Garfield Elementary: High scores, real growth, strong attendance. We looked for a catch — we didn't find one.
Garfield posts 55.5% exceeding the standard — versus 21.3% statewide — with climate numbers better than most. That doesn't make it perfect. It makes it worth a visit to find what numbers can't measure.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 80 | 55% | 83% | +2.5 | 15.2% | 0.6% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Garfield Elementary scores 80 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 97th 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 →
⭐ High Ceiling — Ask what happens for a kid who shows up behind — a high ceiling for the top can sit right next to thin support at the bottom, and the score alone won't show you which.
Most rating sites would stop at “83% proficient” and call it done. Garfield deserves a closer read. The school sits in Eureka, where one in four students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
The headline number: 55.5% of students scored in the top band on the state test. The California average is 21.3%.
The seven-year arc
Has held the 97th-percentile line every tested year since 2019.
The pandemic drop is behind this school: 83% of students meet the standard today, above the 77% who did in 2019.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | — | 69% | 86% | — | 71% |
| Grade 4 | — | — | 75% | 86% | — |
| Grade 5 | 91% | — | — | 73% | 92% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | — | 77% | 93% | — | 93% |
| Grade 4 | — | — | 58% | 93% | — |
| Grade 5 | 64% | — | — | 55% | 77% |
The 5 things our score weighs
Ask what the school is working on next. Strong numbers tell you where a school is, not where it's going.
- 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
8 of 10 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.
Showing up, and staying in class
The people teaching here
What gets spent here
$1,143 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 73 students, this school is much smaller than 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), 77% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Garfield Elementary a good elementary school?
What are Garfield Elementary's CAASPP test scores?
How does Garfield Elementary rank in California?
Is Garfield Elementary getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Garfield Elementary?
How does Garfield Elementary compare to other schools in Eureka?
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.
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 | 14 | 57% | 14% | 21% | 7% | 71% | +28 |
| Grade 4 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Grade 5 | 13 | 46% | 46% | 8% | 0% | 92% | +44 |
| Grade 6 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 14 | 57% | 36% | 7% | 0% | 93% | +47 |
| Grade 4 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Grade 5 | 13 | 62% | 15% | 23% | 0% | 77% | +42 |
| Grade 6 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 13 | 46% | 31% | 23% | 0% |
CAST is tested in grades 5, 8, and once in high school — not annually. Not part of the Scope Score.
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garfield Elementary ← | — | 80 | 55.5% | 83.4% | +2.5 | 0.6% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 74 | 93 | #368 | 45.5% | 77.3% | 9.8% | 0.5% | — |
| 2022 | 74 | 96 | #208 | 50.0% | 73.1% | 23.4% | 1.5% | — |
| 2023 | 73 | 94 | #327 | 42.3% | 78.0% | 18.2% | 0.3% | — |
| 2024 | 75 | 95 | #276 | 60.2% | 76.5% | 15.7% | 0.6% | — |
| 2025 | 80 | 97 | #149 | 55.5% | 83.4% | 15.2% | 0.6% | +2.5pp |
- — Subgroup results are suppressed for small student counts (fewer than 15 tested), following CDE privacy rules.
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 10.7% | 15.8% | +5.1pp |
| Male | 8.1% | 11.6% | +3.5pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 0.0% | 14.3% | +14.3pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 19.0% | 20.8% | +1.8pp |
| All Students | 9.2% | 13.6% | +4.4pp |
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