Bay View Elementary: Most kids here clear the bar, year after year. The question is what happens after that.
Bay View posts 50% meeting the standard, and 26.8% going well past it. Most kids here keep up. Fewer get pushed further. Ask the school what it does for a child who already finds the work easy.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 43 | 27% | 50% | -13.1 | 16.9% | 2.3% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Bay View Elementary scores 43 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 52nd 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 “50% proficient” and call it done. Bay View deserves a closer read. The school sits in Santa Cruz, where two in five students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
The seven-year arc
Has stayed near the 52nd percentile since 2019.
The pandemic drop is behind this school: 50% of students meet the standard today, above the 39% who did in 2019.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 35% | 36% | 52% | 49% | 57% |
| Grade 4 | 38% | 40% | 39% | 47% | 50% |
| Grade 5 | 52% | 41% | 42% | 40% | 59% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 43% | 36% | 49% | 50% | 57% |
| Grade 4 | 29% | 45% | 23% | 21% | 52% |
| Grade 5 | 35% | 23% | 34% | 18% | 28% |
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 falls 5.8pp across grades; the floor rises 2.5pp. The state average rises 4.5pp over the same span. A school visit and conversation with teachers will tell you more than this number.
The 6 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 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 Bay View Elementary in Santa Cruz, 42.7% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 39.5% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Bay View Elementary outperforms its district average for low-income students by 3.2 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (29.3% Math proficient); Hispanic students (41.6% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 49.4 percentage points for english learner students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 89 students tested.
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 16.7pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +4.7pp.
Showing up, and staying in class
The people teaching here
What gets spent here
$2,300 per student arrives as federal Title funding — a measure of concentrated need, not school quality.
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), 39% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Bay View Elementary a good elementary school?
What are Bay View Elementary's CAASPP test scores?
How does Bay View Elementary rank in California?
Is Bay View Elementary getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Bay View Elementary?
How does Bay View Elementary compare to other schools in Santa Cruz?
How does Bay View Elementary serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 56
Nearby Middle Schools
2 within ~3 mi · avg 51
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 | 67 | 30% | 27% | 22% | 21% | 57% | +13 |
| Grade 4 | 60 | 37% | 13% | 12% | 38% | 50% | +5 |
| Grade 5 | 54 | 24% | 35% | 11% | 30% | 59% | +11 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 69 | 28% | 29% | 16% | 28% | 57% | +11 |
| Grade 4 | 61 | 28% | 25% | 21% | 26% | 52% | +11 |
| Grade 5 | 54 | 15% | 13% | 30% | 43% | 28% | −8 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 54 | 19% | 20% | 48% | 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 | 89 | 42.7% | +3 | +4 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 101 | 41.6% | +5 | +3 |
| White | 70 | 72.9% | −2 | +11 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bay View Elementary ← | — | 43 | 26.8% | 50.5% | −13.1 | 2.3% |
| Santa Cruz City Elementary Alternative Education-M | 1.7 mi | 62 | 30.9% | 57.0% | +12.2 | 0.3% |
| Westlake Elementary | 1 mi | 62 | 41.5% | 65.4% | +6.5 | 0.5% |
| Gault Elementary | 1.8 mi | 45 | 22.3% | 43.4% | −13.8 | 0.7% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 42 | 49 | #2811 | 19.2% | 38.6% | 17.3% | 1.7% | +4.2pp |
| 2022 | 32 | 40 | #3435 | 17.3% | 36.6% | 32.8% | 0.8% | -3.7pp |
| 2023 | 35 | 40 | #3454 | 16.5% | 39.8% | 28.4% | 0.8% | -12.8pp |
| 2024 | 34 | 29 | #4049 | 18.7% | 37.6% | 22.4% | 2.2% | -20.7pp |
| 2025 | 43 | 52 | #2782 | 26.8% | 50.5% | 16.9% | 2.3% | -13.1pp |
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 15.8% | 17.6% | +1.8pp |
| Male | 19.2% | 16.1% | -3.1pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 17.9% | 19.6% | +1.7pp |
| Two or More Races | 3.4% | 12.0% | +8.6pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 24.4% | 23.1% | -1.3pp |
| English Learners | 15.5% | 12.7% | -2.8pp |
| Military-Connected | 13.0% | 0.0% | -13.0pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 20.0% | 23.0% | +3.0pp |
| All Students | 17.4% | 16.8% | -0.6pp |
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