Benjamin Foxen Elementary: This school runs ahead of the state average. The bar itself is the harder conversation.
Benjamin Foxen posts 48% meeting the standard against 43% statewide — ahead of most, with real headroom above the bar.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 42 | 29% | 48% | -28.9 | 7.1% | 2.2% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Benjamin Foxen Elementary scores 42 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 48th 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 “48% proficient” and call it done. Benjamin Foxen deserves a closer read. The school sits in Santa Maria, where two in five students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
The headline number: 7.1% chronic absenteeism — versus 17.9% statewide. Attendance is the quietest strong signal a school can post.
The seven-year arc
Has stayed near the 48th percentile since 2019.
Proficiency here is back to its pre-pandemic level — 48% meet the standard, about where the school stood in 2019.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 50% | 45% | 43% | 65% | 56% |
| Grade 4 | 46% | 70% | 59% | 52% | 60% |
| Grade 5 | 57% | 55% | 52% | 50% | 42% |
| Grade 6 | 63% | 75% | 50% | 39% | 58% |
| Grade 7 | 67% | 77% | 53% | 32% | 61% |
| Grade 8 | 33% | 69% | 69% | 57% | 32% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 55% | 59% | 48% | 60% | 56% |
| Grade 4 | 29% | 43% | 55% | 48% | 60% |
| Grade 5 | 35% | 30% | 30% | 18% | 13% |
| Grade 6 | 42% | 38% | 27% | 21% | 17% |
| Grade 7 | 33% | 45% | 29% | 24% | 35% |
| Grade 8 | 22% | 31% | 23% | 29% | 14% |
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 3.2pp across grades; the floor slips 14.3pp. 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 Benjamin Foxen Elementary in Santa Maria, 30.6% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 30.6% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Benjamin Foxen Elementary outperforms its district average for low-income students by 0.0 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (19.4% Math proficient); Hispanic students (34.0% ELA proficient). Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 36 students tested.
7 of 13 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 5.1pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +5.1pp.
Showing up, and staying in class
Where the path goes
The path below is estimated from nearby schools in the same district — scores shown for each next step.
Estimated K-12 path based on district and proximity. Actual attendance zones may differ. Contact your school district for official feeder information.
The people teaching here
Pay is set by the district, not the school.
What gets spent here
$1,219 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 210 students, this school is much smaller than 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), 28% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Benjamin Foxen Elementary a good elementary school?
What are Benjamin Foxen Elementary's CAASPP test scores?
How does Benjamin Foxen Elementary rank in California?
Is Benjamin Foxen Elementary getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Benjamin Foxen Elementary?
How does Benjamin Foxen Elementary compare to other schools in Santa Maria?
How does Benjamin Foxen Elementary serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
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 | 25 | 24% | 32% | 20% | 24% | 56% | +13 |
| Grade 4 | 20 | 50% | 10% | 15% | 25% | 60% | +15 |
| Grade 5 | 24 | 21% | 21% | 21% | 38% | 42% | −6 |
| Grade 6 | 24 | 8% | 50% | 4% | 38% | 58% | +12 |
| Grade 7 | 23 | 17% | 43% | 22% | 17% | 61% | +13 |
| Grade 8 | 22 | 9% | 23% | 9% | 59% | 32% | −14 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 25 | 24% | 32% | 20% | 24% | 56% | +10 |
| Grade 4 | 20 | 40% | 20% | 15% | 25% | 60% | +18 |
| Grade 5 | 24 | 13% | 0% | 38% | 50% | 13% | −23 |
| Grade 6 | 24 | 4% | 13% | 29% | 54% | 17% | −18 |
| Grade 7 | 23 | 17% | 17% | 39% | 26% | 35% | +1 |
| Grade 8 | 22 | 5% | 9% | 32% | 55% | 14% | −19 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 46 | 9% | 20% | 61% | 11% |
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 | 36 | 30.6% | +0 | −8 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 47 | 34.0% | +0 | −5 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benjamin Foxen Elementary ← | — | 42 | 28.6% | 47.7% | −28.9 | 2.2% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 44 | 55 | #2488 | 19.1% | 45.2% | 4.0% | 0.5% | -6.8pp |
| 2022 | 34 | 46 | #3107 | 19.9% | 50.4% | 13.0% | 0.1% | -9.8pp |
| 2023 | 43 | 60 | #2277 | 21.2% | 47.8% | 7.7% | 4.4% | -3.9pp |
| 2024 | 40 | 45 | #3140 | 23.7% | 48.9% | 8.9% | 2.3% | -28.4pp |
| 2025 | 42 | 48 | #2962 | 28.6% | 47.7% | 7.1% | 2.2% | -28.9pp |
- — Scored here as an elementary school — other grade spans appear in the data appendix.
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 5.8% | 6.4% | +0.6pp |
| Male | 1.8% | 3.4% | +1.6pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 3.5% | 5.9% | +2.4pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 0.0% | 6.1% | +6.1pp |
| English Learners | 3.3% | 20.0% | +16.7pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 4.2% | 6.7% | +2.5pp |
| All Students | 3.7% | 4.7% | +1.0pp |
| Two or More Races | — | 0.0% | — |
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