Buena Terra Elementary: The score is strong. The trajectory is stronger.
Buena Terra pairs 77% proficiency with gains that hold up when the same students are tracked two years apart — the rare school that posts both.
Buena Terra Elementary scores 73 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 93rd 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 “77% proficient” and call it done. Buena Terra deserves a closer read. The school sits in Buena Park, where more than half of students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
Buena Terra's low-income kids hit 61.9% 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 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 holds steady across grades; the floor rises 19.9pp. The state average rises 4.5pp over the same span. A school visit and conversation with teachers will tell you more than this number.
Buena Terra's most underrated number
61.9% 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 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.
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 83
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 39.9pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +1.7pp.
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 Buena Terra Elementary a good elementary school?
What are Buena Terra Elementary's CAASPP test scores?
How does Buena Terra Elementary rank in California?
Is Buena Terra Elementary getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Buena Terra Elementary?
How does Buena Terra Elementary compare to other schools in Buena Park?
How does Buena Terra Elementary 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 | 89 | 44% | 19% | 22% | 15% | 63% | +20 |
| Grade 4 | 64 | 52% | 31% | 8% | 9% | 83% | +38 |
| Grade 5 | 93 | 45% | 38% | 9% | 9% | 83% | +35 |
| Grade 6 | 86 | 47% | 26% | 23% | 5% | 72% | +26 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 89 | 45% | 30% | 17% | 8% | 75% | +30 |
| Grade 4 | 64 | 52% | 30% | 14% | 5% | 81% | +40 |
| Grade 5 | 93 | 55% | 22% | 15% | 9% | 76% | +41 |
| Grade 6 | 86 | 50% | 27% | 19% | 5% | 77% | +42 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 93 | 27% | 30% | 42% | 1% |
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 | 97 | 61.9% | +20 | +24 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 123 | 67.5% | +24 | +29 |
| Asian | 77 | 83.1% | +2 | +9 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buena Terra Elementary ← | — | 73 | 48.6% | 76.9% | +10.5 | 0.1% |
| Margaret Landell Elementary | 2.5 mi | 85 | 66.2% | 85.7% | +0.2 | 0.1% |
| Leal (Frank C.) Elementary | 2.5 mi | 83 | 64.2% | 85.4% | −1.6 | 0.2% |
| Cerritos Elementary | 2 mi | 82 | 58.5% | 80.1% | −9.1 | 0.3% |
| California average | — | 43 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |