Harriette Kirschen Elementary: Scores climb 11.2 points from grade 3 to grade 5. But one in four miss a month of school or more.
Harriette Kirschen's strongest signal is real. Attendance is the number to ask about — and both belong on the same page.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 37 | 5% | 18% | +11.2 | 25.2% | 1.9% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Harriette Kirschen Elementary scores 37 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 35th 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 →
📈 On the Rise — Ask how many years the improvement has held, not just the latest one — one strong cohort and a real turnaround can look identical in a single year of data.
Most rating sites would stop at “18% proficient” and call it done. Harriette Kirschen deserves a closer read. The school sits in Modesto, where four in five students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
The headline number: +11.2pp 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
Climbed from the 22nd to the 35th percentile since 2019 — past roughly 600 elementary schools.
This school hasn't fully recovered from the pandemic: 18% meet the standard today, versus 22% in 2019 — a gap worth asking about on a visit.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 22% | 14% | 9% | 9% | 10% |
| Grade 4 | 32% | 15% | 17% | 14% | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 26% | 26% | 25% | 25% | 23% |
| Grade 6 | 30% | 28% | 28% | 25% | 35% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 18% | 16% | 11% | 21% | 14% |
| Grade 4 | 20% | 14% | 10% | 7% | 20% |
| Grade 5 | 15% | 16% | 11% | 21% | 23% |
| Grade 6 | 16% | 12% | 15% | 13% | 19% |
The story this school is actually telling
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.
of students miss a month or more of school, versus 17.9% statewide. High absence often tracks community stress — worth asking about on a tour.
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 rises 6.4pp across grades; the floor rises 13.2pp. 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
Ask how the school tracks and follows up on attendance. High absence often reflects community stress, not classroom quality — a visit will tell you which.
- Ask how the school follows up when a student starts missing days — chronic absence often starts outside the classroom, not inside 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 Harriette Kirschen Elementary in Modesto, 21.0% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 29.7% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Harriette Kirschen Elementary trails its district average for low-income students by 8.6 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (18.7% Math proficient); Hispanic students (18.3% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 14.0 percentage points for english learner students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 252 students tested.
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 10.6pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +7.1pp.
Showing up, and staying in class
TK/K students miss school at roughly one and a half times the rate of Grades 4–6 students (34.2% vs 19.9%). 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
What gets spent here
$599 per student arrives as federal Title funding — a measure of concentrated need, not school quality.
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
Transitional kindergarten is offered here — confirmed by actual Census Day enrollment, not just the listed grade span.
On the state's science test (CAST), 10% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Harriette Kirschen Elementary a good elementary school?
What are Harriette Kirschen Elementary's CAASPP test scores?
How does Harriette Kirschen Elementary rank in California?
Is Harriette Kirschen Elementary getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Harriette Kirschen Elementary?
How does Harriette Kirschen Elementary compare to other schools in Modesto?
How does Harriette Kirschen Elementary serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 56
Private alternatives nearby
Private schools within ~10 miles. These schools do not participate in state testing and cannot be scored or ranked.
A low score doesn't tell the whole story. Read: Your School Scored Low — Here's What That Actually Means
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 | 68 | 3% | 7% | 28% | 62% | 10% | −33 |
| Grade 4 | 67 | 3% | 13% | 30% | 54% | 16% | −28 |
| Grade 5 | 64 | 9% | 14% | 22% | 55% | 23% | −24 |
| Grade 6 | 68 | 10% | 25% | 24% | 41% | 35% | −11 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 72 | 3% | 11% | 28% | 58% | 14% | −32 |
| Grade 4 | 66 | 3% | 17% | 26% | 55% | 20% | −22 |
| Grade 5 | 65 | 6% | 17% | 32% | 45% | 23% | −12 |
| Grade 6 | 70 | 7% | 11% | 20% | 61% | 19% | −16 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 67 | 3% | 7% | 52% | 37% |
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 | 252 | 21.0% | −9 | −17 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 229 | 18.3% | −11 | −21 |
| English Learners | 118 | 7.6% | −2 | −3 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harriette Kirschen Elementary ← | — | 37 | 4.5% | 17.8% | +11.2 | 1.9% |
| Paradise Charter | 2 mi | 64 | 51.6% | 78.1% | −28.4 | 0.5% |
| Enslen Elementary | 2.8 mi | 54 | 27.4% | 58.8% | −7.3 | 1.1% |
| Fairview Elementary | 1.4 mi | 49 | 10.2% | 32.1% | −14.2 | 0.1% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 32 | 22 | #4302 | 3.0% | 22.3% | 6.7% | 0.4% | +0.3pp |
| 2022 | 27 | 26 | #4260 | 4.6% | 17.0% | 45.1% | 3.1% | +6.4pp |
| 2023 | 28 | 21 | #4519 | 2.3% | 13.8% | 29.1% | 2.8% | +7.8pp |
| 2024 | 30 | 18 | #4676 | 2.9% | 16.0% | 19.8% | 3.4% | +8.0pp |
| 2025 | 37 | 35 | #3724 | 4.5% | 17.8% | 25.2% | 1.9% | +11.2pp |
- — Low-income students here trail the state average for their group by 17 points in ELA — worth asking how the school is closing that gap.
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 6.1% | 26.8% | +20.7pp |
| Male | 7.1% | 24.6% | +17.5pp |
| Asian | 2.0% | 25.0% | +23.0pp |
| Black/African American | 25.0% | — | — |
| Filipino | 9.1% | — | — |
| Hispanic/Latino | 6.6% | 24.7% | +18.1pp |
| Two or More Races | 3.2% | 54.5% | +51.3pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 11.9% | 26.8% | +14.9pp |
| English Learners | 3.1% | 15.1% | +12.0pp |
| Homeless | 25.0% | — | — |
| Military-Connected | 3.2% | — | — |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 6.3% | 26.1% | +19.8pp |
| All Students | 6.6% | 25.7% | +19.1pp |
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