Advanced Learning Academy: This school runs ahead of the state average. The bar itself is the harder conversation.
Advanced Learning Academy posts 46% meeting the standard against 43% statewide — ahead of most, with real headroom above the bar.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 38 | 16% | 46% | -18.3 | 14.3% | 1.5% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Advanced Learning Academy scores 38 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 37th percentile of 5,744 California elementary schools (CDE CAASPP 2025).
Measures test performance, attendance, and climate — not arts, community, or your kid. How we score →
🌱 Building Momentum — This label means the data doesn't clearly sort the school one way or the other — ask what the school is proud of, and what it's working on.
Most rating sites would stop at “46% proficient” and call it done. Advanced Learning Academy deserves a closer read. The school sits in Santa Ana, where four in five students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
Advanced Learning Academy's low-income kids hit 48.2% proficiency in ELA — a number the same group reaches at 38.2% statewide. If you're trying to read past zip-code-driven test scores, that's the signal worth weighing.
As a charter, Advanced Learning Academy enrolls by application rather than address. That changes how you get in, but it doesn't change the score.
The seven-year arc
Climbed from the 19th to the 37th percentile since 2019 — past roughly 800 elementary schools.
The pandemic drop is behind this school: 46% of students meet the standard today, above the 30% who did in 2019.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 36% | — | — | 17% | 42% |
| Grade 4 | 40% | 35% | 36% | 38% | 39% |
| Grade 5 | 35% | 38% | 54% | 78% | 40% |
| Grade 6 | 55% | 16% | 35% | 48% | 66% |
| Grade 7 | 40% | 38% | 34% | 45% | 45% |
| Grade 8 | 33% | 43% | 35% | 31% | 48% |
| Grade 11 | — | 36% | 62% | 52% | 63% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 21% | — | — | 17% | 75% |
| Grade 4 | 40% | 29% | 27% | 38% | 39% |
| Grade 5 | 6% | 15% | 21% | 39% | 40% |
| Grade 6 | 23% | 3% | 4% | 15% | 34% |
| Grade 7 | 25% | 21% | 11% | 10% | 27% |
| Grade 8 | 13% | 20% | 16% | 10% | 18% |
| Grade 11 | — | 3% | 9% | 14% | 4% |
Advanced Learning Academy's most underrated number
48.2% of low-income students met the ELA standard — versus 38.2% for the same group statewide. That's the strongest kind of signal a school can post: it holds across income lines.
The 5 things our score weighs
Ask how the school challenges kids who clear the standard early. The gap between meeting and exceeding is where pacing shows.
- Ask what changes between grade 3 and grade 5 here, and who teaches the older kids.
- Ask whether extra support — tutoring, counseling, small groups — reaches kids across income lines, not just the students already ahead.
- Ask whether the tour can step into a working classroom — watch how the teacher handles a student who's stuck.
- Ask to tour while school's in session, and notice how hallways and transitions feel — culture shows up between classes, not just in them.
- Ask how the school communicates with families when a child starts to struggle.
- Ask what a typical day looks like for a new student in the first few weeks.
How every group of students does here
At Advanced Learning Academy in Santa Ana, 48.2% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 31.4% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Advanced Learning Academy outperforms its district average for low-income students by 16.9 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (28.2% Math proficient); Hispanic students (50.8% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 10.2 percentage points for low-income students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 170 students tested.
8 of 14 student groups here are too small to report — a privacy protection, not a gap.
Change in proficiency from the lowest tested grade — which groups gain ground the longer they stay. Groups with fewer than 10 tested students per grade are not shown.
Low-income student ELA proficiency falls by 6.0pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +8.5pp.
Showing up, and staying in class
TK/K students miss school at roughly three times the rate of Grades 7–8 students (19.4% vs 5.1%). Chronic absence here concentrates in the earliest grades — worth asking how the school works with new families on attendance.
Where the path goes
Advanced Learning Academy serves grades K-12 — students can complete their entire K-12 education here, with no school-to-school transitions.
The people teaching here
Pay is set by the district, not the school.
What gets spent here
$218 per student arrives as federal Title funding — a measure of concentrated need, not school quality.
The district's current expense of education per student, from CDE's annual SACS filing — the freshest district spending figure the state publishes.
District-level, from the district's own SACS general-ledger filing — school-by-school breakdowns aren't published by the state.
Source: NCES F-33 · Full district breakdown →
The neighborhood it serves
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2024) · ZIP-level
Transitional kindergarten is offered here — confirmed by actual Census Day enrollment, not just the listed grade span.
On the state's science test (CAST), 19% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Advanced Learning Academy a good elementary school?
What are Advanced Learning Academy's CAASPP test scores?
How does Advanced Learning Academy rank in California?
Is Advanced Learning Academy getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Advanced Learning Academy?
How does Advanced Learning Academy compare to other schools in Santa Ana?
How does Advanced Learning Academy serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 64
Nearby Middle Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 34
Private alternatives nearby
Private schools within ~10 miles. These schools do not participate in state testing and cannot be scored or ranked.
A low score doesn't tell the whole story. Read: Your School Scored Low — Here's What That Actually Means
Every number on this page
Score factors, grade-level breakdowns, subgroup proficiency, and peer comparisons.
| ELA | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 12 | 17% | 25% | 42% | 17% | 42% | −2 |
| Grade 4 | 18 | 17% | 22% | 22% | 39% | 39% | −6 |
| Grade 5 | 15 | 20% | 20% | 27% | 33% | 40% | −8 |
| Grade 6 | 41 | 20% | 46% | 20% | 15% | 66% | +19 |
| Grade 7 | 44 | 14% | 32% | 27% | 27% | 45% | −2 |
| Grade 8 | 33 | 15% | 33% | 45% | 6% | 48% | +2 |
| Grade 11 | 27 | 11% | 52% | 26% | 11% | 63% | +16 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 12 | 25% | 50% | 17% | 8% | 75% | +29 |
| Grade 4 | 18 | 11% | 28% | 39% | 22% | 39% | −3 |
| Grade 5 | 15 | 7% | 33% | 27% | 33% | 40% | +5 |
| Grade 6 | 41 | 5% | 29% | 37% | 29% | 34% | −1 |
| Grade 7 | 44 | 11% | 16% | 27% | 45% | 27% | −7 |
| Grade 8 | 33 | 3% | 15% | 24% | 58% | 18% | −14 |
| Grade 11 | 28 | 4% | 0% | 21% | 75% | 4% | −20 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 75 | 3% | 16% | 68% | 13% |
CAST is tested in grades 5, 8, and once in high school — not annually. Not part of the Scope Score.
| Subgroup · ELA | Tested | MET+ | vs district | vs CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 170 | 48.2% | +17 | +10 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 183 | 50.8% | +19 | +12 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Learning Academy ← | — | 38 | 16.0% | 45.7% | −18.3 | 1.5% |
| La Veta Elementary | 2.4 mi | 72 | 36.6% | 51.3% | +26.5 | 0.8% |
| OUSD EDGE Virtual Academy | 2.4 mi | 69 | 28.7% | 59.0% | +3.0 | 0.8% |
| El Sol Santa Ana Science and Arts Academy | 1 mi | 53 | 16.8% | 41.0% | −3.6 | 0.3% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 31 | 19 | #4458 | 7.2% | 29.8% | 5.8% | 3.5% | -7.6pp |
| 2022 | 29 | 30 | #4031 | 11.7% | 29.6% | 21.8% | 3.7% | — |
| 2023 | 31 | 29 | #4066 | 8.5% | 34.7% | 20.8% | 2.6% | — |
| 2024 | 54 | 75 | #1450 | 9.9% | 37.8% | 16.0% | 3.4% | +41.7pp |
| 2025 | 38 | 37 | #3647 | 16.0% | 45.7% | 14.3% | 1.5% | -18.3pp |
- — Scored here as an elementary school — other grade spans appear in the data appendix.
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 5.5% | 14.1% | +8.6pp |
| Male | 5.9% | 12.0% | +6.1pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 5.6% | 13.6% | +8.0pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 9.8% | 13.0% | +3.2pp |
| English Learners | 7.7% | 17.6% | +9.9pp |
| Homeless | 7.3% | 29.5% | +22.2pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 5.4% | 13.7% | +8.3pp |
| All Students | 5.7% | 13.1% | +7.4pp |
SchoolScope scores and verdicts are our interpretation of public California Department of Education data — independent analysis, not an official rating. How we analyze · Request a correction