A San Diego County district
Partner since 2019–20 · SED students, class of 2019 vs. 2026
+29ptsA–G completion, 2018–19 to 2025–26 · California +7
Impact
Impact Should Be Demonstrated.
Our work is designed to strengthen the systems surrounding students and contribute to measurable improvements in achievement, access, opportunity, and readiness.
Impact you can see
Our partners are outpacing California.
Graduation, UC/CSU readiness (A–G) and ELA growth, measured against the state over the same school years. The gains are biggest for the students our work is built around.
- 3.5×California's gain in four-year graduation rate+7 pts vs. +2 statewide
- 3×California's gain in A–G completion+10.4 pts vs. +3.5 statewide
- 3×California's graduation gain for socioeconomically disadvantaged students+8.1 pts, outpacing all students
- 23 of 29elementary and middle schools out-grew California in ELAIncluding 21 of 24 elementary schools
Partner schools compared with California over the same years, through 2025–26. Graduation and A–G from each partner's baseline across 13 high schools; ELA growth over each school's last two years. A–G is the set of 15 college-preparatory courses a student must pass to apply to a UC or CSU.
Our reach
Where students need us most.
Since 1998, we've partnered with districts and schools to bring equity to the students who need it most, one district at a time. Play the timeline to watch the work spread.
- 40 partner districts
- 513 partner schools
- 12 counties
Active in 2026–27: 20 districts and 174 schools in 11 counties. The counts above are every district and school we've partnered with, 1998–99 to 2026–27.
View reach as a table
| County | Partner districts | Partner schools | Since |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange | 4 | 140 | 2004–05 |
| Los Angeles | 11 | 97 | 1998–99 |
| Santa Barbara | 4 | 50 | 2020–21 |
| Santa Clara | 6 | 43 | 2011–12 |
| San Diego | 3 | 43 | 2015–16 |
| San Joaquin | 2 | 41 | 2024–25 |
| Riverside | 3 | 29 | 2020–21 |
| Monterey | 2 | 27 | 2025–26 |
| San Bernardino | 2 | 18 | 2017–18 |
| Imperial | 1 | 13 | 2021–22 |
| Ventura | 1 | 6 | 2024–25 |
| Kern | 1 | 6 | 2020–21 |
Picture 100 of our students from low-income families.
They're nearly two-thirds of California's tested students. They're our students, and they're our future.
Only 39 are reading and writing at grade level. In math, it's 27.
Their higher-income peers: 68 in reading, 58 in math. Every hollow figure is a student who should be there too.
87 will graduate. Only 42 will leave ready for a UC or CSU.
45 cross the stage without the courses a UC or CSU requires. Among students from higher-income families, 67 leave ready: 25 more out of every 100 with a university door open to them.
The root cause
This gap isn't about our students.
It's about the systems around them.
Equity gapAchievement gap
The achievement gap is the difference in results between groups of students. Look inside a district's systems and practices and you find its cause: some students are set up to succeed while failure is normalized for others. That's the equity gap.
2025–26. English and math: students tested in grades 3–8 and 11 who met or exceeded the standard on CAASPP. Graduation and UC/CSU: four-year cohort. Low-income: students CDE counts as socioeconomically disadvantaged (SED); higher-income: all other students. Source: California Department of Education.
Closing the gap
Closing the gap
A San Diego County district
It doesn't have to be this way.
In 2018–19, just 24 of every 100 students from low-income families in this district left ready for a UC or CSU: the class of 2019, the year before the district and Orenda began working together.
A San Diego County district
By 2025–26: 53.
29 more of every 100 students now have a UC or CSU within reach, four times the state's gain. And 93 of 100 graduate, up from 80. This district gained 29 per 100 students; over the same years, California's gained 7.
A Los Angeles County elementary school
43 to 55 reading and writing at grade level.
12 more of every 100 of our youngest students are on track in just two years. College readiness starts here. This school gained 12 per 100 students; over the same years, California's gained 2.
Across our partners
This is what our students can do.
In 6 of 8 partner districts with high schools, more students are getting ready for a UC or CSU, faster than the state. Every green figure is a future that just got bigger.
Your students have the same ambition. Let's build their next chapter together.
Current partners, students from low-income families (CDE's socioeconomically disadvantaged group), from the last school year before each partnership began to 2025–26. UC/CSU-ready counts graduates who met A–G, the 15 college-preparatory courses a UC or CSU requires, against the whole four-year cohort. Source: California Department of Education.
The Orenda difference
Educational equity for all students.
Recent results from current partners: socioeconomically disadvantaged (SED) students, compared with California's SED students over the same years. 6 of 8 partner districts with high schools outpaced the state in A–G.
An Inland Empire district
Partner since 2022–23 · SED students, class of 2022 vs. 2026
+10ptsA–G completion, 2021–22 to 2025–26 · California +6
A Bay Area high school district
Partner since 2024–25 · SED students, class of 2024 vs. 2026
+10ptsA–G completion, 2023–24 to 2025–26 · California +5
School spotlights
SED students meeting the ELA standard, compared with California's SED students
A Bay Area elementary school
Partner since 2024–25
+16pts2023–24 to 2025–26 · California +2
A Central Valley K–8 school
Partner since 2024–25
+11pts2023–24 to 2025–26 · California +2
An Orange County elementary school
Partner since 2025–26, first year
+14pts2024–25 to 2025–26 · California +1
Each result runs from the last school year before the partnership began to 2025–26. A–G is the set of 15 college-preparatory courses a student must pass to apply to a UC or CSU; A–G completion counts graduates who met it against the whole four-year cohort, including students who didn't graduate. Results are what partner students achieved, not a measure of Orenda's effect alone. Source: California Department of Education.
View all results as a table
| District or school | Measure | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A San Diego County districtPartner since 2019–20 · SED students, class of 2019 vs. 2026 | A–G completion | 24% (2018–19) | 53% (2025–26) | +29 pts |
| A San Diego County districtPartner since 2019–20 · SED students, class of 2019 vs. 2026 | California, A–G completion | 35% (2018–19) | 42% (2025–26) | +7 pts |
| A San Diego County districtPartner since 2019–20 · SED students, class of 2019 vs. 2026 | Graduation rate | 80% (2018–19) | 93% (2025–26) | +13 pts |
| A San Diego County districtPartner since 2019–20 · SED students, class of 2019 vs. 2026 | California, Graduation rate | 81% (2018–19) | 87% (2025–26) | +6 pts |
| An Inland Empire districtPartner since 2022–23 · SED students, class of 2022 vs. 2026 | A–G completion | 43% (2021–22) | 53% (2025–26) | +10 pts |
| An Inland Empire districtPartner since 2022–23 · SED students, class of 2022 vs. 2026 | California, A–G completion | 36% (2021–22) | 42% (2025–26) | +6 pts |
| An Inland Empire districtPartner since 2022–23 · SED students, class of 2022 vs. 2026 | Graduation rate | 93% (2021–22) | 96% (2025–26) | +3 pts |
| An Inland Empire districtPartner since 2022–23 · SED students, class of 2022 vs. 2026 | California, Graduation rate | 85% (2021–22) | 87% (2025–26) | +2 pts |
| A Bay Area high school districtPartner since 2024–25 · SED students, class of 2024 vs. 2026 | A–G completion | 43% (2023–24) | 53% (2025–26) | +10 pts |
| A Bay Area high school districtPartner since 2024–25 · SED students, class of 2024 vs. 2026 | California, A–G completion | 37% (2023–24) | 42% (2025–26) | +5 pts |
| A Bay Area high school districtPartner since 2024–25 · SED students, class of 2024 vs. 2026 | Graduation rate | 89% (2023–24) | 95% (2025–26) | +6 pts |
| A Bay Area high school districtPartner since 2024–25 · SED students, class of 2024 vs. 2026 | California, Graduation rate | 84% (2023–24) | 87% (2025–26) | +3 pts |
| A Bay Area elementary schoolPartner since 2024–25 · SED students meeting the ELA standard | This school | 20% (2023–24) | 36% (2025–26) | +16 pts |
| A Bay Area elementary schoolPartner since 2024–25 · SED students meeting the ELA standard | California | 37% (2023–24) | 39% (2025–26) | +2 pts |
| A Central Valley K–8 schoolPartner since 2024–25 · SED students meeting the ELA standard | This school | 30% (2023–24) | 41% (2025–26) | +11 pts |
| A Central Valley K–8 schoolPartner since 2024–25 · SED students meeting the ELA standard | California | 37% (2023–24) | 39% (2025–26) | +2 pts |
| An Orange County elementary schoolPartner since 2025–26, first year · SED students meeting the ELA standard | This school | 61% (2024–25) | 75% (2025–26) | +14 pts |
| An Orange County elementary schoolPartner since 2025–26, first year · SED students meeting the ELA standard | California | 38% (2024–25) | 39% (2025–26) | +1 pts |
Beyond reach
Numbers Tell Part of the Story.
Reach matters. So do results.
We look at impact across multiple dimensions—from student achievement and access to leadership capacity, instructional coherence, and the strength of the systems partners build over time.
Start with a conversation.
You don't need to know exactly which Orenda service you need. Tell us what you're seeing in your schools, where you're trying to go, and what's getting in the way. We'll start there.