Horizons School: Independent Study: The scores are below where anyone wants them. Here's what they don't tell you.
Horizons School: Independent Study posts low test scores — and suspensions run below the state rate (0.8% vs 1.6%). If this is your zoned school, the numbers below are where to start a conversation, not where to end one.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 21 | 18% | 36% | — | 30.6% | 0.8% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Horizons School: Independent Study scores 21 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 4th 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 →
🌱 Building Momentum — This label means the data doesn't clearly sort the school one way or the other — ask what the school is proud of, and what it's working on.
Most rating sites would stop at “36% proficient” and call it done. Horizons School: Independent Study deserves a closer read. The school sits in Pleasant Hill, where two in five students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
Test scores are one lens, and at this school they're a rough one right now. The sections below show the fuller picture — including the parts that are working.
The seven-year arc
Slipped from the 56th to the 4th percentile since 2022.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | — | 51% | 52% | 27% | — |
| Grade 4 | — | 44% | 31% | 33% | 55% |
| Grade 5 | — | 51% | 45% | — | — |
| Grade 6 | — | 36% | 30% | 14% | 18% |
| Grade 7 | — | — | 54% | 29% | 50% |
| Grade 8 | — | — | 43% | 33% | 63% |
| Grade 11 | 77% | 80% | 66% | 62% | 48% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | — | 57% | 60% | 36% | — |
| Grade 4 | — | 39% | 36% | 17% | 36% |
| Grade 5 | — | 41% | — | — | 18% |
| Grade 6 | — | — | 26% | 19% | 31% |
| Grade 7 | — | — | 41% | 28% | 71% |
| Grade 8 | — | — | 15% | 23% | 47% |
| Grade 11 | 35% | 10% | 16% | 32% | 34% |
The 5 things our score weighs
Ask what changed in the last two years, and what the school is asking families for. Growth shows up in these numbers a year or two after it shows up in classrooms.
- Ask how the school follows up when a student starts missing days — chronic absence often starts outside the classroom, not inside it.
- 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 Horizons School: Independent Study in Pleasant Hill, 46.2% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 31.7% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Horizons School: Independent Study outperforms its district average for low-income students by 14.4 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (45.8% Math proficient). Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 38 students tested.
7 of 13 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
Where the path goes
Horizons School: Independent Study serves grades K-12 — students can complete their entire K-12 education here, with no school-to-school transitions.
The people teaching here
Pay is set by the district, not the school.
What gets spent here
These measure different things: this figure is spending attributed to this campus, while district-wide figures also include central administration, districtwide programs, and the state's pension contributions made on the district's behalf — costs that never get assigned to a single school. The district number runs higher at nearly every school, not just this one.
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 182 students, this school is much smaller than the typical California elementary school (≈480).
On the state's science test (CAST), 35% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Horizons School: Independent Study a good elementary school?
What are Horizons School: Independent Study's CAASPP test scores?
How does Horizons School: Independent Study rank in California?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Horizons School: Independent Study?
How does Horizons School: Independent Study compare to other schools in Pleasant Hill?
How does Horizons School: Independent Study serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 69
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 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Grade 4 | 11 | 18% | 36% | 18% | 27% | 55% | +10 |
| Grade 5 | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Grade 6 | 17 | 12% | 6% | 41% | 41% | 18% | −29 |
| Grade 7 | 16 | 25% | 25% | 25% | 25% | 50% | +2 |
| Grade 8 | 19 | 11% | 53% | 21% | 16% | 63% | +17 |
| Grade 11 | 31 | 16% | 32% | 39% | 13% | 48% | +1 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Grade 4 | 11 | 27% | 9% | 55% | 9% | 36% | −5 |
| Grade 5 | 11 | 9% | 9% | 18% | 64% | 18% | −17 |
| Grade 6 | 16 | 19% | 13% | 13% | 56% | 31% | −4 |
| Grade 7 | 14 | 29% | 43% | 21% | 7% | 71% | +37 |
| Grade 8 | 19 | 21% | 26% | 16% | 37% | 47% | +15 |
| Grade 11 | 29 | 14% | 21% | 10% | 55% | 34% | +11 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 60 | 7% | 28% | 50% | 15% |
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 | 38 | 46.2% | +14 | +8 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horizons School: Independent Study ← | — | 21 | 18.2% | 36.4% | — | 0.8% |
| Buena Vista Elementary | 1.6 mi | 70 | 51.4% | 73.7% | −1.3 | 0.5% |
| Springhill Elementary | 2.6 mi | 68 | 58.7% | 83.8% | −4.0 | 0.5% |
| Indian Valley Elementary | 3.1 mi | 68 | 37.1% | 65.2% | +7.3 | 0.6% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 38 | 56 | #2547 | 21.6% | 47.2% | 37.7% | 0.0% | -7.7pp |
| 2023 | 36 | 43 | #3260 | 22.0% | 44.8% | 52.7% | 0.3% | -10.6pp |
| 2024 | 32 | 23 | #4423 | 10.8% | 28.4% | 32.3% | 0.7% | — |
| 2025 | 21 | 4 | #5510 | 18.2% | 36.4% | 30.6% | 0.8% | — |
- — Growth data isn't available — the state needs matched grades across years to compute it.
- — Scored here as an elementary school — other grade spans appear in the data appendix.
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 56.8% | 40.4% | -16.4pp |
| Male | 57.0% | 44.1% | -12.9pp |
| Asian | 33.3% | 30.8% | -2.5pp |
| Black/African American | 71.4% | 57.1% | -14.3pp |
| White | 58.3% | — | — |
| Hispanic/Latino | 66.7% | 46.0% | -20.7pp |
| Two or More Races | 65.2% | 33.3% | -31.9pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 55.3% | 46.9% | -8.4pp |
| English Learners | 74.1% | 47.6% | -26.5pp |
| Homeless | 93.3% | — | — |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 66.1% | 40.3% | -25.8pp |
| All Students | 56.9% | 42.0% | -14.9pp |
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