McDowell Elementary: The score trails the state median. The trajectory doesn't.
McDowell still trails 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 | 40 | 5% | 13% | +5.6 | 22.9% | 3.2% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
McDowell Elementary scores 40 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 43rd 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 “13% proficient” and call it done. McDowell deserves a closer read. The school sits in Petaluma, where four in five students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
The headline number: +5.6pp 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
Slipped from the 54th to the 43rd percentile since 2019.
This school hasn't fully recovered from the pandemic: 13% meet the standard today, versus 26% in 2019 — a gap worth asking about on a visit.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 7% | 14% | 0% | 14% | 5% |
| Grade 4 | 31% | 23% | 21% | 16% | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 38% | 16% | 32% | 31% | 21% |
| Grade 6 | 45% | 29% | 10% | 37% | 34% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 15% | 18% | 12% | 24% | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 29% | 20% | 15% | 6% | 10% |
| Grade 5 | 35% | 7% | 17% | 19% | 12% |
| Grade 6 | 24% | 19% | 3% | 16% | 12% |
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 6.1pp across grades; the floor rises 16.1pp. 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.
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 McDowell Elementary in Petaluma, 15.8% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 25.4% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. McDowell Elementary trails its district average for low-income students by 9.7 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (11.7% Math proficient); Hispanic students (17.9% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 18.7 percentage points for english learner students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 141 students tested.
9 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 10.3pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +8.4pp.
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
What gets spent here
$1,273 per student arrives as federal Title funding — a measure of concentrated need, not school quality.
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), 3% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is McDowell Elementary a good elementary school?
What are McDowell Elementary's CAASPP test scores?
How does McDowell Elementary rank in California?
Is McDowell Elementary getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at McDowell Elementary?
How does McDowell Elementary compare to other schools in Petaluma?
How does McDowell 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 | 39 | 0% | 5% | 15% | 79% | 5% | −38 |
| Grade 4 | 42 | 5% | 10% | 21% | 64% | 14% | −31 |
| Grade 5 | 33 | 6% | 15% | 15% | 64% | 21% | −27 |
| Grade 6 | 41 | 10% | 24% | 27% | 39% | 34% | −12 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 41 | 7% | 10% | 15% | 68% | 17% | −29 |
| Grade 4 | 48 | 4% | 6% | 31% | 58% | 10% | −31 |
| Grade 5 | 33 | 6% | 6% | 18% | 70% | 12% | −23 |
| Grade 6 | 43 | 5% | 7% | 30% | 58% | 12% | −23 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 33 | 3% | 0% | 52% | 45% |
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 | 141 | 15.8% | −10 | −22 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 136 | 17.9% | −5 | −21 |
| English Learners | 72 | 2.8% | −0 | −8 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| McDowell Elementary ← | — | 40 | 4.7% | 13.4% | +5.6 | 3.2% |
| Sonoma Mountain Elementary | 1.4 mi | 68 | 50.7% | 79.5% | −14.5 | 0.1% |
| Meadow Elementary | 1.9 mi | 68 | 50.4% | 76.5% | −15.3 | 0.6% |
| Mary Collins Charter School at Cherry Valley | 1.8 mi | 63 | 25.3% | 54.7% | +8.4 | 2.0% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 44 | 54 | #2557 | 4.7% | 25.8% | 11.1% | 4.6% | +25.8pp |
| 2022 | 18 | 6 | #5407 | 4.7% | 16.5% | 34.5% | 0.8% | -4.4pp |
| 2023 | 40 | 53 | #2669 | 3.6% | 16.3% | 27.6% | 3.5% | +18.7pp |
| 2024 | 29 | 15 | #4857 | 4.5% | 18.1% | 26.1% | 2.6% | +6.0pp |
| 2025 | 40 | 43 | #3257 | 4.7% | 13.4% | 22.9% | 3.2% | +5.6pp |
- — Low-income students here trail the state average for their group by 22 points in ELA — worth asking how the school is closing that gap.
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 12.3% | 22.1% | +9.8pp |
| Male | 10.2% | 25.0% | +14.8pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 10.6% | 25.2% | +14.6pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 14.3% | 28.8% | +14.5pp |
| English Learners | 9.6% | 19.9% | +10.3pp |
| Homeless | 5.7% | 13.3% | +7.6pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 11.2% | 24.0% | +12.8pp |
| All Students | 11.1% | 23.5% | +12.4pp |
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