John Muir Elementary: Scores climb 9.8 points from grade 3 to grade 5. But suspensions run 5× the state rate.
John Muir 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 | 37 | 6% | 21% | +9.8 | 31.2% | 7.5% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
John Muir Elementary scores 37 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 36th 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 →
📈 On the Rise — Ask how many years the improvement has held, not just the latest one — one strong cohort and a real turnaround can look identical in a single year of data.
Most rating sites would stop at “21% proficient” and call it done. John Muir deserves a closer read. The school sits in Merced, where four in five students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
The headline number: +9.8pp 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.
The seven-year arc
Has stayed near the 36th percentile since 2019.
This school hasn't fully recovered from the pandemic: 21% meet the standard today, versus 35% in 2019 — a gap worth asking about on a visit.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 39% | 22% | 18% | 19% | 18% |
| Grade 4 | 43% | 13% | 22% | 19% | 18% |
| Grade 5 | 44% | 33% | 28% | 38% | 35% |
| Grade 6 | 33% | 32% | 26% | 29% | 36% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 31% | 19% | 19% | 20% | 19% |
| Grade 4 | 32% | 11% | 18% | 9% | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 22% | 12% | 17% | 27% | 22% |
| Grade 6 | 10% | 22% | 26% | 31% | 32% |
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 6.8pp across grades; the floor rises 16.8pp. 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.
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 how the school follows up when a student starts missing days — chronic absence often starts outside the classroom, not inside it.
- 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 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 John Muir Elementary in Merced, 25.2% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 31.2% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. John Muir Elementary trails its district average for low-income students by 6.0 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (20.6% Math proficient); Hispanic students (27.8% ELA proficient). Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 310 students tested.
7 of 15 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 19.3pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +6.6pp.
Showing up, and staying in class
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
$431 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), 24% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is John Muir Elementary a good elementary school?
What are John Muir Elementary's CAASPP test scores?
How does John Muir Elementary rank in California?
Is John Muir Elementary getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at John Muir Elementary?
How does John Muir Elementary compare to other schools in Merced?
How does John Muir Elementary serve low-income and underrepresented students?
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.
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 | 84 | 5% | 13% | 31% | 51% | 18% | −26 |
| Grade 4 | 84 | 6% | 12% | 26% | 56% | 18% | −27 |
| Grade 5 | 78 | 12% | 23% | 24% | 41% | 35% | −13 |
| Grade 6 | 87 | 13% | 23% | 26% | 38% | 36% | −11 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 84 | 4% | 15% | 27% | 54% | 19% | −27 |
| Grade 4 | 84 | 1% | 14% | 25% | 60% | 15% | −26 |
| Grade 5 | 78 | 10% | 12% | 24% | 54% | 22% | −14 |
| Grade 6 | 87 | 13% | 20% | 21% | 47% | 32% | −3 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 78 | 8% | 17% | 55% | 21% |
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 | 310 | 25.2% | −6 | −13 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 237 | 27.8% | −4 | −11 |
| Students with Disabilities | 39 | 10.3% | +2 | −7 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Muir Elementary ← | — | 37 | 6.2% | 21.1% | +9.8 | 7.5% |
| Allan Peterson Elementary | 1.5 mi | 49 | 20.9% | 41.3% | +3.1 | 1.3% |
| Luther Burbank Elementary | 0.8 mi | 40 | 17.1% | 37.5% | +5.3 | 3.2% |
| Charles Wright Elementary | 1.1 mi | 40 | 12.2% | 29.3% | −9.7 | 5.3% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 37 | 37 | #3441 | 14.7% | 35.1% | 16.5% | 3.0% | -1.7pp |
| 2022 | 26 | 22 | #4481 | 5.1% | 18.2% | 57.7% | 1.8% | +1.3pp |
| 2023 | 37 | 46 | #3089 | 6.2% | 20.2% | 42.3% | 2.6% | +4.2pp |
| 2024 | 39 | 43 | #3251 | 6.7% | 22.1% | 27.2% | 2.4% | +12.8pp |
| 2025 | 37 | 36 | #3700 | 6.2% | 21.1% | 31.2% | 7.5% | +9.8pp |
- — Low-income students here trail the state average for their group by 13 points in ELA — worth asking how the school is closing that gap.
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 16.4% | 33.0% | +16.6pp |
| Male | 16.7% | 31.0% | +14.3pp |
| Asian | 0.0% | 14.3% | +14.3pp |
| Black/African American | 31.0% | 39.6% | +8.6pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 15.5% | 31.9% | +16.4pp |
| Two or More Races | 11.1% | 41.7% | +30.6pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 11.3% | 38.3% | +27.0pp |
| English Learners | 12.0% | 31.5% | +19.5pp |
| Foster Youth | 41.2% | — | — |
| Homeless | 77.8% | 90.9% | +13.1pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 17.3% | 33.1% | +15.8pp |
| All Students | 16.6% | 32.0% | +15.4pp |
| Military-Connected | — | 36.4% | — |
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