Alta Murrieta Elementary: Scores climb 3.5 points from grade 3 to grade 5. But the zoned next school scores lower.
Alta Murrieta holds its own. Scores drop at the schools it feeds into. Ask where its graduates actually enrol, and whether families stay on the zoned path.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 70 | 36% | 64% | +3.5 | 15.4% | 1.8% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Alta Murrieta Elementary scores 70 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 91st 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 →
💪 Strong All-Around — Ask about what we don't score — class size, electives, the feel of a classroom — strong numbers everywhere on paper don't mean every classroom feels the same.
Most rating sites would stop at “64% proficient” and call it done. Alta Murrieta deserves a closer read. The school sits in Murrieta, where three in five students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
Alta Murrieta's low-income kids hit 64.6% 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.
The seven-year arc
Has held the 91st-percentile line every tested year since 2019.
This school hasn't fully recovered from the pandemic: 64% meet the standard today, versus 67% in 2019 — a gap worth asking about on a visit.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 66% | 56% | 46% | 50% | 67% |
| Grade 4 | 69% | 50% | 57% | 55% | 59% |
| Grade 5 | 71% | 65% | 56% | 63% | 73% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 63% | 61% | 48% | 47% | 62% |
| Grade 4 | 66% | 46% | 63% | 52% | 59% |
| Grade 5 | 69% | 48% | 42% | 54% | 63% |
The story this school is actually telling
separates this year's grade 3 from its grade 5. The state average rises 4.5pp over the same span. Following the same students from 2023 G3 → 2025 G5 points the same way.
the zoned path continues to Warm Springs Middle, which scores 25 points lower — worth asking about on a tour.
The school, grade by grade
ELA · CAASPP 2024–25Different students, same year — each bar is one grade's proficiency mix.
The honest read: the share exceeding falls 2.4pp across grades; the floor rises 5.5pp. The state average rises 4.5pp over the same span. A school visit and conversation with teachers will tell you more than this number.
Alta Murrieta's most underrated number
64.6% 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 6 things our score weighs
Ask which schools families here actually choose next — the zoned path is only the default.
- Ask how teachers track each child's growth over the year, not just where the class lands on test day.
- Ask whether extra support — tutoring, counseling, small groups — reaches kids across income lines, not just the students already ahead.
- Ask which schools families here actually choose next — the zoned path is only the default.
- 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.
How every group of students does here
At Alta Murrieta Elementary in Murrieta, 64.6% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 56.0% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Alta Murrieta Elementary outperforms its district average for low-income students by 8.6 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (55.9% Math proficient); Hispanic students (62.6% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 34.1 percentage points for disabilities students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 271 students tested.
5 of 16 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 rises by 4.5pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +7.0pp.
Showing up, and staying in class
Where the path goes
The zoned path continues to Warm Springs Middle, which scores 25 points lower than this school — worth weighing alongside everything above. Families here often look at charter or magnet options for middle school.
Feeder patterns derived from NCES attendance boundary data. Boundaries are approximate and may have changed — verify with your school district for current assignments.
The people teaching here
Pay is set by the district, not the school.
What gets spent here
$439 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
At 849 students, this school is well above the typical California elementary school (≈480).
Transitional kindergarten is offered here — confirmed by actual Census Day enrollment, not just the listed grade span.
On the state's science test (CAST), 42% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Alta Murrieta Elementary a good elementary school?
What are Alta Murrieta Elementary's CAASPP test scores?
How does Alta Murrieta Elementary rank in California?
Is Alta Murrieta Elementary getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Alta Murrieta Elementary?
How does Alta Murrieta Elementary compare to other schools in Murrieta?
How does Alta Murrieta Elementary serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 60
Private alternatives nearby
Private schools within ~10 miles. These schools do not participate in state testing and cannot be scored or ranked.
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 | 163 | 39% | 28% | 21% | 12% | 67% | +24 |
| Grade 4 | 132 | 37% | 22% | 27% | 14% | 59% | +14 |
| Grade 5 | 133 | 37% | 36% | 19% | 8% | 73% | +25 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 164 | 35% | 26% | 25% | 13% | 62% | +16 |
| Grade 4 | 131 | 31% | 28% | 30% | 11% | 59% | +17 |
| Grade 5 | 133 | 40% | 23% | 17% | 20% | 63% | +28 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 134 | 16% | 26% | 52% | 6% |
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 | 271 | 64.6% | +9 | +26 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 206 | 62.6% | +6 | +24 |
| White | 119 | 70.6% | +2 | +9 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alta Murrieta Elementary ← | — | 70 | 36.5% | 63.8% | +3.5 | 1.8% |
| Antelope Hills Elementary | 2.1 mi | 61 | 31.6% | 62.5% | −9.8 | 1.0% |
| Tovashal Elementary | 2.7 mi | 61 | 36.1% | 63.7% | −2.8 | 0.8% |
| Daniel N. Buchanan Elementary | 1.4 mi | 59 | 26.0% | 54.0% | +5.0 | 2.2% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 66 | 87 | #743 | 36.1% | 67.2% | 8.2% | 0.5% | +6.0pp |
| 2022 | 49 | 75 | #1458 | 24.6% | 54.5% | 36.7% | 0.1% | -2.0pp |
| 2023 | 50 | 73 | #1534 | 24.6% | 52.0% | 27.9% | 1.4% | +2.3pp |
| 2024 | 56 | 78 | #1248 | 28.7% | 53.5% | 20.0% | 1.2% | +9.9pp |
| 2025 | 70 | 91 | #501 | 36.5% | 63.8% | 15.4% | 1.8% | +3.5pp |
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 7.5% | 14.2% | +6.7pp |
| Male | 8.8% | 16.3% | +7.5pp |
| Asian | 4.5% | 12.5% | +8.0pp |
| Black/African American | 23.1% | 15.4% | -7.7pp |
| White | 5.4% | 16.7% | +11.3pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 8.1% | 17.1% | +9.0pp |
| Two or More Races | 9.6% | 12.9% | +3.3pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 14.2% | 22.1% | +7.9pp |
| English Learners | 3.9% | 18.1% | +14.2pp |
| Homeless | 5.0% | 46.2% | +41.2pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 11.6% | 19.6% | +8.0pp |
| All Students | 8.2% | 15.3% | +7.1pp |
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