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DREAM Academy · Lakeside

DREAM Academy: The score is middle of the pack. The trajectory isn't.

DREAM Academy sits mid-pack on raw proficiency — and it's climbing 32.1pp between this year's grade 3 and grade 5, faster than most schools anywhere near it.

11838 Valle Vista Rd, 92040 (opens in new tab)·Lakeside Union Elementary·Lakeside·Grades K-8·138 students·39% low-income·2024–25 CAASPP·(619) 390-2600·Website
Alternative school — serves students who benefit from a non-traditional educational setting. Scores are not directly comparable to comprehensive schools.
2022–2025 trend · CDE CAASPP
This schoolCA avg
Scope5145
% Exceeded11%21%
% Met+35%43%
Growth+32.1-2.9
Absence8.0%17.9%
Suspension0.5%1.6%
Scope Score
51
🚀 Growth Engine · Solid
ranked #1,804 statewide · #2 of 7 in Lakeside Union Elementary

DREAM Academy scores 51 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 69th 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 “35% proficient” and call it done. DREAM Academy deserves a closer read. The school sits in Lakeside, where one in three students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.

The headline number: +32.1pp separates this year's grade 3 from its grade 5. The state average rises 4.5pp over the same span.

The seven-year arc

Percentile among 5,744 elementary schools statewide

Climbed from the 37th to the 69th percentile since 2022 — past roughly 1800 elementary schools.

CA Dashboard
ELARed(Declined Significantly)MathRed(Declined Significantly)
ELA — % met or exceeded, by grade
Grade202220242025
Grade 336%7%
Grade 469%46%
Grade 591%55%
Grade 646%55%
Math — % met or exceeded, by grade
Grade202220242025
Grade 327%29%
Grade 462%31%
Grade 555%45%
Grade 60%32%

The 5 things our score weighs

Exceeded standard
11.0%
State 21.3%
10.3pp below state avg
Growth (G3→G5)
+32.1pp
State -2.9pp
Scores improve across grades
Met or exceeded
35.4%
State 42.7%
7.2pp below state avg
Chronic absenteeism
8.0%
State 17.9%
9.9pp below state avg
Suspension rate
0.5%
State 1.6%
1.2pp below 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

All students at this school: 37% met or exceeded
All StudentsAll Students: this school 37%, district —, state 43%37%
WhiteWhite: this school 52%, district 46%, state 56%52% · +15 vs school
MaleMale: this school 46%, district 39%, state 42%46% · +9 vs school

8 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.

Showing up, and staying in class

Chronic absenteeismChronic absenteeism: this school 8.0%, district 15.1%, state 17.9%8.0% · −9.9pp vs state
Suspension rateSuspension rate: this school 0.5%, district —, state 1.6%0.5% · −1.2pp vs state
Chronic absenteeism by grade band
Grades 4–63.9%
Grades 7–88.3%
TK/K0.0%

Where the path goes

The path below follows attendance boundaries — scores shown for each next step.

K-12 Feeder Path
Elementary
DREAM Academy
51/100
This school

Estimated path based on proximity within the same district. 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 23:1, district 23:123:1
Teaching staff8 teachers
Avg. experience22.6 years
Fully credentialed100%
Salary Schedule
Teacher salary schedule$59,379 – $132,498
Principal salary$135,382 – $0
Superintendent salary$247,261

Pay is set by the district, not the school.

What gets spent here

Per-pupil spendingPer-pupil spending: $16,761, CA average $14,815$16,761 · spent at this school
Federal share$396 per student

$396 per student arrives as federal Title funding — a measure of concentrated need, not school quality.

District current expense · FY 2024–25$17,252 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
Instruction67%
Instruction support9%
Student services8%
Administration8%
Buildings & maintenance7%

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

district detail, 2018–2020 — the newest published
2020$13,499 per pupil
2020$17,613 per pupil
2019$12,242 per pupil
2019$12,598 per pupil
2018$12,255 per pupil

Source: NCES F-33 · Full district breakdown →

The neighborhood it serves

White51.5%
District 49.1% · CA 19.9%
Hispanic32.6%
District 36.9% · CA 56.1%
Other13.8%
District 9.4% · CA 9.0%
Black2.2%
District 3.0% · CA 4.8%
Low IncomeFree/reduced lunch eligible 39.1% (25pp below CA avg)
Neighborhood — American Community Survey
Median income$108K · CA $85K
Median home value$723K · CA $659K
Bachelor's degree+27% · CA 35%
ZIP population46,216
Median age39 years

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

Worth Knowing

At 138 students, this school is much smaller than the typical California elementary school (≈480).

On the state's science test (CAST), 32% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.

Frequently asked questions

Is DREAM Academy a good elementary school?

DREAM Academy has a Scope Score of 51 out of 100, placing it in the 69th percentile of California elementary schools and ranked #1,804 statewide. 11.0% of students exceeded the state standard on the 2025 CAASPP assessment, which is 10.3 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 DREAM Academy's CAASPP test scores?

On the 2025 CAASPP Smarter Balanced Assessment, 35.4% of students at DREAM Academy met or exceeded the state standard in ELA and Math combined, and 11.0% exceeded it. The gap between those numbers matters: 24.4% of students are at the proficiency floor, while 11.0% 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. 76 student-subject combinations were assessed.

How does DREAM Academy rank in California?

DREAM Academy ranks #1,804 among California elementary schools by Scope Score, placing it in the 69th 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 DREAM Academy getting better or worse?

Based on 2025 CAASPP data, proficiency at DREAM Academy increases by 32.1 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 DREAM Academy?

8.0% of students at DREAM Academy are chronically absent (missing 10% or more of school days), which is better than the California average of 17.9%. The suspension rate is 0.5%, indicating a low-discipline-incident environment. 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 DREAM Academy compare to other schools in Lakeside?

DREAM Academy scores 51/100 (69th 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 138 students. Use the schools in Lakeside page or the map view to compare all elementary schools nearby.

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%
11.0%
↓ vs CA 21.3% · 40th pctile
Growth (G3→G5) · 27%
+32.1pp
↑ vs CA -2.9pp · 79th pctile
Met or exceeded · 20%
35.4%
↓ vs CA 42.7% · 44th pctile
Chronic absenteeism · 5%
8.0%
↑ vs CA 17.9% · 66th pctile
Suspension rate · 5%
0.5%
↑ vs CA 1.6% · 60th pctile
02By grade & subgroupCAASPP 2024–25 · % of tested students
ELATestedEXCMETNEARNOTMET++/CA
Grade 3147%0%29%64%7%−36
Grade 4138%38%15%38%46%+1
Grade 51118%36%18%27%55%+7
Grade 62010%45%35%10%55%+8
Grade 7120%42%33%25%42%−6
Grade 89
MathTestedEXCMETNEARNOTMET++/CA
Grade 3147%21%21%50%29%−17
Grade 4138%23%46%23%31%−11
Grade 51118%27%18%36%45%+10
Grade 61916%16%32%37%32%−3
Grade 71217%17%42%25%33%−1
Grade 89
Science (CAST)TestedEXCMETNEARNOT
Grade 5/8/112223%9%64%5%

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

03Peer comparison · nearest elementary schoolssorted by Scope Score
SchoolDistScopeEXCMET+GrowthSusp
DREAM Academy ←5111.0%35.4%+32.10.5%
Hill Creek Elementary2.8 mi6028.6%57.8%+7.52.8%
Lakeside Farms Elementary1.8 mi4214.7%39.9%−9.20.8%
Lindo Park Elementary2.9 mi419.8%24.6%+1.81.1%
California average4521.3%42.7%−2.91.6%
04More measurescontext · not all part of the Scope Score
YearScopePctileRankExcMet+AbsentSuspGrowth
20223137#36159.1%31.8%15.7%0.3%
20246587#71824.1%69.1%13.4%1.3%
20255169#180411.0%35.4%8.0%0.5%+32.1pp
What we can't show
  • — Subgroup results are suppressed for small student counts (fewer than 15 tested), following CDE privacy rules.
  • — 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
Female4.3%
Male3.9%
Hispanic/Latino10.6%
Two or More Races0.0%
Students with Disabilities0.0%
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged9.1%
All Students4.1%
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