Ballington Academy for the Arts and Sciences: The score is middle of the pack. The trajectory isn't.
Ballington Academy for the Arts and Sciences sits mid-pack on raw proficiency — and it's climbing faster than most schools anywhere near it — and that holds when you follow the same students across grades.
Ballington Academy for the Arts and Sciences scores 49 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 66th 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 →
Most rating sites would stop at “37% proficient” and call it done. Ballington Academy for the Arts and Sciences deserves a closer read. The school sits in El Centro, where three in four students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
The headline number: 23.3% of English learners met the ELA standard — versus 10.4% statewide.
As a charter, Ballington Academy for the Arts and Sciences enrolls by application, not address — the score reads the same, the enrollment path doesn't.
The story this school is actually telling
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 rises 28.8pp across grades; the floor rises 27.1pp. The state average rises 4.5pp over the same span. Kids here gain ground the longer they stay — the pattern you want to see. A school visit and conversation with teachers will tell you more than this number.
The 5 things our score weighs
Ask what changed — new curriculum, new principal, new program. Momentum has a cause, and a visit will find it.
Where the path goes
The path below follows attendance boundaries — scores shown for each next step.
Estimated path based on proximity within the same district. Contact your school district for official feeder information.
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 53
Private alternatives nearby
Private schools within ~10 miles. These schools do not participate in state testing and cannot be scored or ranked.
The community around it
Student demographics
3 more gaps by subject
Subgroups with fewer than 15 students are excluded for privacy. Gaps of less than 3 percentage points are not shown.
Weighted average across tested grades. Subgroups with fewer than 15 students excluded. Data: CDE CAASPP 2024-25.
Subgroup Growth by Grade
Low-income student ELA proficiency rises by 30.0pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +4.2pp.
Subgroups with fewer than 10 tested students per grade are not shown.
Funding Breakdown
Neighborhood Context
Whole Child
Source: CDE SARC, 2024-25
Frequently asked questions
Is Ballington Academy for the Arts and Sciences a good elementary school?
What are Ballington Academy for the Arts and Sciences's CAASPP test scores?
How does Ballington Academy for the Arts and Sciences rank in California?
Is Ballington Academy for the Arts and Sciences getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Ballington Academy for the Arts and Sciences?
How does Ballington Academy for the Arts and Sciences compare to other schools in El Centro?
How does Ballington Academy for the Arts and Sciences serve low-income and underrepresented students?
For the data nerdsEvery number on this page
Score factors, grade-level breakdowns, subgroup proficiency, and peer comparisons.
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 | 23 | 9% | 22% | 22% | 48% | 30% | −13 |
| Grade 4 | 35 | 17% | 23% | 14% | 46% | 40% | −5 |
| Grade 5 | 40 | 38% | 20% | 25% | 18% | 58% | +10 |
| Grade 6 | 20 | 10% | 25% | 30% | 35% | 35% | −12 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 23 | 13% | 13% | 43% | 30% | 26% | −20 |
| Grade 4 | 35 | 17% | 9% | 46% | 29% | 26% | −16 |
| Grade 5 | 40 | 30% | 10% | 18% | 43% | 40% | +5 |
| Grade 6 | 22 | 9% | 14% | 23% | 55% | 23% | −12 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 40 | 18% | 30% | 43% | 10% |
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 | 94 | 40.4% | +2 | +2 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 117 | 42.7% | +1 | +4 |
| English Learners | 30 | 23.3% | +4 | +13 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballington Academy for the Arts and Sciences ← | — | 49 | 20.6% | 36.6% | +20.5 | 0.2% |
| Imperial Cross Elementary | 2 mi | 54 | 22.9% | 49.3% | +2.6 | 0.1% |
| Lincoln Elementary | 0.3 mi | 53 | 14.6% | 41.2% | −5.2 | 0.6% |
| De Anza Magnet | 1 mi | 53 | 16.9% | 38.8% | +17.2 | 2.5% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |