Chatom Elementary: Kids show up — absenteeism runs far below the state. But this year's 5th graders test below its 3rd graders.
Chatom has real strengths and one number that complicates them. Most rating sites show you one or the other. Both belong on the same page.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 39 | 20% | 40% | -19.1 | 3.2% | 1.7% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Chatom Elementary scores 39 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 42nd 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 “40% proficient” and call it done. Chatom deserves a closer read. The school sits in Turlock, where three in four students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
The headline number: 3.2% chronic absenteeism — versus 17.9% statewide. Attendance is the quietest strong signal a school can post.
The seven-year arc
Climbed from the 33rd to the 42nd percentile since 2019 — past roughly 300 elementary schools.
The pandemic drop is behind this school: 40% of students meet the standard today, above the 37% who did in 2019.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 28% | 31% | 29% | 46% | 45% |
| Grade 4 | 43% | 37% | 34% | 34% | 43% |
| Grade 5 | 39% | 43% | 33% | 36% | 26% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 46% | 38% | 59% | 71% | 48% |
| Grade 4 | 35% | 40% | 49% | 47% | 51% |
| Grade 5 | 29% | 20% | 12% | 36% | 28% |
The story this school is actually telling
chronic absenteeism — versus 17.9% statewide. Attendance is the quietest strong signal a school can post.
proficiency runs 46% in this year's grade 3 against 27% in its grade 5. The state average rises by +4.5pp over the same span.
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 10.0pp across grades; the floor slips 18.2pp. The state average rises 4.5pp over the same span. The school's 5th graders aren't posting a wider lead than its 3rd graders. One question worth asking on a tour: are the strongest students being pushed, or coasting? A school visit and conversation with teachers will tell you more than this number.
The 6 things our score weighs
Ask the principal what changes between grade 3 and grade 5. Ask who teaches the older grades, and what the school does when a child starts falling behind.
- 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 Chatom Elementary in Turlock, 28.0% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 33.6% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Chatom Elementary trails its district average for low-income students by 5.6 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (34.3% Math proficient); Hispanic students (25.2% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 23.7 percentage points for english learner students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 132 students tested.
5 of 12 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 falls by 24.9pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: -24.9pp.
Showing up, and staying in class
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
What gets spent here
$475 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), 17% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Chatom Elementary a good elementary school?
What are Chatom Elementary's CAASPP test scores?
How does Chatom Elementary rank in California?
Is Chatom Elementary getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Chatom Elementary?
How does Chatom Elementary compare to other schools in Turlock?
How does Chatom 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 | 56 | 23% | 21% | 18% | 38% | 45% | +1 |
| Grade 4 | 65 | 23% | 20% | 25% | 32% | 43% | −2 |
| Grade 5 | 53 | 13% | 13% | 34% | 40% | 26% | −21 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 58 | 29% | 19% | 16% | 36% | 48% | +3 |
| Grade 4 | 65 | 22% | 29% | 31% | 18% | 51% | +9 |
| Grade 5 | 53 | 11% | 17% | 36% | 36% | 28% | −7 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 53 | 9% | 8% | 60% | 23% |
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 | 132 | 28.0% | −6 | −10 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 115 | 25.2% | −8 | −14 |
| English Learners | 80 | 15.0% | +1 | +5 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chatom Elementary ← | — | 39 | 20.3% | 40.3% | −19.1 | 1.7% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 36 | 33 | #3666 | 12.9% | 36.7% | 7.3% | 2.7% | -2.8pp |
| 2022 | 36 | 50 | #2881 | 10.8% | 35.0% | 18.5% | 1.9% | -2.8pp |
| 2023 | 27 | 18 | #4665 | 12.8% | 36.1% | 11.5% | 2.4% | -21.6pp |
| 2024 | 51 | 70 | #1745 | 19.3% | 45.0% | 8.2% | 2.3% | -22.5pp |
| 2025 | 39 | 42 | #3332 | 20.3% | 40.3% | 3.2% | 1.7% | -19.1pp |
- — Low-income students here trail the state average for their group by 10 points in ELA — worth asking how the school is closing that gap.
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 6.5% | 1.5% | -5.0pp |
| Male | 7.9% | 2.4% | -5.5pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 7.0% | 2.5% | -4.5pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 5.5% | 8.7% | +3.2pp |
| English Learners | 6.0% | 1.9% | -4.1pp |
| Homeless | 18.2% | 8.7% | -9.5pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 8.5% | 2.5% | -6.0pp |
| All Students | 7.2% | 1.9% | -5.3pp |
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