Biola-Pershing Elementary: High scores, real growth, strong attendance. We looked for a catch — we didn't find one.
Biola-Pershing posts 41.7% meeting the standard — versus 42.7% statewide — with climate numbers better than most. That doesn't make it perfect. It makes it worth a visit to find what numbers can't measure.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 50 | 14% | 42% | +2.3 | 10.6% | 2.5% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Biola-Pershing Elementary scores 50 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 67th 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 “42% proficient” and call it done. Biola-Pershing deserves a closer read. The school sits in Fresno, where four in five students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
The headline number: +2.3pp 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 seven-year arc
Climbed from the 52nd to the 67th percentile since 2019 — past roughly 800 elementary schools.
The pandemic drop is behind this school: 42% of students meet the standard today, above the 34% who did in 2019.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 28% | 27% | 35% | 15% | 41% |
| Grade 4 | 34% | 18% | 39% | 65% | 28% |
| Grade 5 | 44% | 26% | 25% | 45% | 48% |
| Grade 6 | 69% | 64% | 41% | 67% | 56% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 40% | 34% | 22% | 27% | 50% |
| Grade 4 | 28% | 14% | 37% | 39% | 36% |
| Grade 5 | 30% | 14% | 5% | 35% | 48% |
| Grade 6 | 38% | 18% | 23% | 33% | 24% |
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 6.9pp across grades; the floor rises 6.9pp. 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 what the school is working on next. Strong numbers tell you where a school is, not where it's going.
- Ask how teachers track each child's growth over the year, not just where the class lands on test day.
- 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 Biola-Pershing Elementary in Fresno, 44.1% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 40.7% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Biola-Pershing Elementary outperforms its district average for low-income students by 3.4 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (37.5% Math proficient); Hispanic students (48.5% ELA proficient). Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 111 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 6.6pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +0.9pp.
Showing up, and staying in class
TK/K students miss school at roughly three times the rate of Grades 4–6 students (17.8% vs 5.4%). Chronic absence here concentrates in the earliest grades — worth asking how the school works with new families on attendance.
Where the path goes
The path below follows attendance boundaries — scores shown for each next step.
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
$359 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 198 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), 29% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Biola-Pershing Elementary a good elementary school?
What are Biola-Pershing Elementary's CAASPP test scores?
How does Biola-Pershing Elementary rank in California?
Is Biola-Pershing Elementary getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Biola-Pershing Elementary?
How does Biola-Pershing Elementary compare to other schools in Fresno?
How does Biola-Pershing 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.
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 | 27 | 26% | 15% | 22% | 37% | 41% | −3 |
| Grade 4 | 25 | 12% | 16% | 28% | 44% | 28% | −17 |
| Grade 5 | 21 | 19% | 29% | 33% | 19% | 48% | −0 |
| Grade 6 | 41 | 22% | 34% | 22% | 22% | 56% | +10 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 28 | 7% | 43% | 14% | 36% | 50% | +4 |
| Grade 4 | 25 | 8% | 28% | 20% | 44% | 36% | −6 |
| Grade 5 | 21 | 14% | 33% | 19% | 33% | 48% | +12 |
| Grade 6 | 41 | 17% | 7% | 44% | 32% | 24% | −11 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 21 | 0% | 29% | 62% | 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 | 111 | 44.1% | +3 | +6 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 103 | 48.5% | +8 | +10 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biola-Pershing Elementary ← | — | 50 | 14.4% | 41.7% | +2.3 | 2.5% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 43 | 52 | #2637 | 14.2% | 34.0% | 9.1% | 0.1% | +3.0pp |
| 2022 | 21 | 10 | #5153 | 5.1% | 22.1% | 34.6% | 5.7% | -10.5pp |
| 2023 | 26 | 16 | #4827 | 8.3% | 27.0% | 17.6% | 5.4% | -13.3pp |
| 2024 | 41 | 48 | #2960 | 10.6% | 37.8% | 16.8% | 4.4% | +18.9pp |
| 2025 | 50 | 67 | #1885 | 14.4% | 41.7% | 10.6% | 2.5% | +2.3pp |
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 9.6% | 10.4% | +0.8pp |
| Male | 8.4% | 8.0% | -0.4pp |
| Asian | 0.0% | 4.0% | +4.0pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 9.9% | 10.2% | +0.3pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 5.3% | 18.8% | +13.5pp |
| English Learners | 4.2% | 10.3% | +6.1pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 8.9% | 8.9% | +0.0pp |
| All Students | 9.0% | 9.1% | +0.1pp |
| Military-Connected | — | 7.7% | — |
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