How does Highlands Elementary compare to other elementary schools in Pittsburg?

Highlands Elementary has a SchoolScope composite score of 30.6/100, placing it at the 11th percentile statewide. 6% of students exceed standard, with a total of 926 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at Highlands Elementary?

5.6% of students at Highlands Elementary exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 20.8% meet or exceed it. The gap between these two numbers reveals whether the school pushes students beyond basic proficiency.

Is Highlands Elementary improving or declining?

Highlands Elementary's proficiency rate decreases by 5.5 percentage points from grade 3 to grade 5, suggesting the school is not sustaining early academic gains.

What is the chronic absenteeism rate at Highlands Elementary?

31.5% of students at Highlands Elementary are chronically absent (missing 10% or more of school days). This metric reflects school culture and family engagement, and is weighted at 15% in our composite score.

Highlands Elementary

Pittsburg Unified Pittsburg Contra Costa County 94565

Composite Score

out of 100

State Percentile

of elementary schools

State Rank

926 students tested

School overview

Enrollment

473 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

24:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

77%

Teachers

20 full-time

Student demographics

Hispanic 58.6%

White 7.2%

Asian 4.2%

Black 16.7%

Other 13.3%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for Highlands Elementary
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	5.6%
Met Standard	15.2%
Below Standard	79.2%

Exceeded

5.6%

Met

15.2%

Below

79.2%

What other rankings don't show you

Most rating sites report "21% proficient" for Highlands Elementary and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

5.6% of students exceeded standard while 15.2% merely met it. That exceeded rate is 15.4 points below the state average of 21.0%. That's 3.7 points below the Pittsburg Unified district average of 9.3%. The 7 nearby schools within ~3 miles average 8.5% exceeded — 2.9 points higher. The gap between "met" and "exceeded" is the difference between a school that clears the bar and one that raises it.

Proficiency drops by 5.5 percentage points from grade 3 to grade 5 — a signal that the school may not be sustaining early gains.

Chronic absenteeism is 31.5%, above the state average of 18.7%.