Ophir STEAM Academy: This school runs ahead of the state average. The bar itself is the harder conversation.
Ophir STEAM Academy posts 50% meeting the standard against 43% statewide — ahead of most, with real headroom above the bar.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 49 | 22% | 50% | +15.3 | 11.9% | 1.2% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Ophir STEAM Academy scores 49 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 66th 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 “50% proficient” and call it done. Ophir STEAM Academy deserves a closer read. It sits at the 66th percentile of 5,744 California elementary schools — but the ranking is the least interesting thing on this page.
The seven-year arc
Slipped from the 75th to the 66th percentile since 2019.
This school hasn't fully recovered from the pandemic: 50% meet the standard today, versus 63% in 2019 — a gap worth asking about on a visit.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 57% | 48% | 64% | — | 53% |
| Grade 4 | 65% | 62% | 67% | 73% | — |
| Grade 5 | 61% | 81% | 50% | 76% | 63% |
| Grade 6 | 54% | 76% | 62% | 71% | 78% |
| Grade 7 | 73% | 84% | 59% | 69% | 81% |
| Grade 8 | 64% | 70% | 67% | 78% | 78% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 54% | 57% | 72% | — | 32% |
| Grade 4 | 73% | 71% | 79% | 85% | — |
| Grade 5 | 65% | 65% | 50% | 73% | 52% |
| Grade 6 | 46% | 64% | 76% | 50% | 52% |
| Grade 7 | 68% | 85% | 70% | 35% | 62% |
| Grade 8 | 45% | 70% | 75% | 39% | 48% |
The 5 things our score weighs
Ask how the school challenges kids who clear the standard early. The gap between meeting and exceeding is where pacing shows.
- 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 Ophir STEAM Academy in Newcastle, 74.2% of white students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 71.2% district-wide and 61.8% statewide. Ophir STEAM Academy outperforms its district average for white students by 3.0 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: White students (54.6% Math proficient). Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 97 students tested.
8 of 12 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.
Showing up, and staying in class
TK/K students miss school at roughly three times the rate of Grades 4–6 students (25.0% vs 7.5%). 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 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
$318 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
At 200 students, this school is much smaller than the typical California elementary school (≈480).
On the state's science test (CAST), 69% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Ophir STEAM Academy a good elementary school?
What are Ophir STEAM Academy's CAASPP test scores?
How does Ophir STEAM Academy rank in California?
Is Ophir STEAM Academy getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Ophir STEAM Academy?
How does Ophir STEAM Academy compare to other schools in Newcastle?
How does Ophir STEAM Academy 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.
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 | 19 | 21% | 32% | 21% | 26% | 53% | +9 |
| Grade 4 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Grade 5 | 27 | 30% | 33% | 26% | 11% | 63% | +15 |
| Grade 6 | 27 | 33% | 44% | 11% | 11% | 78% | +31 |
| Grade 7 | 21 | 38% | 43% | 10% | 10% | 81% | +33 |
| Grade 8 | 27 | 19% | 59% | 19% | 4% | 78% | +32 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 19 | 5% | 26% | 37% | 32% | 32% | −14 |
| Grade 4 | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Grade 5 | 27 | 33% | 19% | 30% | 19% | 52% | +17 |
| Grade 6 | 27 | 15% | 37% | 37% | 11% | 52% | +17 |
| Grade 7 | 21 | 38% | 24% | 24% | 14% | 62% | +28 |
| Grade 8 | 27 | 22% | 26% | 37% | 15% | 48% | +16 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 54 | 28% | 41% | 30% | 2% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White | 97 | 74.2% | +3 | +12 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ophir STEAM Academy ← | — | 49 | 22.3% | 49.8% | +15.3 | 1.2% |
| Newcastle Charter | 1.8 mi | 65 | 36.6% | 69.9% | +0.4 | 1.8% |
| Newcastle Elementary | 1.8 mi | 58 | 28.9% | 60.4% | −3.8 | 4.6% |
| Harvest Ridge Cooperative Charter | 1.6 mi | 49 | 27.4% | 49.9% | −12.8 | 0.5% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 56 | 75 | #1352 | 24.7% | 62.5% | 5.2% | 1.3% | +7.7pp |
| 2022 | 57 | 85 | #860 | 21.3% | 64.0% | 18.4% | 1.0% | +20.9pp |
| 2023 | 48 | 69 | #1757 | 28.6% | 63.6% | 12.3% | 3.7% | -18.0pp |
| 2024 | 74 | 94 | #317 | 38.9% | 76.7% | 13.2% | 1.8% | — |
| 2025 | 49 | 66 | #1947 | 22.3% | 49.8% | 11.9% | 1.2% | +15.3pp |
- — Scored here as an elementary school — other grade spans appear in the data appendix.
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 5.8% | 7.1% | +1.3pp |
| Male | 4.2% | 12.5% | +8.3pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 3.3% | 25.0% | +21.7pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 8.3% | 25.6% | +17.3pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 11.3% | 22.2% | +10.9pp |
| All Students | 5.0% | 9.9% | +4.9pp |
| Two or More Races | — | 0.0% | — |
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