Cole Canyon Elementary: 72% of kids clear the bar — ahead of the state's 43%. But the zoned next school scores lower.
Cole Canyon 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 | 65 | 41% | 72% | -6.2 | 11.7% | 2.3% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Cole Canyon Elementary scores 65 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 88th 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 “72% proficient” and call it done. Cole Canyon deserves a closer read. The school sits in Murrieta, where one in three students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
Cole Canyon's low-income kids hit 66.0% 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 88th-percentile line every tested year since 2019.
Proficiency here is back to its pre-pandemic level — 72% meet the standard, about where the school stood in 2019.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 73% | 60% | 69% | 76% | 77% |
| Grade 4 | 72% | 62% | 59% | 69% | 73% |
| Grade 5 | 78% | 71% | 68% | 67% | 78% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 76% | 60% | 73% | 78% | 75% |
| Grade 4 | 78% | 62% | 72% | 73% | 69% |
| Grade 5 | 71% | 50% | 60% | 61% | 62% |
The story this school is actually telling
of students met or exceeded the standard, versus 42.7% statewide.
the zoned path continues to Thompson Middle, which scores 16 points lower — worth asking about on a tour.
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 proficiency floor barely moves. The state average rises 4.5pp over the same span. A school visit and conversation with teachers will tell you more than this number.
Cole Canyon's most underrated number
66.0% 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 what changes between grade 3 and grade 5 here, and who teaches the older kids.
- 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.
How every group of students does here
At Cole Canyon Elementary in Murrieta, 66.0% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 56.0% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Cole Canyon Elementary outperforms its district average for low-income students by 10.0 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (53.4% Math proficient); White students (78.5% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 26.6 percentage points for disabilities students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 191 students tested.
8 of 16 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 8.7pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +7.0pp.
Showing up, and staying in class
Where the path goes
The zoned path continues to Thompson Middle, which scores 16 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
$387 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 1,038 students, this school is well above 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), 59% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Cole Canyon Elementary a good elementary school?
What are Cole Canyon Elementary's CAASPP test scores?
How does Cole Canyon Elementary rank in California?
Is Cole Canyon Elementary getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Cole Canyon Elementary?
How does Cole Canyon Elementary compare to other schools in Murrieta?
How does Cole Canyon Elementary serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 59
Nearby Middle Schools
2 within ~3 mi · avg 42
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 | 176 | 47% | 30% | 12% | 11% | 77% | +33 |
| Grade 4 | 157 | 40% | 33% | 14% | 13% | 73% | +28 |
| Grade 5 | 192 | 47% | 31% | 13% | 9% | 78% | +30 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 176 | 45% | 30% | 13% | 12% | 75% | +29 |
| Grade 4 | 156 | 33% | 36% | 19% | 12% | 69% | +27 |
| Grade 5 | 191 | 37% | 25% | 25% | 13% | 62% | +26 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 192 | 29% | 30% | 37% | 4% |
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 | 191 | 66.0% | +10 | +28 |
| White | 251 | 78.5% | +10 | +17 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 188 | 68.1% | +11 | +29 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cole Canyon Elementary ← | — | 65 | 41.4% | 72.2% | −6.2 | 2.3% |
| Murrieta Canyon Academy | 1.3 mi | 73 | 36.2% | 66.2% | +6.2 | 5.1% |
| Murrieta Elementary | 2.2 mi | 53 | 24.9% | 56.5% | −5.7 | 1.1% |
| E. Hale Curran Elementary | 1.8 mi | 52 | 21.8% | 48.0% | −2.7 | 2.3% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 67 | 88 | #668 | 43.3% | 74.6% | 10.0% | 0.4% | -0.1pp |
| 2022 | 57 | 85 | #882 | 33.2% | 60.9% | 29.1% | 0.8% | +0.6pp |
| 2023 | 58 | 82 | #1027 | 36.3% | 66.7% | 17.5% | 0.8% | -7.1pp |
| 2024 | 68 | 90 | #561 | 40.1% | 70.5% | 12.0% | 1.2% | -13.0pp |
| 2025 | 65 | 88 | #711 | 41.4% | 72.2% | 11.7% | 2.3% | -6.2pp |
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 9.9% | 9.7% | -0.2pp |
| Male | 10.1% | 13.2% | +3.1pp |
| Asian | 2.3% | 4.3% | +2.0pp |
| Black/African American | 10.0% | 33.3% | +23.3pp |
| White | 11.8% | 0.0% | -11.8pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 11.7% | 11.9% | +0.2pp |
| Two or More Races | 8.4% | 15.5% | +7.1pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 12.8% | 16.6% | +3.8pp |
| English Learners | 9.8% | 9.3% | -0.5pp |
| Homeless | 12.5% | — | — |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 16.6% | 18.3% | +1.7pp |
| All Students | 10.0% | 11.5% | +1.5pp |
| Filipino | — | 6.1% | — |
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