Highlands Elementary
School overview
Student demographics
Performance breakdown
| Category | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Exceeded Standard | 15.3% |
| Met Standard | 22.3% |
| Below Standard | 62.5% |
What other rankings don't show you
Most rating sites report "38% proficient" for Highlands Elementary and stop there. Here's what that number hides:
15.3% of students exceeded standard while 22.3% merely met it. That exceeded rate is 5.7 points below the state average of 21.0%. That's 4.1 points below the La Mesa-Spring Valley district average of 19.4%. Nearby schools (within ~3 miles) average 16.9% exceeded — about the same. The gap between "met" and "exceeded" is the difference between a school that clears the bar and one that raises it.
Students here improve by 8.6 percentage points from grade 3 to grade 5, suggesting the school is adding value beyond what students arrive with.
Chronic absenteeism is 21.7%, above the state average of 18.7%.
Key metrics
ELA scores by grade
| Grade | Tested | Exceeded | Met | Met+Above |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3rd | 51 | 9.8% | 23.5% | 33.3% |
| 4th | 60 | 23.3% | 23.3% | 46.7% |
| 5th | 51 | 23.5% | 29.4% | 52.9% |
Math scores by grade
| Grade | Tested | Exceeded | Met | Met+Above |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3rd | 52 | 5.8% | 21.1% | 26.9% |
| 4th | 62 | 19.4% | 21.0% | 40.3% |
| 5th | 53 | 9.4% | 15.1% | 24.5% |
Nearby schools
13 schools within ~3 miles · avg composite 41.7