Cubberley K-8: Two in five kids exceed the standard. But this year's 5th graders test below its 3rd graders.
Cubberley K-8 is one of the strongest elementary schools in Long Beach by raw achievement. The catch worth understanding: the cohort doesn't gain ground year-over-year.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 55 | 47% | 67% | -18.6 | 13.8% | 2.5% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Cubberley K-8 scores 55 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 76th 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 →
🏫 Solid Base — Ask what the school does for a kid who's already meeting the standard with room to spare — steady proficiency across the board doesn't tell you whether the strongest kids are being pushed further.
Most rating sites would stop at “67% proficient” and call it done. Cubberley K-8 deserves a closer read. The school sits in Long Beach, where one in four students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
Cubberley K-8's low-income kids hit 52.2% 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 76th-percentile line every tested year since 2019.
This school hasn't fully recovered from the pandemic: 67% meet the standard today, versus 75% in 2019 — a gap worth asking about on a visit.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 86% | 82% | 80% | 77% | 80% |
| Grade 4 | 76% | 60% | 81% | 67% | 62% |
| Grade 5 | 69% | 71% | 71% | 76% | 69% |
| Grade 6 | 69% | 57% | 52% | 72% | 69% |
| Grade 7 | 71% | 76% | 63% | 67% | 73% |
| Grade 8 | 62% | 53% | 68% | 60% | 70% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 82% | 83% | 85% | 77% | 79% |
| Grade 4 | 75% | 60% | 70% | 57% | 59% |
| Grade 5 | 59% | 66% | 57% | 62% | 54% |
| Grade 6 | 57% | 50% | 41% | 46% | 57% |
| Grade 7 | 51% | 48% | 49% | 54% | 56% |
| Grade 8 | 39% | 27% | 40% | 42% | 43% |
The story this school is actually telling
of students scored in the top band on the state test. The California average is 21.3%.
proficiency runs 80% in this year's grade 3 against 61% 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 22.1pp across grades; the floor slips 11.9pp. 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.
Cubberley K-8's most underrated number
52.2% 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 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 extra support — tutoring, counseling, small groups — reaches kids across income lines, not just the students already ahead.
- 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 Cubberley K-8 in Long Beach, 52.2% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 41.9% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Cubberley K-8 outperforms its district average for low-income students by 10.4 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (34.3% Math proficient); Hispanic students (63.4% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 47.7 percentage points for disabilities students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 178 students tested.
6 of 15 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 17.2pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +7.6pp.
Showing up, and staying in class
TK/K students miss school at roughly twice the rate of Grades 4–6 students (21.3% vs 8.9%). 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
$412 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 951 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), 50% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Cubberley K-8 a good elementary school?
What are Cubberley K-8's CAASPP test scores?
How does Cubberley K-8 rank in California?
Is Cubberley K-8 getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Cubberley K-8?
How does Cubberley K-8 compare to other schools in Long Beach?
How does Cubberley K-8 serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 80
Nearby Middle Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 59
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 | 97 | 67% | 13% | 4% | 15% | 80% | +37 |
| Grade 4 | 86 | 42% | 20% | 17% | 21% | 62% | +17 |
| Grade 5 | 89 | 45% | 24% | 11% | 20% | 69% | +21 |
| Grade 6 | 115 | 42% | 27% | 22% | 10% | 69% | +22 |
| Grade 7 | 124 | 38% | 35% | 16% | 10% | 73% | +26 |
| Grade 8 | 129 | 31% | 39% | 16% | 15% | 70% | +24 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 96 | 58% | 21% | 7% | 14% | 79% | +33 |
| Grade 4 | 85 | 34% | 25% | 16% | 25% | 59% | +17 |
| Grade 5 | 89 | 36% | 18% | 27% | 19% | 54% | +19 |
| Grade 6 | 114 | 32% | 25% | 27% | 16% | 57% | +22 |
| Grade 7 | 123 | 33% | 24% | 24% | 20% | 56% | +22 |
| Grade 8 | 126 | 28% | 15% | 25% | 32% | 43% | +11 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 214 | 23% | 27% | 38% | 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 | 178 | 52.2% | +10 | +14 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 238 | 63.4% | +19 | +25 |
| White | 212 | 82.5% | +6 | +21 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cubberley K-8 ← | — | 55 | 47.0% | 67.1% | −18.6 | 2.5% |
| Jack L. Weaver Elementary | 2 mi | 83 | 72.3% | 90.6% | −3.5 | 0.3% |
| Richard Henry Lee Elementary | 1.7 mi | 81 | 58.7% | 83.8% | +3.5 | 0.4% |
| Gant Elementary | 2 mi | 75 | 52.7% | 80.1% | −5.8 | 0.4% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 53 | 71 | #1591 | 45.8% | 74.5% | 7.9% | 3.5% | -20.1pp |
| 2022 | 55 | 83 | #992 | 47.3% | 70.4% | 18.6% | 2.9% | -14.1pp |
| 2023 | 61 | 85 | #834 | 50.8% | 73.8% | 15.5% | 2.6% | -18.7pp |
| 2024 | 57 | 79 | #1233 | 45.0% | 69.2% | 13.6% | 1.3% | -7.8pp |
| 2025 | 55 | 76 | #1389 | 47.0% | 67.1% | 13.8% | 2.5% | -18.6pp |
- — Scored here as an elementary school — other grade spans appear in the data appendix.
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 8.9% | 12.3% | +3.4pp |
| Male | 6.9% | 14.9% | +8.0pp |
| Asian | 1.6% | 6.3% | +4.7pp |
| Black/African American | 19.7% | 35.5% | +15.8pp |
| Filipino | 5.0% | — | — |
| White | 0.0% | 8.3% | +8.3pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 7.4% | 17.6% | +10.2pp |
| Two or More Races | 8.5% | 12.1% | +3.6pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 15.8% | 36.5% | +20.7pp |
| English Learners | 3.6% | 16.2% | +12.6pp |
| Homeless | 25.5% | 21.9% | -3.6pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 12.7% | 27.6% | +14.9pp |
| All Students | 7.9% | 13.6% | +5.7pp |
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