Lancaster Alternative and Virtual Academies: The score is middle of the pack. The trajectory isn't.
Lancaster Alternative and Virtual Academies sits mid-pack on raw proficiency — and it's climbing faster than most schools anywhere near it — and that holds when you follow the same students across grades.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 47 | 13% | 32% | +22.1 | 7.8% | 0.2% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Lancaster Alternative and Virtual Academies scores 47 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 62nd 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 “32% proficient” and call it done. Lancaster Alternative and Virtual Academies deserves a closer read. The school sits in Lancaster, where four in five students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
The headline number: +22.1pp 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
Climbed from the 16th to the 62nd percentile since 2022 — past roughly 2700 elementary schools.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | — | 8% | 26% | 19% | 24% |
| Grade 4 | — | 13% | 25% | 21% | 38% |
| Grade 5 | — | 21% | 32% | 35% | 40% |
| Grade 6 | 25% | 16% | 23% | 29% | 53% |
| Grade 7 | 17% | 19% | 37% | 21% | 24% |
| Grade 8 | 10% | 14% | 34% | 37% | 50% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | — | 12% | 29% | 43% | 12% |
| Grade 4 | — | 3% | 6% | 5% | 40% |
| Grade 5 | — | 3% | 9% | 17% | 40% |
| Grade 6 | 13% | 4% | 7% | 10% | 33% |
| Grade 7 | 0% | 7% | 10% | 7% | 32% |
| Grade 8 | 0% | 3% | 7% | 8% | 40% |
The story this school is actually telling
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 13.1pp across grades; the floor rises 16.2pp. 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 what changed — new curriculum, new principal, new program. Momentum has a cause, and a visit will find it.
- 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.
- Ask what a typical day looks like for a new student in the first few weeks.
How every group of students does here
At Lancaster Alternative and Virtual Academies in Lancaster, 35.2% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 22.6% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Lancaster Alternative and Virtual Academies outperforms its district average for low-income students by 12.6 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (30.6% Math proficient); Hispanic students (38.5% ELA proficient). Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 210 students tested.
11 of 17 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 13.9pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +0.3pp.
Showing up, and staying in class
Where the path goes
The path below is estimated from nearby schools in the same district — scores shown for each next step.
Estimated K-12 path based on district and proximity. Actual attendance zones may differ. Contact your school district for official feeder information.
The people teaching here
Pay is set by the district, not the school.
What gets spent here
$532 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
On the state's science test (CAST), 38% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Lancaster Alternative and Virtual Academies a good elementary school?
What are Lancaster Alternative and Virtual Academies's CAASPP test scores?
How does Lancaster Alternative and Virtual Academies rank in California?
Is Lancaster Alternative and Virtual Academies getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Lancaster Alternative and Virtual Academies?
How does Lancaster Alternative and Virtual Academies compare to other schools in Lancaster?
How does Lancaster Alternative and Virtual Academies serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 37
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 | 42 | 12% | 12% | 26% | 50% | 24% | −20 |
| Grade 4 | 24 | 8% | 29% | 29% | 33% | 38% | −7 |
| Grade 5 | 20 | 25% | 15% | 20% | 40% | 40% | −8 |
| Grade 6 | 40 | 15% | 38% | 23% | 25% | 53% | +6 |
| Grade 7 | 59 | 5% | 19% | 41% | 36% | 24% | −24 |
| Grade 8 | 48 | 10% | 40% | 27% | 23% | 50% | +4 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 42 | 2% | 10% | 31% | 57% | 12% | −34 |
| Grade 4 | 25 | 12% | 28% | 36% | 24% | 40% | −2 |
| Grade 5 | 20 | 20% | 20% | 10% | 50% | 40% | +5 |
| Grade 6 | 39 | 13% | 21% | 21% | 46% | 33% | −2 |
| Grade 7 | 59 | 24% | 8% | 25% | 42% | 32% | −2 |
| Grade 8 | 48 | 29% | 10% | 21% | 40% | 40% | +7 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 68 | 15% | 24% | 53% | 9% |
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 | 210 | 35.2% | +13 | −3 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 126 | 38.5% | +12 | −0 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lancaster Alternative and Virtual Academies ← | — | 47 | 13.3% | 32.2% | +22.1 | 0.2% |
| Linda Verde Elementary | 2.2 mi | 43 | 5.0% | 15.1% | +13.1 | 0.5% |
| Nancy Cory Elementary | 2.4 mi | 35 | 11.7% | 33.1% | −10.6 | 1.2% |
| Valley View Elementary | 2.8 mi | 32 | 13.0% | 32.5% | −9.0 | 3.9% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 23 | 16 | #4847 | 3.4% | 10.2% | 33.4% | 0.0% | +2.3pp |
| 2023 | 25 | 13 | #4968 | 6.3% | 21.3% | 38.3% | 0.0% | -7.3pp |
| 2024 | 44 | 55 | #2575 | 7.9% | 23.4% | 6.8% | 0.5% | -4.9pp |
| 2025 | 47 | 62 | #2196 | 13.3% | 32.2% | 7.8% | 0.2% | +22.1pp |
- — Scored here as an elementary school — other grade spans appear in the data appendix.
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 6.2% | 5.4% | -0.8pp |
| Male | 12.3% | 6.6% | -5.7pp |
| Black/African American | 5.1% | 12.1% | +7.0pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 7.7% | 2.7% | -5.0pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 14.3% | 9.7% | -4.6pp |
| English Learners | 14.3% | 5.0% | -9.3pp |
| Homeless | 8.3% | 10.0% | +1.7pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 9.0% | 6.2% | -2.8pp |
| All Students | 8.9% | 6.0% | -2.9pp |
| Two or More Races | — | 5.6% | — |
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