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Sonia Sotomayor Elementary

Grades TK-62024–25 data
Chula Vista ElementaryChula Vista, San Diego County91913
📍 1790 Santa Christina Avenue📞 (619) 425-9600🌐 Website
Solid
53/100
Solid — 73rd percentile statewide
#1,392 of 5,230 CA elementary schools
🤝 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
91% of students attend consistently
Chronic absenteeism: 9.1% (state avg: 18.1%)
"Attend consistently" means missing ≤10% of school days (the chronic absenteeism threshold).
Minimal suspensions
0.9% 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 "55% proficient" and stop there. We think that number deserves more context — here's what we found when we looked deeper:

31.6% 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 23.2% met it. That exceeded rate is 10.0 points above the state average of 21.6%. That's 7.0 points above the Chula Vista Elementary district average of 24.6%. The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

CDE CAASPP 2025
Sonia Sotomayor Elementary
32%
23%
California average
22%
21%
ExceededMet onlyBelow

Proficiency drops by 9.9 percentage points from Grade 3 to grade 5 growth? Cross-sectional comparison (this year's 5th graders vs this year's 3rd graders), not longitudinal cohort tracking. Historical data for cohort tracking is not available for this school. — a signal that the school may not be sustaining early gains.

SchoolScope derived · Cross-sectional proficiency change across grades, not longitudinal cohort tracking

Chronic absenteeism? Missing 10%+ of enrolled school days. This is an official California Dashboard accountability indicator. is 9.1%, 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 9.9 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.
Who this school is great for
✓Families where consistent attendance and school culture matter — absenteeism is well below state average
✓Families looking for a low-discipline-incident environment
△Worth checking: 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: 31.6%
10.0pp 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: 54.8%
11.9pp 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): -9.9pp
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: 9.1%
9.1pp 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: 0.9%
0.8pp 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
Resources & Access
Per-Pupil Spending
$13,624
CA avg: $14,815 · District avg · NCES F-33
Teacher Salary Range
$62,145 – $124,885
District schedule · CA median ~$98K
At Sonia Sotomayor Elementary in Chula Vista, 48.1% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 45.5% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Sonia Sotomayor Elementary outperforms its district average for low-income students by 2.7 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (34.6% Math proficient); Hispanic students (59.3% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 14.7 percentage points for low-income students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 108 students tested.
Equity Gaps
Absenteeism · Black+10.6pp
19.7% vs 9.1% overall · n=66
Suspension · Black+3.6pp
4.5% vs 0.9% overall · n=67
Math · Low-Income−16.2pp
34.0% vs 50.2% overall · n=107
3 more gaps by subject
ELA · Low-Income−14.7pp
49.4% vs 64.1% overall · n=108
ELA Exceeded · Low-Income−17.2pp
18.7% vs 35.9% overall · n=108
Math Exceeded · Two or More Races−17.5pp
11.9% vs 29.4% overall · n=34

Subgroups with fewer than 15 students are excluded for privacy. Gaps of less than 3 percentage points are not shown.

Subgroup Proficiency
Low-Income108 tested
ELA 48.1%·Math 34.6%· +2.7pp vs district
Hispanic91 tested
ELA 59.3%·Math 41.1%· +10.1pp vs district
Filipino63 tested
ELA 76.2%·Math 69.8%· -4.5pp 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.

Low-income student ELA proficiency falls by 25.6pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +9.7pp.

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

Funding Breakdown
Instruction 64%Support 33%Other 3%

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

Neighborhood Context
Median Income
$125K
$40K above CA median
Median Home Value
$676K
$17K above CA median
Bachelor's+
40%
5pp above CA avg
Whole Child
Teacher experience, college/career readiness, and more. Context only — never part of the Scope Score.
Teacher Experience
11.9 years avg experience
26 teachers · 12% first-year · 4% second-year

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 →

How Sonia Sotomayor Elementary compares

Sonia Sotomayor Elementary vs. California averages — 2025 CAASPP data
MetricThis schoolCA avg
Exceeded Standard31.6%21.6%
Met or Exceeded54.8%42.9%
Chronic Absenteeism9.1%18.1%
Suspension Rate0.9%1.7%
Growth (G3→G5)-9.9pp-3.0pp

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
69.6%57.3%G3G4G5
Math Trajectory
53.6%46.0%G3G4G5

ELA scores by grade

GradeTestedExceededMetNearly MetNot MetMet+Above
3rd6937.7%31.9%14.5%15.9%69.6%
4th6532.3%21.5%15.4%30.8%53.9%
5th7537.3%20.0%13.3%29.3%57.3%
6th4736.2%40.4%12.8%10.6%76.6%

Math scores by grade

GradeTestedExceededMetNearly MetNot MetMet+Above
3rd6933.3%20.3%24.6%21.7%53.6%
4th6625.8%22.7%21.2%30.3%48.5%
5th7423.0%23.0%17.6%36.5%46.0%
6th4736.2%17.0%19.1%27.7%53.2%

Science scores by grade

GradeTestedExceededMetNearly MetNot MetMet+Above
5th7513.3%20.0%54.7%12.0%33.3%

75 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.

Tack International Academy
W San Ysidro Blvd # L304 · Nonsectarian · Grades Pre-K-12 · 160 students
14:1Private5.1 mi
Tack International Academy
W San Ysidro Blvd L304 · Nonsectarian · Grades Pre-K-12 · 147 students
13:1Private5.1 mi
Montessori Hills Academy
Paseo Del Rey · Nonsectarian · Grades Pre-K-TK · 48 students
2:1Private2.5 mi
Kinderland Montessori
Otay Lakes Rd · Nonsectarian · Grades Pre-K-6 · 42 students
14:1Private2.9 mi
Montessori American School
Bonita Rd · Nonsectarian · Grades Pre-K-TK · 38 students
4:1Private4.3 mi
Planning ahead? 4 licensed preschools near this school →

Frequently asked questions

Is Sonia Sotomayor Elementary a good elementary school?
Sonia Sotomayor Elementary has a Scope Score of 53 out of 100, placing it in the 73rd percentile of California elementary schools and ranked #1,392 statewide. 31.6% of students exceeded the state standard on the 2025 CAASPP assessment, which is 10.0 percentage points above 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 Sonia Sotomayor Elementary's CAASPP test scores?
On the 2025 CAASPP Smarter Balanced Assessment, 54.8% of students at Sonia Sotomayor Elementary met or exceeded the state standard in ELA and Math combined, and 31.6% exceeded it. The gap between those numbers matters: 23.2% of students are at the proficiency floor, while 31.6% 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. 418 student-subject combinations were assessed.
How does Sonia Sotomayor Elementary rank in California?
Sonia Sotomayor Elementary ranks #1,392 among California elementary schools by Scope Score, placing it in the 73rd 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 Sonia Sotomayor Elementary getting better or worse?
Based on 2025 CAASPP data, proficiency at Sonia Sotomayor Elementary decreases by 9.9 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 Sonia Sotomayor Elementary?
9.1% of students at Sonia Sotomayor 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 0.9%, 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 Sonia Sotomayor Elementary compare to other schools in Chula Vista?
Sonia Sotomayor Elementary scores 53/100 (73rd 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. Use the schools in Chula Vista page or the map view to compare all elementary schools nearby.
How does Sonia Sotomayor Elementary serve low-income and underrepresented students?
At Sonia Sotomayor Elementary in Chula Vista, 48.1% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 45.5% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Sonia Sotomayor Elementary outperforms its district average for low-income students by 2.7 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (34.6% Math proficient); Hispanic students (59.3% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 14.7 percentage points for low-income students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 108 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