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School Profile · Chula Vista

Howard Gardner Community Charter: No single number tells this school's story. Here's the honest picture.

Howard Gardner Community Charter posts 21% meeting the standard and 5.2% exceeding it, against 43% and 21.3% statewide. The gaps and the bright spots below are the real read.

647 E Street, 91910 (opens in new tab)·San Diego County Office of Education·Chula Vista·Grades TK-8·178 students·73% low-income·Charter·2024–25 CAASPP·(619) 934-0300·Website
Charter school — publicly funded, independently operated, open enrollment via lottery. Learn more
Scope Score
35
🌱 Building Momentum · Developing
ranked #4,055 statewide · #9 of 11 in San Diego County Office of Education

Howard Gardner Community Charter scores 35 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 29th 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 →

Most rating sites would stop at “21% proficient” and call it done. Howard Gardner Community Charter deserves a closer read. The school sits in Chula Vista, where two-thirds of students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.

As a charter, Howard Gardner Community Charter enrolls by application, not address — the score reads the same, the enrollment path doesn't.

The story this school is actually telling

The school, grade by grade

ELA · CAASPP 2024–25

Different students, same year — each bar is one grade's proficiency mix.

12%
12%
76%
Grade 3 · 24% proficient
14%
81%
Grade 4 · 19% proficient
27%
73%
Grade 5 · 27% proficient

The honest read: the share exceeding falls 11.8pp across grades; the floor rises 3.1pp. The state average rises 4.5pp over the same span. A school visit and conversation with teachers will tell you more than this number.

The 5 things our score weighs

Exceeded standard
5.2%
State 21.3%
16.1pp below state avg
Growth (G3→G5)
-3.5pp
State -2.9pp
Scores decline across grades
Met or exceeded
20.6%
State 42.7%
22.1pp below state avg
Chronic absenteeism
33.4%
State 17.9%
15.5pp above state avg
Suspension rate
3.6%
State 1.6%
1.9pp above state avg
Worth a school visit

Ask what the school is working on next. Strong numbers tell you where a school is, not where it's going.

Where the path goes

The path below follows attendance boundaries — scores shown for each next step.

Estimated K-12 Path
Elementary
Howard Gardner Community …
35
This school
Middle
Monarch
18

Estimated K-12 path based on district and proximity. Actual attendance zones may differ. Contact your school district for official feeder information.

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.

The community around it

Community Profile
Context — not part of the Scope Score

Student demographics

Hispanic97.2%
White0.6%
Black2.3%
Low IncomeFree/reduced lunch eligible 73.0% (9pp above CA avg)
Resources & Access
Enrollment
178
442 below CA avg (~620)
Transitional Kindergarten
25 TK students
13% of a 199-student campus · CDE Census Day 2025-26
Student-Teacher Ratio
20:1
1 fewer students per teacher than CA avg
Per-Pupil Spending
$64,856
CA avg: $14,815 · District avg · NCES F-33
Teacher Salary Range
$61,109 – $144,693
District schedule · CA median ~$98K
At Howard Gardner Community Charter in Chula Vista, 21.4% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 10.5% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Howard Gardner Community Charter outperforms its district average for low-income students by 11.0 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (8.2% Math proficient); Hispanic students (28.3% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 17.0 percentage points for english learner students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 98 students tested.
Equity Gaps
ELA · English Learner−17.0pp
11.1% vs 28.1% overall · n=18
2 more gaps by subject
ELA Exceeded · English Learner−4.4pp
5.6% vs 9.9% overall · n=18
Math · English Learner−13.6pp
0.0% vs 13.6% overall · n=18

Subgroups with fewer than 15 students are excluded for privacy. Gaps of less than 3 percentage points are not shown.

Subgroup Proficiency
Low-Income98 tested
ELA 21.4%·Math 8.2%· +11.0pp vs district
Hispanic113 tested
ELA 28.3%·Math 13.3%· +20.1pp vs district
English Learner18 tested
ELA 11.1%·Math 0.0%· +11.1pp vs district

Weighted average across tested grades. Subgroups with fewer than 15 students excluded. Data: CDE CAASPP 2024-25.

Subgroup Growth by Grade
Change in proficiency from lowest tested grade. Shows which groups are gaining ground.

Low-income student ELA proficiency rises by 9.0pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +4.3pp.

Subgroups with fewer than 10 tested students per grade are not shown.

Funding Breakdown
Instruction 25%Support 75%Other 1%

Source: NCES F-33 (2016–2017) · Full district breakdown →

Neighborhood Context
Median Income
$90K
$5K above CA median
Median Home Value
$741K
$82K above CA median
Bachelor's+
29%
6pp below CA avg
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2024) · ZIP-level
Whole Child
Teacher experience, college/career readiness, and more. Context only — never part of the Scope Score.
Teacher Experience
5.6 years avg experience
9 teachers · 22% second-year
Teacher Credentials
56% fully credentialed
11.1% on intern/emergency permit

Source: CDE SARC, 2024-25

Community Profile provides context about who attends this school and the resources available. These factors are never part of the Scope Score. Learn why →

Frequently asked questions

Is Howard Gardner Community Charter a good elementary school?
Howard Gardner Community Charter has a Scope Score of 35 out of 100, placing it in the 29th percentile of California elementary schools and ranked #4,055 statewide. 5.2% of students exceeded the state standard on the 2025 CAASPP assessment, which is 16.1 percentage points below the California average of 21.3%. The Scope Score weights six dimensions for elementary schools: exceeded standard (43%), met or exceeded (22%), grade 3-to-5 growth (15%), chronic absenteeism (10%), ELPAC English Learner proficiency (5%), and suspension rate (5%). Data source: California Department of Education CAASPP 2025, analyzed by SchoolScope.
What are Howard Gardner Community Charter's CAASPP test scores?
On the 2025 CAASPP Smarter Balanced Assessment, 20.6% of students at Howard Gardner Community Charter met or exceeded the state standard in ELA and Math combined, and 5.2% exceeded it. The gap between those numbers matters: 15.4% of students are at the proficiency floor, while 5.2% pushed past it. Most rating sites report only the combined "proficient" number. SchoolScope surfaces the exceeded-vs-met split because it reveals whether a school's curriculum challenges students beyond minimum proficiency or paces toward it. 108 student-subject combinations were assessed.
How does Howard Gardner Community Charter rank in California?
Howard Gardner Community Charter ranks #4,055 among California elementary schools by Scope Score, placing it in the 29th percentile. This ranking is based on a weighted composite of 2025 CAASPP test performance (exceeded and met rates), grade-level growth (Grade 3 to grade 5 growth), chronic absenteeism, and suspension rate. Unlike single-number ratings, the Scope Score shows what drives the ranking so parents can decide what matters most to their family. See full methodology.
Is Howard Gardner Community Charter getting better or worse?
Based on 2025 CAASPP data, proficiency at Howard Gardner Community Charter decreases by 3.5 percentage points from Grade 3 to grade 5 growth. This downward pattern doesn't necessarily mean the school is failing — it can reflect cohort differences, demographic shifts, or curriculum changes. A campus visit and conversation with teachers can reveal what the numbers can't. Growth trajectory is weighted at 15% in the elementary Scope Score because it measures what the school does, not just who walks in the door.
What is the attendance and school culture like at Howard Gardner Community Charter?
33.4% of students at Howard Gardner Community Charter are chronically absent (missing 10% or more of school days), compared to the California average of 17.9%. The suspension rate is 3.6%. SchoolScope includes these culture metrics in the Scope Score because they reflect day-to-day school experience in ways test scores alone cannot.
How does Howard Gardner Community Charter compare to other schools in Chula Vista?
Howard Gardner Community Charter scores 35/100 (29th percentile) among California elementary schools. To compare with nearby schools, SchoolScope shows the same metrics side by side: exceeded rate, proficiency, growth trajectory, and school culture indicators. The school serves 178 students. Use the schools in Chula Vista page or the map view to compare all elementary schools nearby.
How does Howard Gardner Community Charter serve low-income and underrepresented students?
At Howard Gardner Community Charter in Chula Vista, 21.4% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 10.5% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Howard Gardner Community Charter outperforms its district average for low-income students by 11.0 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (8.2% Math proficient); Hispanic students (28.3% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 17.0 percentage points for english learner students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 98 students tested. SchoolScope shows disaggregated test scores by demographic subgroup so you can see how a school performs for your child's specific group — not just the school-wide average. Subgroup data is context, not part of the Scope Score: we don't penalize schools for who they serve. See our equity approach.

For the data nerds

Every number on this page

Score factors, grade-level breakdowns, subgroup proficiency, and peer comparisons.

01Score factorsWeighted composite · 2024–25
Exceeded standard · 38%
5.2%
↓ vs CA 21.3% · 34th pctile
Growth (G3→G5) · 27%
-3.5pp
↓ vs CA -2.9pp · 67th pctile
Met or exceeded · 20%
20.6%
↓ vs CA 42.7% · 33th pctile
Chronic absenteeism · 5%
33.4%
↓ vs CA 17.9% · 25th pctile
Suspension rate · 5%
3.6%
↓ vs CA 1.6% · 34th pctile
02By grade & subgroupCAASPP 2024–25 · % of tested students
ELATestedEXCMETNEARNOTMET++/CA
Grade 31712%12%24%53%24%−20
Grade 42214%5%23%59%18%−27
Grade 5150%27%13%60%27%−21
Grade 61926%21%26%26%47%+1
Grade 7277%11%30%52%19%−29
Grade 8170%35%18%47%35%−11
MathTestedEXCMETNEARNOTMET++/CA
Grade 3176%18%29%47%24%−22
Grade 4220%18%9%73%18%−23
Grade 5150%13%27%60%13%−22
Grade 61911%5%32%53%16%−19
Grade 7270%0%30%70%0%−34
Grade 8170%12%41%47%12%−21
Science (CAST)TestedEXCMETNEARNOT
Grade 5/8/11320%13%66%22%

CAST is tested in grades 5, 8, and once in high school — not annually. Not part of the Scope Score.

Subgroup · ELATestedMET+vs districtvs CA
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged9821.4%+11−17
Hispanic/Latino11328.3%+20−11
English Learners1811.1%+11+1
03Peer comparison · nearest elementary schoolssorted by Scope Score
SchoolDistScopeEXCMET+GrowthSusp
Howard Gardner Community Charter ←355.2%20.6%−3.53.6%
Chula Vista Learning Community Charter1.5 mi6023.5%51.1%−5.10.1%
Rice (Lilian J.) Elementary1.9 mi5015.4%37.2%+8.00.7%
John A. Otis Elementary1.9 mi4914.6%30.9%+18.31.3%
California average4521.3%42.7%−2.91.6%
04More measurescontext · not all part of the Scope Score
Scope Score history
41%35%'22'23'24'25
2022 · 2023 · 2024 · 2025 · rank #2208 → #5218 → #5078 → #4055
What we can't show
  • — Scored here as an elementary school — other grade spans appear in the data appendix.
  • — 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.
Source: CA Dept. of Education · CAASPP 2024–25 · n=5,744 elementary schools · Data updated 2026-07-03methodology · data updates · CSV · report issue