which mirrors almost exactly the overall student population.
Pacific High School highlights from the 2025 California School Dashboard and other sources include:
- 96.9% overall graduation rate
- 100% graduation rate for English Learners
- 97.7% graduation rate for Hispanic students
- 96.8% graduation rate for socioeconomically disadvantaged students
- 73.6% college/career readiness rate
- 71.0% of graduates met UC/CSU requirements (also known as A–G requirements)
- 69% of the Class of 2025 graduates completed at least one college course through dual enrollment or an articulation agreement
- 315 Pacific High students enrolled in 876 college courses during the 2024–2025 school year
- 290 Pacific High students enrolled in 727 college courses during the 2023–2024 school year
Pacific is the second SBCUSD high school to earn the Exemplary Dual Enrollment Award. The first was Middle College High School (MCHS) in 2024.
The CDE launched the California Exemplary Dual Enrollment Award in 2023 to honor middle college high schools, early college high schools and alternative education schools that offer exceptional programs that allow high school students to be concurrently enrolled in both high school and college courses. Currently, high schools, including comprehensive high schools, must demonstrate equity, strong college partnerships and positive student outcomes based on available data to qualify for the award.
About San Bernardino City Unified School District:
The San Bernardino City Unified School District (SBCUSD) is California’s ninth-largest school district and is dedicated to providing a high-quality education that prepares students for college, career and life. With a focus on equity, excellence and empowerment, the District serves a diverse student population in the San Bernardino and Highland communities. For more information about SBCUSD and its Vision 2030: SBCUSD SHINES initiative, visit www.sbcusd.com and follow the District @SBCityUSD on Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube and LinkedIn.
About Pacific High School:
Pacific High School is the second-oldest high school in the San Bernardino City Unified School District and currently educates students in grades 9–12. The school mascot is a pirate, and the school colors are purple, silver and white. The school currently offers Advanced Placement (AP), Dual Enrollment, Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) and career-technical education (CTE) programs, including the Gold-certified PLTW Biomedical Honors Pathway. Recently completed construction and renovation projects, including the brand-new Biomedical Building, have made state-of-the-art facilities available to students. For more information about Pacific High, visit https://pacific.sbcusd.com/.
