Natomas Charter: High scores, real growth, strong attendance. We looked for a catch — we didn't find one.
Natomas Charter posts 37.0% exceeding the standard — versus 21.3% statewide — with climate numbers better than most. That doesn't make it perfect. It makes it worth a visit to find what numbers can't measure.
Natomas Charter scores 66 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 88th 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 “63% proficient” and call it done. Natomas Charter deserves a closer read. The school sits in Sacramento, where one in three students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
The headline number: +3.0pp 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.
As a charter, Natomas 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 2024–25Different students, same year — each bar is one grade's proficiency mix.
The honest read: the share exceeding rises 15.9pp across grades; the floor rises 12.3pp. 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.
Natomas Charter's most underrated number
55.0% 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 5 things our score weighs
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.
K-12 Path
Natomas Charter serves grades K-12 — students can complete their entire K-12 education here.
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 55
Nearby Middle Schools
2 within ~3 mi · avg 40
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
Student demographics
3 more gaps by subject
Subgroups with fewer than 15 students are excluded for privacy. Gaps of less than 3 percentage points are not shown.
Weighted average across tested grades. Subgroups with fewer than 15 students excluded. Data: CDE CAASPP 2024-25.
Subgroup Growth by Grade
Low-income student ELA proficiency rises by 18.1pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +8.4pp.
Subgroups with fewer than 10 tested students per grade are not shown.
Funding Breakdown
Neighborhood Context
Whole Child
Source: CDE SARC, 2024-25
For the data nerdsEvery number on this page
Score factors, grade-level breakdowns, subgroup proficiency, and peer comparisons.
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 | 104 | 32% | 31% | 20% | 17% | 63% | +19 |
| Grade 4 | 106 | 49% | 17% | 16% | 18% | 66% | +21 |
| Grade 5 | 107 | 48% | 27% | 19% | 7% | 75% | +27 |
| Grade 6 | 201 | 25% | 39% | 19% | 16% | 65% | +18 |
| Grade 7 | 204 | 26% | 39% | 22% | 13% | 65% | +18 |
| Grade 8 | 205 | 18% | 41% | 31% | 10% | 59% | +13 |
| Grade 11 | 131 | 41% | 37% | 15% | 7% | 79% | +31 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 104 | 26% | 34% | 22% | 18% | 60% | +14 |
| Grade 4 | 106 | 35% | 25% | 26% | 14% | 59% | +18 |
| Grade 5 | 107 | 33% | 21% | 30% | 17% | 53% | +18 |
| Grade 6 | 200 | 14% | 25% | 31% | 31% | 39% | +3 |
| Grade 7 | 204 | 13% | 19% | 42% | 27% | 31% | −3 |
| Grade 8 | 205 | 12% | 18% | 29% | 41% | 30% | −3 |
| Grade 11 | 131 | 11% | 24% | 31% | 34% | 35% | +12 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 444 | 15% | 28% | 52% | 5% |
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 | 420 | 55.0% | +24 | +17 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 318 | 59.4% | +23 | +21 |
| White | 206 | 72.8% | +14 | +11 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Natomas Charter ← | — | 66 | 37.0% | 62.6% | +3.0 | 1.0% |
| Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep Elementary | 1.1 mi | 66 | 38.9% | 70.4% | −5.6 | 0.1% |
| Heron | 1.4 mi | 50 | 28.0% | 54.9% | −4.0 | 6.1% |
| Northlake TK-8 | 1.6 mi | 48 | 34.4% | 58.5% | −22.2 | 3.2% |
| California average | — | 43 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
- — Scored here as an elementary school — other grade spans appear in the data appendix.