Discovery Charter: Low-income kids here outscore the state by 29 points. But math slips between grade 3 and grade 5.
Discovery Charter posts numbers for its most vulnerable students that most schools don't reach overall. The trend line is the part worth a closer look.
Discovery Charter scores 63 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 85th 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 →
Most rating sites would stop at “68% proficient” and call it done. Discovery Charter deserves a closer read. The school sits in Chula Vista, where one in four students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
The headline number: 3.9% chronic absenteeism — versus 17.9% statewide. Attendance is the quietest strong signal a school can post.
As a charter, Discovery Charter enrolls by application, not address — the score reads the same, the enrollment path doesn't.
The story this school is actually telling
chronic absenteeism — versus 17.9% statewide. Attendance is the quietest strong signal a school can post.
math proficiency runs 71% in grade 3 against 62% in grade 5, while reading holds (68% to 71%). 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 6.9pp across grades; the floor rises 3.2pp. 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.
Discovery Charter's most underrated number
66.9% 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 5 things our score weighs
Ask the principal what changes between grade 3 and grade 5. The trajectory is the thing a tour will tell you more about than a spreadsheet.
Where the path goes
The path below follows attendance boundaries — scores shown for each next step.
Estimated K-12 path based on district and proximity. Actual attendance zones may differ. Contact your school district for official feeder information.
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.
The community around it
Student demographics
3 more gaps by subject
Subgroups with fewer than 15 students are excluded for privacy. Gaps of less than 3 percentage points are not shown.
Weighted average across tested grades. Subgroups with fewer than 15 students excluded. Data: CDE CAASPP 2024-25.
Subgroup Growth by Grade
Low-income student ELA proficiency rises by 1.9pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +9.7pp.
Subgroups with fewer than 10 tested students per grade are not shown.
Funding Breakdown
Neighborhood Context
Whole Child
Source: CDE SARC, 2024-25
For the data nerdsEvery number on this page
Score factors, grade-level breakdowns, subgroup proficiency, and peer comparisons.
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 | 119 | 45% | 23% | 17% | 15% | 68% | +25 |
| Grade 4 | 129 | 37% | 31% | 19% | 13% | 68% | +23 |
| Grade 5 | 122 | 39% | 33% | 16% | 13% | 71% | +23 |
| Grade 6 | 106 | 47% | 38% | 12% | 3% | 85% | +38 |
| Grade 7 | 45 | 44% | 42% | 7% | 7% | 87% | +39 |
| Grade 8 | 46 | 52% | 35% | 9% | 4% | 87% | +41 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 120 | 37% | 34% | 14% | 15% | 71% | +25 |
| Grade 4 | 130 | 34% | 32% | 25% | 9% | 65% | +24 |
| Grade 5 | 123 | 41% | 20% | 18% | 20% | 62% | +26 |
| Grade 6 | 107 | 36% | 30% | 22% | 11% | 66% | +31 |
| Grade 7 | 45 | 47% | 27% | 20% | 7% | 73% | +39 |
| Grade 8 | 46 | 67% | 20% | 9% | 4% | 87% | +55 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 169 | 25% | 36% | 37% | 2% |
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 | 181 | 66.9% | +21 | +29 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 388 | 71.9% | +23 | +33 |
| Filipino | 38 | 81.6% | +1 | +9 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery Charter ← | — | 63 | 38.9% | 67.6% | −2.9 | 0.2% |
| Liberty Elementary | 2.8 mi | 70 | 42.2% | 69.7% | +2.8 | 0.9% |
| Parkview Elementary | 2.1 mi | 67 | 45.3% | 68.5% | +2.1 | 0.8% |
| McMillin (Corky) Elementary | 2 mi | 66 | 41.0% | 64.8% | +12.3 | 0.5% |
| California average | — | 43 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |