Joe Nightingale Elementary: Scores climb 23.8 points from grade 3 to grade 5. But suspensions run 4× the state rate.
Joe Nightingale has real strengths and one number that complicates them. Most rating sites show you one or the other. Both belong on the same page.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 60 | 32% | 54% | +23.8 | 11.6% | 6.5% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Joe Nightingale Elementary scores 60 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 83rd 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 →
🚀 Growth Engine — Ask how the school tracks each kid's growth year to year, and what happens when a kid stalls instead of gaining.
Most rating sites would stop at “54% proficient” and call it done. Joe Nightingale deserves a closer read. The school sits in Santa Maria, where two-thirds of students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
Joe Nightingale's low-income kids hit 53.8% proficiency in ELA — a number the same group reaches at 38.2% statewide. If you're trying to read past zip-code-driven test scores, that's the signal worth weighing.
The seven-year arc
Climbed from the 70th to the 83rd percentile since 2019 — past roughly 700 elementary schools.
Proficiency here is back to its pre-pandemic level — 54% meet the standard, about where the school stood in 2019.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 45% | 50% | 50% | 40% | 42% |
| Grade 4 | 68% | 65% | 60% | 59% | 52% |
| Grade 5 | 56% | 64% | 61% | 64% | 76% |
| Grade 6 | 60% | 51% | 63% | 66% | 67% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 48% | 56% | 58% | 48% | 46% |
| Grade 4 | 62% | 43% | 64% | 53% | 48% |
| Grade 5 | 49% | 46% | 49% | 59% | 60% |
| Grade 6 | 51% | 33% | 46% | 57% | 55% |
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 were suspended, versus 1.6% statewide — 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 19.7pp across grades; the floor rises 33.1pp. 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.
Joe Nightingale's most underrated number
53.8% of low-income students met the ELA standard — versus 38.2% for the same group statewide. That's the strongest kind of signal a school can post: it holds across income lines.
The 6 things our score weighs
Ask about the discipline philosophy and what a typical suspension is for. Numbers can't tell you whether a campus feels strict or chaotic — a visit can.
- Ask what typically leads to a suspension, and what happens before it gets there.
- Ask how teachers track each child's growth over the year, not just where the class lands on test day.
- Ask whether extra support — tutoring, counseling, small groups — reaches kids across income lines, not just the students already ahead.
- 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.
How every group of students does here
At Joe Nightingale Elementary in Santa Maria, 53.8% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 39.3% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Joe Nightingale Elementary outperforms its district average for low-income students by 14.5 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (43.2% Math proficient); Hispanic students (55.6% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 41.7 percentage points for english learner students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 264 students tested.
6 of 16 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.
Low-income student ELA proficiency rises by 30.0pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +9.2pp.
Showing up, and staying in class
TK/K students miss school at roughly twice the rate of Grades 4–6 students (18.6% vs 8.9%). 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
Pay is set by the district, not the school.
What gets spent here
$678 per student arrives as federal Title funding — a measure of concentrated need, not school quality.
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
Transitional kindergarten is offered here — confirmed by actual Census Day enrollment, not just the listed grade span.
On the state's science test (CAST), 56% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Joe Nightingale Elementary a good elementary school?
What are Joe Nightingale Elementary's CAASPP test scores?
How does Joe Nightingale Elementary rank in California?
Is Joe Nightingale Elementary getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Joe Nightingale Elementary?
How does Joe Nightingale Elementary compare to other schools in Santa Maria?
How does Joe Nightingale Elementary serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 52
Nearby High Schools
2 within ~3 mi · avg 38
Private alternatives nearby
Private schools within ~10 miles. These schools do not participate in state testing and cannot be scored or ranked.
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 | 92 | 24% | 18% | 22% | 36% | 42% | −1 |
| Grade 4 | 103 | 39% | 14% | 17% | 31% | 52% | +8 |
| Grade 5 | 94 | 44% | 32% | 11% | 14% | 76% | +28 |
| Grade 6 | 106 | 28% | 39% | 24% | 9% | 67% | +20 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 92 | 21% | 25% | 18% | 36% | 46% | −0 |
| Grade 4 | 103 | 26% | 21% | 29% | 23% | 48% | +6 |
| Grade 5 | 95 | 41% | 19% | 28% | 12% | 60% | +25 |
| Grade 6 | 106 | 34% | 21% | 29% | 16% | 55% | +20 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 95 | 18% | 38% | 37% | 7% |
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 | 264 | 53.8% | +14 | +16 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 252 | 55.6% | +16 | +17 |
| White | 84 | 72.6% | +15 | +11 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe Nightingale Elementary ← | — | 60 | 32.4% | 53.9% | +23.8 | 6.5% |
| Family Partnership Charter | 2.4 mi | 59 | 22.6% | 49.8% | +14.6 | 0.3% |
| Bill Libbon Elementary | 2.2 mi | 49 | 9.4% | 29.0% | +13.4 | 0.5% |
| Trivium Charter | 2.5 mi | 48 | 14.8% | 36.5% | −4.5 | 0.2% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 52 | 70 | #1642 | 24.7% | 54.9% | 12.1% | 2.8% | +5.6pp |
| 2022 | 47 | 73 | #1564 | 26.7% | 54.1% | 27.5% | 2.3% | +2.1pp |
| 2023 | 57 | 82 | #1037 | 29.8% | 57.0% | 23.5% | 2.2% | +1.2pp |
| 2024 | 57 | 79 | #1230 | 28.9% | 53.8% | 9.1% | 4.8% | +17.5pp |
| 2025 | 60 | 83 | #990 | 32.4% | 53.9% | 11.6% | 6.5% | +23.8pp |
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 12.3% | 11.7% | -0.6pp |
| Male | 11.9% | 11.0% | -0.9pp |
| Filipino | 9.1% | 8.9% | -0.2pp |
| White | 8.3% | 12.5% | +4.2pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 12.2% | 12.7% | +0.5pp |
| Two or More Races | 2.3% | 18.5% | +16.2pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 16.1% | 12.4% | -3.7pp |
| English Learners | 8.1% | 3.8% | -4.3pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 16.7% | 13.5% | -3.2pp |
| All Students | 12.1% | 11.3% | -0.8pp |
| Homeless | — | 12.7% | — |
| Military-Connected | — | 5.4% | — |
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