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De Anza Magnet · El Centro

De Anza Magnet: The score is middle of the pack. The trajectory isn't.

De Anza Magnet sits mid-pack on raw proficiency — and it's climbing faster than most schools anywhere near it — and that holds when you follow the same students across grades.

1530 South Waterman Avenue, 92243 (opens in new tab)·El Centro Elementary·El Centro·Grades TK-8·504 students·69% low-income·Magnet·2024–25 CAASPP·(760) 352-9811·Website
Magnet program — specialized public school with themed curriculum. Enrollment via district lottery, not neighborhood-based.
2019–2025 trend · CDE CAASPP
This schoolCA avg
Scope5345
% Exceeded17%21%
% Met+39%43%
Growth+17.2-2.9
Absence14.9%17.9%
Suspension2.5%1.6%
Scope Score
53
🚀 Growth Engine · Solid
ranked #1,603 statewide · #2 of 11 in El Centro Elementary

De Anza Magnet scores 53 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 72nd 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 →

🚀 Growth Engine — Ask how the school tracks each kid's growth year to year, and what happens when a kid stalls instead of gaining.

Most rating sites would stop at “39% proficient” and call it done. De Anza Magnet deserves a closer read. The school sits in El Centro, where two-thirds of students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.

The headline number: +17.2pp separates this year's grade 3 from its grade 5. The state average rises 4.5pp over the same span. Following the same students from 2023 G3 → 2025 G5 points the same way.

The seven-year arc

Percentile among 5,744 elementary schools statewide

Climbed from the 47th to the 72nd percentile since 2019 — past roughly 1300 elementary schools.

CA Dashboard
ELAGreen(Increased Significantly)MathGreen(Increased Significantly)

Proficiency here is back to its pre-pandemic level — 39% meet the standard, about where the school stood in 2019.

ELA — % met or exceeded, by grade
Grade20192022202320242025
Grade 349%33%40%43%26%
Grade 444%36%35%38%47%
Grade 546%27%53%55%58%
Grade 659%38%48%43%46%
Grade 751%51%52%44%63%
Grade 861%52%56%59%59%
Math — % met or exceeded, by grade
Grade20192022202320242025
Grade 333%31%45%46%35%
Grade 427%24%27%27%29%
Grade 523%7%23%29%38%
Grade 632%27%30%29%26%
Grade 726%25%30%24%41%
Grade 860%36%30%43%43%

The story this school is actually telling

The school, grade by grade

ELA · CAASPP 2024–25

Different students, same year — each bar is one grade's proficiency mix.

13%
13%
74%
Grade 3 · 26% proficient
22%
25%
53%
Grade 4 · 47% proficient
27%
31%
42%
Grade 5 · 58% proficient

The honest read: the share exceeding rises 13.7pp across grades; the floor rises 31.9pp. The state average rises 4.5pp over the same span. Kids here gain ground the longer they stay — the pattern you want to see. A school visit and conversation with teachers will tell you more than this number.

The 6 things our score weighs

Exceeded standard
16.9%
State 21.3%
4.4pp below state avg
Growth (G3→G5)
+17.2pp
State -2.9pp
Scores improve across grades
Met or exceeded
38.8%
State 42.7%
3.8pp below state avg
Chronic absenteeism
14.9%
State 17.9%
3.0pp below state avg
Suspension rate
2.5%
State 1.6%
0.9pp above state avg
EL proficiency (ELPAC)
19.5%
State 18.0%
1.5pp above state avg
Worth a school visit

Ask what changed — new curriculum, new principal, new program. Momentum has a cause, and a visit will find it.

  • Ask how teachers track each child's growth over the year, not just where the class lands on test day.
  • 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 De Anza Magnet in El Centro, 42.6% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 38.8% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. De Anza Magnet outperforms its district average for low-income students by 3.8 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (29.8% Math proficient); Hispanic students (50.6% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 26.9 percentage points for english learner students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 242 students tested.

All students at this school: 43% met or exceeded
All StudentsAll Students: this school 43%, district —, state 43%43%
Hispanic/LatinoHispanic/Latino: this school 43%, district 35%, state 32%43% · −0 vs school
Socioeconomically DisadvantagedSocioeconomically Disadvantaged: this school 36%, district 33%, state 32%36% · −7 vs school
FemaleFemale: this school 39%, district 36%, state 44%39% · −4 vs school
MaleMale: this school 47%, district 36%, state 42%47% · +5 vs school
English LearnersEnglish Learners: this school 19%, district 17%, state 11%19% · −24 vs school

5 of 11 student groups here are too small to report — a privacy protection, not a gap.

this school district, same group California, same group
Subgroup growth by grade

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 31.7pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +4.2pp.

Showing up, and staying in class

Chronic absenteeismChronic absenteeism: this school 14.9%, district 17.3%, state 17.9%14.9% · −3.0pp vs state
Suspension rateSuspension rate: this school 2.5%, district —, state 1.6%2.5% · +0.9pp vs state

Grades 7–8 students miss school at roughly one and a half times the rate of TK/K students (18.6% vs 12.1%). Chronic absence here concentrates in the upper grades.

Chronic absenteeism by grade band
Grades 4–612.8%
Grades 7–818.6%
TK/K12.1%

Where the path goes

The path below is estimated from nearby schools in the same district — scores shown for each next step.

Estimated K-12 Path
Elementary
De Anza Magnet
53
This school

Estimated K-12 path based on district and proximity. Actual attendance zones may differ. Contact your school district for official feeder information.

The people teaching here

Context — never part of the Scope Score
Student : teacherStudent to teacher ratio: this school 24:1, district 22:124:1
Teaching staff22 teachers
Avg. experience15.6 years
Fully credentialed79%
Intern / emergency permit8.0%
Salary Schedule
Teacher salary schedule$72,376 – $145,460
Principal salary$158,469 – $0
Superintendent salary$285,600

Pay is set by the district, not the school.

What gets spent here

Per-pupil spendingPer-pupil spending: $18,309, CA average $14,815$18,309 · spent at this school

These measure different things: this figure is spending attributed to this campus, while district-wide figures also include central administration, districtwide programs, and the state's pension contributions made on the district's behalf — costs that never get assigned to a single school. The district number runs higher at nearly every school, not just this one.

Federal share$1,012 per student

$1,012 per student arrives as federal Title funding — a measure of concentrated need, not school quality.

District current expense · FY 2024–25$21,578 per student

The district's current expense of education per student, from CDE's annual SACS filing — the freshest district spending figure the state publishes.

Where the district's dollars go · FY 2024–25 · CDE SACS
Instruction65%
Instruction support9%
Student services8%
Administration6%
Buildings & maintenance11%

District-level, from the district's own SACS general-ledger filing — school-by-school breakdowns aren't published by the state.

district detail, 2016–2020 — the newest published
2020$15,218 per pupil
2019$13,948 per pupil
2018$13,513 per pupil
2017$10,721 per pupil
2016$10,265 per pupil

Source: NCES F-33 · Full district breakdown →

The neighborhood it serves

Hispanic95.4%
District 96.0% · CA 56.1%
White3.8%
District 1.9% · CA 19.9%
Other0.6%
District 1.2% · CA 9.0%
Black0.2%
District 0.7% · CA 4.8%
Low IncomeFree/reduced lunch eligible 68.7% (5pp above CA avg)
Neighborhood — American Community Survey
Median income$55K · CA $85K
Median home value$318K · CA $659K
Bachelor's degree+15% · CA 35%
ZIP population49,069
Median age31 years

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2024) · ZIP-level

Worth Knowing

Transitional kindergarten is offered here — confirmed by actual Census Day enrollment, not just the listed grade span.

On the state's science test (CAST), 31% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.

Frequently asked questions

Is De Anza Magnet a good elementary school?

De Anza Magnet has a Scope Score of 53 out of 100, placing it in the 72nd percentile of California elementary schools and ranked #1,603 statewide. 16.9% of students exceeded the state standard on the 2025 CAASPP assessment, which is 4.4 percentage points below the California average of 21.3%. The Scope Score weights 6 dimensions for elementary schools: exceeded standard (38%), grade 3-to-5 growth (27%), met or exceeded (proficient) (20%), chronic absenteeism (5%), suspension rate (5%), and ELPAC English Learner proficiency (5%). Data source: California Department of Education CAASPP 2025, analyzed by SchoolScope.

What are De Anza Magnet's CAASPP test scores?

On the 2025 CAASPP Smarter Balanced Assessment, 38.8% of students at De Anza Magnet met or exceeded the state standard in ELA and Math combined, and 16.9% exceeded it. The gap between those numbers matters: 21.9% of students are at the proficiency floor, while 16.9% pushed past it. Most rating sites report only the combined "proficient" number. SchoolScope surfaces the exceeded-vs-met split because it reveals whether a school's curriculum challenges students beyond minimum proficiency or paces toward it. 316 student-subject combinations were assessed.

How does De Anza Magnet rank in California?

De Anza Magnet ranks #1,603 among California elementary schools by Scope Score, placing it in the 72nd percentile. This ranking is based on a weighted composite of 2025 CAASPP test performance (exceeded and met rates), grade-level growth (Grade 3 to grade 5 growth), chronic absenteeism, and suspension rate. Unlike single-number ratings, the Scope Score shows what drives the ranking so parents can decide what matters most to their family. See full methodology.

Is De Anza Magnet getting better or worse?

Based on 2025 CAASPP data, proficiency at De Anza Magnet increases by 17.2 percentage points from Grade 3 to grade 5 growth. This upward trajectory suggests the school is adding measurable value — students leave with higher proficiency rates than they entered with. Growth trajectory is weighted at 15% in the elementary Scope Score because it measures what the school does, not just who walks in the door.

What is the attendance and school culture like at De Anza Magnet?

14.9% of students at De Anza Magnet are chronically absent (missing 10% or more of school days), which is better than the California average of 17.9%. The suspension rate is 2.5%. SchoolScope includes these culture metrics in the Scope Score because they reflect day-to-day school experience in ways test scores alone cannot.

How does De Anza Magnet compare to other schools in El Centro?

De Anza Magnet scores 53/100 (72nd percentile) among California elementary schools. To compare with nearby schools, SchoolScope shows the same metrics side by side: exceeded rate, proficiency, growth trajectory, and school culture indicators. The school serves 504 students. Use the schools in El Centro page or the map view to compare all elementary schools nearby.

How does De Anza Magnet serve low-income and underrepresented students?

At De Anza Magnet in El Centro, 42.6% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 38.8% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. De Anza Magnet outperforms its district average for low-income students by 3.8 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (29.8% Math proficient); Hispanic students (50.6% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 26.9 percentage points for english learner students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 242 students tested. SchoolScope shows disaggregated test scores by demographic subgroup so you can see how a school performs for your child's specific group — not just the school-wide average. Subgroup data is context, not part of the Scope Score: we don't penalize schools for who they serve. See our equity approach.

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.


For the data nerds

Every number on this page

Score factors, grade-level breakdowns, subgroup proficiency, and peer comparisons.

01Score factorsWeighted composite · 2024–25
Exceeded standard · 38%
16.9%
↓ vs CA 21.3% · 46th pctile
Growth (G3→G5) · 27%
+17.2pp
↑ vs CA -2.9pp · 80th pctile
Met or exceeded · 20%
38.8%
↓ vs CA 42.7% · 47th pctile
Chronic absenteeism · 5%
14.9%
↑ vs CA 17.9% · 55th pctile
Suspension rate · 5%
2.5%
↓ vs CA 1.6% · 43th pctile
EL proficiency (ELPAC) · 5%
19.5%
↑ vs CA 18.0% · 53th pctile
02By grade & subgroupCAASPP 2024–25 · % of tested students
ELATestedEXCMETNEARNOTMET++/CA
Grade 35413%13%26%48%26%−17
Grade 45922%25%19%34%47%+3
Grade 54527%31%31%11%58%+10
Grade 66515%31%28%26%46%−0
Grade 76813%50%28%9%63%+16
Grade 86325%33%24%17%59%+13
MathTestedEXCMETNEARNOTMET++/CA
Grade 35413%22%26%39%35%−11
Grade 4597%22%32%39%29%−13
Grade 54520%18%42%20%38%+2
Grade 66514%12%37%37%26%−9
Grade 76819%22%35%24%41%+7
Grade 86327%16%27%30%43%+11
Science (CAST)TestedEXCMETNEARNOT
Grade 5/8/111084%28%60%8%

CAST is tested in grades 5, 8, and once in high school — not annually. Not part of the Scope Score.

Subgroup · ELATestedMET+vs districtvs CA
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged24242.6%+4+4
Hispanic/Latino34050.6%+9+12
English Learners10422.1%+3+12
03Peer comparison · nearest elementary schoolssorted by Scope Score
SchoolDistScopeEXCMET+GrowthSusp
De Anza Magnet ←5316.9%38.8%+17.22.5%
Imperial Cross Elementary3 mi5422.9%49.3%+2.60.1%
Lincoln Elementary1.2 mi5314.6%41.2%−5.20.6%
McCabe Elementary2 mi5321.4%51.4%+4.21.9%
California average4521.3%42.7%−2.91.6%
04More measurescontext · not all part of the Scope Score
YearScopePctileRankExcMet+AbsentSuspGrowth
20194147#290714.0%37.0%11.0%3.0%-6.9pp
20222111#50916.5%26.4%37.4%1.4%-15.6pp
20234051#279211.7%37.3%27.5%3.0%-4.1pp
20244866#197815.1%39.9%18.0%2.2%-2.4pp
20255372#160316.9%38.8%14.9%2.5%+17.2pp
NO STATEWIDE TESTING 2020–21 (COVID) · SCORE AND PERCENTILE ARE RELATIVE TO EACH YEAR'S FIELD
What we can't show
  • — Scored here as an elementary school — other grade spans appear in the data appendix.
05Climate by student groupchronic absenteeism · 2019 vs 2025 — the two years CDE publishes at subgroup level
Group20192025Δ
Female10.0%16.3%+6.3pp
Male12.0%13.0%+1.0pp
Hispanic/Latino10.1%14.9%+4.8pp
Students with Disabilities19.0%11.9%-7.1pp
English Learners12.3%14.7%+2.4pp
Military-Connected16.7%0.0%-16.7pp
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged14.3%19.0%+4.7pp
All Students11.0%14.6%+3.6pp
EXC = exceeded standard · MET+ = met or exceeded ("proficient") · Source: CA Dept. of Education · CAASPP 2024–25 · n=5,744 elementary schools · Vintages: climate subgroups 2019+2025 · district finance per its label · ACS 2022 · Data updated 2026-07-03methodology · data updates · CSV · report issue

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