Chawanakee Academy Charter: The scores are below where anyone wants them. Here's what they don't tell you.
Chawanakee Academy Charter posts low test scores — and grade 5 tests above grade 3 here this year, by 10.5pp. If this is your zoned school, the numbers below are where to start a conversation, not where to end one.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 24 | 3% | 11% | +10.5 | 12.0% | 0.7% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Chawanakee Academy Charter scores 24 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 6th 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 →
📈 On the Rise — Ask how many years the improvement has held, not just the latest one — one strong cohort and a real turnaround can look identical in a single year of data.
Most rating sites would stop at “11% proficient” and call it done. Chawanakee Academy Charter deserves a closer read. The school sits in O'Neals, where more than half of students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
Test scores are one lens, and at this school they're a rough one right now. The sections below show the fuller picture — including the parts that are working.
As a charter, Chawanakee Academy Charter enrolls by application rather than address. That changes how you get in, but it doesn't change the score.
The seven-year arc
Slipped from the 22nd to the 6th percentile since 2019.
This school hasn't fully recovered from the pandemic: 11% meet the standard today, versus 21% in 2019 — a gap worth asking about on a visit.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 27% | 21% | 43% | — | 8% |
| Grade 4 | 50% | 25% | 30% | 17% | — |
| Grade 5 | 19% | 33% | 7% | 44% | 18% |
| Grade 6 | 38% | 29% | 40% | 27% | 35% |
| Grade 7 | 43% | 44% | 42% | 45% | 27% |
| Grade 8 | 41% | 50% | 45% | 39% | 38% |
| Grade 11 | 33% | 52% | 63% | 63% | 60% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 19% | 21% | 29% | — | 8% |
| Grade 4 | 11% | 15% | 20% | 33% | — |
| Grade 5 | 0% | 7% | 0% | 17% | — |
| Grade 6 | 23% | 13% | 0% | 9% | 13% |
| Grade 7 | 39% | 26% | 28% | 14% | 13% |
| Grade 8 | 24% | 29% | 21% | 18% | 24% |
| Grade 11 | 0% | 6% | 20% | 13% | 20% |
The 5 things our score weighs
Ask what changed in the last two years, and what the school is asking families for. Growth shows up in these numbers a year or two after it shows up in classrooms.
- 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 Chawanakee Academy Charter in O'Neals, 23.5% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 37.7% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Chawanakee Academy Charter trails its district average for low-income students by 14.2 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (11.8% Math proficient); White students (39.4% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 3.4 percentage points for low-income students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 51 students tested.
8 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.
Showing up, and staying in class
Where the path goes
Chawanakee Academy Charter serves grades K-12 — students can complete their entire K-12 education here, with no school-to-school transitions.
The people teaching here
Pay is set by the district, not the school.
What gets spent here
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 187 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), 30% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Chawanakee Academy Charter a good elementary school?
What are Chawanakee Academy Charter's CAASPP test scores?
How does Chawanakee Academy Charter rank in California?
Is Chawanakee Academy Charter getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Chawanakee Academy Charter?
How does Chawanakee Academy Charter compare to other schools in O'Neals?
How does Chawanakee Academy Charter serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby High Schools
2 within ~3 mi · avg 48
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 | 13 | 8% | 0% | 23% | 69% | 8% | −36 |
| Grade 4 | 9 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Grade 5 | 11 | 0% | 18% | 36% | 45% | 18% | −30 |
| Grade 6 | 31 | 3% | 32% | 26% | 39% | 35% | −11 |
| Grade 7 | 15 | 7% | 20% | 33% | 40% | 27% | −21 |
| Grade 8 | 21 | 14% | 24% | 33% | 29% | 38% | −8 |
| Grade 11 | 15 | 7% | 53% | 20% | 20% | 60% | +13 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 13 | 0% | 8% | 15% | 77% | 8% | −38 |
| Grade 4 | 9 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Grade 5 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Grade 6 | 31 | 3% | 10% | 29% | 58% | 13% | −22 |
| Grade 7 | 15 | 0% | 13% | 27% | 60% | 13% | −21 |
| Grade 8 | 21 | 5% | 19% | 14% | 62% | 24% | −8 |
| Grade 11 | 15 | 0% | 20% | 27% | 53% | 20% | −3 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 43 | 7% | 23% | 58% | 12% |
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 | 51 | 23.5% | −14 | −15 |
| White | 33 | 39.4% | −9 | −22 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chawanakee Academy Charter ← | — | 24 | 2.6% | 11.2% | +10.5 | 0.7% |
| Spring Valley Elementary | 1.7 mi | 36 | 14.5% | 35.6% | −3.7 | 3.6% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 32 | 22 | #4306 | 4.9% | 20.8% | 2.2% | 0.9% | -13.3pp |
| 2022 | 32 | 40 | #3450 | 8.1% | 20.5% | 0.9% | 3.7% | -1.4pp |
| 2023 | 22 | 7 | #5311 | 10.5% | 21.4% | 15.2% | 0.7% | -32.1pp |
| 2024 | 39 | 42 | #3308 | 12.5% | 27.8% | 10.1% | 0.6% | — |
| 2025 | 24 | 6 | #5378 | 2.6% | 11.2% | 12.0% | 0.7% | +10.5pp |
- — Scored here as an elementary school — other grade spans appear in the data appendix.
- — Low-income students here trail the state average for their group by 15 points in ELA — worth asking how the school is closing that gap.
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 0.6% | 6.6% | +6.0pp |
| Male | 3.3% | 7.8% | +4.5pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 5.0% | 7.9% | +2.9pp |
| American Indian/Alaska Native | 0.0% | 13.3% | +13.3pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 0.0% | 11.1% | +11.1pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 1.9% | 9.9% | +8.0pp |
| All Students | 1.9% | 7.1% | +5.2pp |
| Two or More Races | — | 14.3% | — |
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