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Cuddeback Elementary

Grades K-82024–25 data
Cuddeback Union ElementaryCarlotta, Humboldt County95528
📍 300 Wilder Road📞 (707) 768-3372🌐 Website
Solid
51/100
Solid — 71st percentile statewide
#1,511 of 5,230 CA elementary schools
↓ 19.5 pts since 2019
🤝 Culture First

Strong school culture with high family engagement, even if test scores are still developing. Strong culture and engagement on a modest budget

School Climate
93% of students attend consistently
Chronic absenteeism: 6.5% (state avg: 18.1%)
"Attend consistently" means missing ≤10% of school days (the chronic absenteeism threshold).
Minimal suspensions
0.4% suspension rate (state avg: 1.7%)
Share of students who received at least one suspension during the year.
Source: California Dept. of Education, 2024–25See breakdown by student group →

What the numbers actually mean

Most rating sites report "53% proficient" and stop there. We think that number deserves more context — here's what we found when we looked deeper:

23.3% of students exceeded standard? Level 4 on California's CAASPP Smarter Balanced Assessment — the state defines four levels: Not Met, Nearly Met, Met, and Exceeded. while 29.6% met it. That exceeded rate is near the state average of 21.6%. The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

CDE CAASPP 2025
Cuddeback Elementary
23%
30%
California average
22%
21%
ExceededMet onlyBelow

We tracked the same cohort across years (2023 G3 → 2025 G5): students gained 77 scale score points? Pseudo-cohort tracking: we compare this school's G3 class from a prior year to the G5 class in the current year. Same school, same cohort aged forward. Uses SBAC scale scores designed for cross-year comparison., suggesting this school is adding measurable value over time.

SchoolScope cohort tracking · Same cohort tracked across years using SBAC scale scores — stronger than single-year cross-grade comparison

Chronic absenteeism? Missing 10%+ of enrolled school days. This is an official California Dashboard accountability indicator. is 6.5%, better than the state average of 18.1%.

CDE Attendance 2025

Data you won't find on other sites: Current-year 2025 data direct from CDE · The exceeded vs. met split that most rating sites collapse into one number

Why the exceeded vs. met split matters → · Scope Score is SchoolScope's analysis of CDE data — not an official CDE rating. How we built this score (and what it misses) →

No single score captures a school. This is a starting point — visit, ask questions, trust your instincts.

▸ What this score doesn't capture
  • — Teaching quality, classroom culture, and how teachers connect with students
  • — Arts, athletics, extracurriculars, and enrichment programs
  • — How well the school serves students with IEPs or gifted learners
  • — Parent community engagement and satisfaction
  • — Whether the curriculum aligns with your family's values

Most of our data is updated once per year and may reflect the prior school year.

Before you visit
Questions worth asking and signals worth checking
What to verify
⚠Score is solid but proficiency rates dropped 44.5 points from G3 to G5. Strong overall, but fewer students hit the benchmark in later grades — could reflect harder standards, cohort differences, or a curriculum gap worth asking about.
✓71st percentile performance with 64% economically disadvantaged students — this is genuinely hard to achieve and reflects real school quality, not demographic advantage.
Who this school is great for
✓Families where consistent attendance and school culture matter — absenteeism is well below state average
✓Families who value a smaller school community — 159 students
✓Families looking for a low-discipline-incident environment
△Worth checking: Families wanting top-end academic rigor — more students meet the bar (30%) than exceed it (23%); Students needing sustained momentum — proficiency dips between grades
These reflect data patterns, not guarantees. Your child's experience will depend on their teacher, grade, and classroom — things no score captures.
Score Factors
Academic Performance
✓Exceeded standard: 23.3%
1.7pp above state avg (state avg 21.6%)
43% weight

Exceeded rate gets the highest weight because it separates schools that clear the bar from those that raise it.

Limitation: Reflects tested students only — opt-out rates are not published by CDE.

CDE CAASPP 2025
✓Met or exceeded: 52.9%
10.0pp above state avg (state avg 42.9%)
22% weight

Overall proficiency provides the broadest measure of academic achievement.

Limitation: Combines ‘met’ and ‘exceeded’ — the gap between them matters more than either alone.

CDE CAASPP 2025
Holding back
▼Growth (G3→G5): -44.5pp
Scores decline across grades (state avg -3.0pp)
15% weight

Growth measures what the school adds, not what families bring. When available, we track the same cohort across years for a stronger signal.

Limitation: Cohort tracking is school-level (not individual students) — transfers and demographic shifts can affect results. Falls back to cross-sectional comparison when historical data is unavailable.

SchoolScope derived
School Climate
✓Chronic absenteeism: 6.5%
11.6pp below state avg (state avg 18.1%)
10% weight

Absenteeism reflects school culture and family engagement — an official CA Dashboard accountability indicator.

Limitation: 10% threshold is the same for all schools regardless of demographics or geography.

CDE Attendance 2025
✓Suspension rate: 0.4%
1.3pp below state avg (state avg 1.7%)
5% weight

Low suspension rates correlate with positive school culture and restorative practices.

Limitation: Schools may differ in reporting practices — some underreport to improve metrics.

CDE Discipline 2025
We make judgment calls about what matters. We believe exceeded scores reveal more than proficiency alone, and that growth matters more than raw test results. Reasonable people could weight these differently — and that's fine. The factors above show exactly what we weighted and why, so you can decide where you agree and where you'd adjust. The elementary Scope Score uses 5 dimensions. How we built this score (and what it misses) →

The Scope Score emphasizes academic performance. It weights test proficiency, the exceeded-vs-met gap, and growth trajectory most heavily. If your family prioritizes arts, athletics, school culture, or teaching philosophy, this score captures some of that indirectly (through absenteeism and suspension) but not all of it. Different families should weight these dimensions differently — the score factors above let you see exactly what drives this number.

How to use this
  • –Use for long-term academic patterns, not this week's classroom experience
  • –Verify with a recent visit — scores can't capture a school mid-transformation
  • –Combine with local context — talk to parents, attend a school board meeting, trust your gut
Community Profile
Context — not part of the Scope Score

Student demographics

Hispanic15.1%
White69.2%
Other15.7%
GenderFemale 43.4%Male 56.6%
Resources & Access
Enrollment
159
461 below CA avg (~620)
Free/Reduced Lunch
64%
0pp below CA avg (64%)
Student-Teacher Ratio
16:1
5 fewer students per teacher than CA avg
Per-Pupil Spending
$13,932
CA avg: $14,815 · District avg · NCES F-33
Teacher Salary Range
$50,147 – $86,821
District schedule · CA median ~$98K
At Cuddeback Elementary in Carlotta, 50.9% of white students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 50.9% district-wide and 61.8% statewide. Cuddeback Elementary outperforms its district average for white students by 0.0 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: White students (43.4% Math proficient). Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 53 students tested.
Subgroup Proficiency
White53 tested
ELA 50.9%·Math 43.4%· +0.0pp vs district

Weighted average across tested grades. Subgroups with fewer than 15 students excluded. Data: CDE CAASPP 2024-25.

Subgroup Growth by Grade
Change in proficiency from lowest tested grade. Shows which groups are gaining ground.

Subgroups with fewer than 10 tested students per grade are not shown.

Funding Breakdown
Instruction 58%Support 37%Other 5%

Source: NCES F-33 (2019–2020) · Full district breakdown →

Neighborhood Context
Median Income
$75K
$10K below CA median
Median Home Value
$482K
$177K below CA median
Bachelor's+
21%
14pp below CA avg
Whole Child
Teacher experience, college/career readiness, and more. Context only — never part of the Scope Score.
Teacher Experience
14.0 years avg experience
10 teachers · 20% second-year
Teacher Credentials
100% fully credentialed

Source: CDE SARC, 2024-25

Community Profile provides context about who attends this school and the resources available. These factors are never part of the Scope Score. Learn why →

5-year trend

7151'19'22'23'24'25
↓ 19.5 points since 2019
Rank: #1110 → #1630 → #2471 → #2399 → #1511Exceeded: 23% → 10% → 12% → 18% → 23%
2019 · 2022 · 2023 · 2024 · 2025 · No testing 2020–21 (COVID) · Scope Score based on CAASPP, absenteeism & suspension data

How Cuddeback Elementary compares

Cuddeback Elementary vs. California averages — 2025 CAASPP data
MetricThis schoolCA avg
Exceeded Standard23.3%21.6%
Met or Exceeded52.9%42.9%
Chronic Absenteeism6.5%18.1%
Suspension Rate0.4%1.7%
Cohort GrowthAverageAverage

Source: California Department of Education CAASPP 2025 · Analyzed by SchoolScope

Grade trajectory

How proficiency compares across grade levels this year (different students, same test year)

ELA Trajectory
80%42.9%G3G4G5
Math Trajectory
73.3%21.4%G3G4G5

ELA scores by grade

GradeTestedExceededMetNearly MetNot MetMet+Above
3rd1546.7%33.3%13.3%6.7%80.0%
4th2128.6%19.1%14.3%38.1%47.6%
5th1414.3%28.6%28.6%28.6%42.9%
6th1618.8%31.3%31.3%18.8%50.0%
7th214.8%23.8%47.6%23.8%28.6%
8th9—————

Math scores by grade

GradeTestedExceededMetNearly MetNot MetMet+Above
3rd1526.7%46.7%13.3%13.3%73.3%
4th219.5%42.9%33.3%14.3%52.4%
5th1414.3%7.1%42.9%35.7%21.4%
6th1612.5%25.0%43.8%18.8%37.5%
7th214.8%14.3%42.9%38.1%19.1%
8th9—————

Science scores by grade

GradeTestedExceededMetNearly MetNot MetMet+Above
5th238.7%21.7%69.6%0.0%30.4%

23 students tested · CAST is tested in grades 5, 8, and once in high school — not annually like ELA/Math. Not included in the Scope Score. · Data source: CDE CAST 2025

Schools nearby

Private alternatives nearby

Private schools within ~10 miles. These schools do not participate in state testing and cannot be scored or ranked.

North Coast Mennonite
State Highway 36 · Lutheran (Missouri Synod) · Grades 1-10 · 30 students
10:1Private1.9 mi

Frequently asked questions

Is Cuddeback Elementary a good elementary school?
Cuddeback Elementary has a Scope Score of 51 out of 100, placing it in the 71st percentile of California elementary schools and ranked #1,511 statewide. 23.3% of students exceeded the state standard on the 2025 CAASPP assessment, which is near the California average of 21.6%. The Scope Score weights five dimensions: the exceeded-vs-met split (45%), proficiency (25%), grade-level growth (15%), chronic absenteeism (10%), and suspension rate (5%). Data source: California Department of Education CAASPP 2025, analyzed by SchoolScope.
What are Cuddeback Elementary's CAASPP test scores?
On the 2025 CAASPP Smarter Balanced Assessment, 52.9% of students at Cuddeback Elementary met or exceeded the state standard in ELA and Math combined, and 23.3% exceeded it. The gap between those numbers matters: 29.6% of students are at the proficiency floor, while 23.3% pushed past it. Most rating sites report only the combined "proficient" number. SchoolScope surfaces the exceeded-vs-met split because it reveals whether a school's curriculum challenges students beyond minimum proficiency or paces toward it. 100 student-subject combinations were assessed.
How does Cuddeback Elementary rank in California?
Cuddeback Elementary ranks #1,511 among California elementary schools by Scope Score, placing it in the 71st percentile. This ranking is based on a weighted composite of 2025 CAASPP test performance (exceeded and met rates), grade-level growth (Grade 3 to grade 5 growth), chronic absenteeism, and suspension rate. Unlike single-number ratings, the Scope Score shows what drives the ranking so parents can decide what matters most to their family. See full methodology.
Is Cuddeback Elementary getting better or worse?
Based on 2025 CAASPP data, proficiency at Cuddeback Elementary decreases by 44.5 percentage points from Grade 3 to grade 5 growth. This downward pattern doesn't necessarily mean the school is failing — it can reflect cohort differences, demographic shifts, or curriculum changes. A campus visit and conversation with teachers can reveal what the numbers can't. Growth trajectory is weighted at 15% in the elementary Scope Score because it measures what the school does, not just who walks in the door.
What is the attendance and school culture like at Cuddeback Elementary?
6.5% of students at Cuddeback Elementary are chronically absent (missing 10% or more of school days), which is better than the California average of 18.1%. The suspension rate is 0.4%, indicating a low-discipline-incident environment. SchoolScope includes these culture metrics in the Scope Score because they reflect day-to-day school experience in ways test scores alone cannot.
How does Cuddeback Elementary compare to other schools in Carlotta?
Cuddeback Elementary scores 51/100 (71st percentile) among California elementary schools. To compare with nearby schools, SchoolScope shows the same metrics side by side: exceeded rate, proficiency, growth trajectory, and school culture indicators. The school serves 159 students. Use the schools in Carlotta page or the map view to compare all elementary schools nearby.
How does Cuddeback Elementary serve low-income and underrepresented students?
At Cuddeback Elementary in Carlotta, 50.9% of white students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 50.9% district-wide and 61.8% statewide. Cuddeback Elementary outperforms its district average for white students by 0.0 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: White students (43.4% Math proficient). Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 53 students tested. SchoolScope shows disaggregated test scores by demographic subgroup so you can see how a school performs for your child's specific group — not just the school-wide average. Subgroup data is context, not part of the Scope Score: we don't penalize schools for who they serve. See our equity approach.
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Data source: California Department of Education (2025 test year) · How we score · Explore all schools · Blog