Benjamin Franklin Elementary: Kids show up — absenteeism runs far below the state. But the zoned next school scores lower.
Benjamin Franklin 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 | 66 | 44% | 74% | +1.2 | 6.1% | 0.3% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Benjamin Franklin Elementary scores 66 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 89th 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 “74% proficient” and call it done. Benjamin Franklin deserves a closer read. The school sits in Glendale, where one in four students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
Benjamin Franklin's low-income kids hit 77.2% 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.
The seven-year arc
Has held the 89th-percentile line every tested year since 2019.
Proficiency here is back to its pre-pandemic level — 74% meet the standard, about where the school stood in 2019.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 77% | 69% | 70% | 56% | 70% |
| Grade 4 | 81% | 64% | 80% | 76% | 74% |
| Grade 5 | 84% | 83% | 69% | 87% | 81% |
| Grade 6 | 75% | 72% | 78% | 69% | 86% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 74% | 69% | 82% | 64% | 77% |
| Grade 4 | 58% | 60% | 74% | 75% | 70% |
| Grade 5 | 61% | 63% | 59% | 74% | 69% |
| Grade 6 | 51% | 46% | 57% | 60% | 70% |
The story this school is actually telling
chronic absenteeism — versus 17.9% statewide. Attendance is the quietest strong signal a school can post.
the zoned path continues to Eleanor J. Toll Middle, which scores 20 points lower — a school visit will tell you more than this number.
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 6.0pp across grades; the floor rises 11.2pp. 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.
Benjamin Franklin's most underrated number
77.2% 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 6 things our score weighs
Ask which schools families here actually choose next — the zoned path is only the default.
- 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.
- 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 Franklin Elementary in Glendale, 77.2% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 54.5% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Benjamin Franklin Elementary outperforms its district average for low-income students by 22.8 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (65.5% Math proficient); White students (81.6% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 11.6 percentage points for hispanic students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 145 students tested.
7 of 15 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 5.0pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +4.4pp.
Showing up, and staying in class
Where the path goes
The zoned path continues to Eleanor J. Toll Middle, which scores 20 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
$423 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), 71% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Benjamin Franklin Elementary a good elementary school?
What are Benjamin Franklin Elementary's CAASPP test scores?
How does Benjamin Franklin Elementary rank in California?
Is Benjamin Franklin Elementary getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Benjamin Franklin Elementary?
How does Benjamin Franklin Elementary compare to other schools in Glendale?
How does Benjamin Franklin Elementary serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 58
Nearby Middle Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 47
Nearby High Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 56
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 | 84 | 44% | 26% | 20% | 10% | 70% | +27 |
| Grade 4 | 74 | 41% | 34% | 11% | 15% | 74% | +30 |
| Grade 5 | 86 | 50% | 31% | 8% | 10% | 81% | +34 |
| Grade 6 | 63 | 54% | 32% | 11% | 3% | 86% | +39 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 84 | 44% | 33% | 18% | 5% | 77% | +32 |
| Grade 4 | 74 | 41% | 30% | 19% | 11% | 70% | +29 |
| Grade 5 | 86 | 43% | 26% | 21% | 10% | 69% | +33 |
| Grade 6 | 63 | 41% | 29% | 19% | 11% | 70% | +35 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 86 | 30% | 41% | 27% | 2% |
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 | 145 | 77.2% | +23 | +39 |
| White | 190 | 81.6% | +25 | +20 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 83 | 66.3% | +14 | +27 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benjamin Franklin Elementary ← | — | 66 | 43.7% | 73.7% | +1.2 | 0.3% |
| Glenfeliz Boulevard Elementary | 3.2 mi | 60 | 20.2% | 47.9% | +7.0 | 0.3% |
| Thomas Jefferson Elementary | 2.9 mi | 59 | 34.1% | 59.3% | +3.0 | 0.1% |
| Joaquin Miller Elementary | 1.4 mi | 56 | 28.0% | 57.0% | −16.2 | 0.8% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 67 | 87 | #694 | 41.7% | 72.5% | 3.9% | 1.1% | -3.0pp |
| 2022 | 65 | 91 | #516 | 42.4% | 68.1% | 14.2% | 0.0% | +3.7pp |
| 2023 | 64 | 88 | #672 | 49.7% | 72.7% | 18.3% | 0.5% | -12.2pp |
| 2024 | 72 | 93 | #397 | 43.3% | 71.9% | 10.3% | 0.1% | +20.2pp |
| 2025 | 66 | 89 | #656 | 43.7% | 73.7% | 6.1% | 0.3% | +1.2pp |
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 3.2% | 5.7% | +2.5pp |
| Male | 4.6% | 5.0% | +0.4pp |
| Asian | 0.0% | — | — |
| Black/African American | 4.8% | — | — |
| Hispanic/Latino | 3.4% | 10.1% | +6.7pp |
| Two or More Races | 4.0% | 4.9% | +0.9pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 4.8% | 5.4% | +0.6pp |
| English Learners | 2.4% | 1.7% | -0.7pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 5.4% | 7.7% | +2.3pp |
| All Students | 3.8% | 5.4% | +1.6pp |
| Homeless | — | 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