Palms Elementary: No single number tells this school's story. Here's the honest picture.

Palms falls in the Developing band, at the 32nd percentile statewide (Scope Score 36.02). That means roughly two-thirds of comparably measured California schools score higher. The tension is that this isn't a resource problem: teachers average 14 years of experience with none in their first year, and the school spends $34,148 per pupil against a $23,518 state average. Even with that stability and funding, only 32.3% of students met or exceeded standards (CDE CAASPP, 2024-25). Staffing and funding describe conditions, not results, and here the two aren't lining up.

On teaching, yes. The school calls its staff 'highly qualified,' and the numbers back it up: 14.0 years average experience, 87.5% fully credentialed, zero first-year teachers. That's a real, verifiable match.

On two other claims, the picture is more complicated. The mission statement promises rigorous learning 'that includes and celebrates all' students, but Students with Disabilities score 27.3 points below the school average — the largest subgroup gap on record here. And the school advertises STEAM enrichment in science, technology, engineering, arts, and math, yet science proficiency sits at just 10.0%, far below the school's overall 32.3% met-or-exceeded rate. Neither gap tells you why on its own. Worth asking directly on a visit: how are STEAM activities actually reaching tested grades, and what specific supports exist for students with IEPs?

It depends heavily on which group you're asking about. Students with Disabilities score 27.3 points below the school average, the largest gap recorded here (CDE CAASPP, 2024-25). English Learners also have a rough road on the harder end of the scale: only 8.3% reach ELPAC Level 4, the top proficiency tier. These numbers describe outcomes for these groups at this school, not something about the students themselves. If your child falls into either group, it's worth asking the school directly what support looks like day to day, not just what's promised on the website.

We can't say from this data — there's no year-over-year trend here, just one year of results. What we can see is a 23.6-point gap between grade 3 ELA (51.3% met or exceeded) and grade 5 math (7.9%) in the same testing year. That's a difference between grades tested at the same time, not proof that the same kids are sliding as they move through the school. It could reflect two different cohorts, or something specific to how math is taught in the upper grades — worth asking which one it is.

Only 8.3% of English Learners reached ELPAC Level 4, the top proficiency category. That's a low number and one of the more informative figures on this page, since it rarely shows up elsewhere. It's worth asking the school what language-support programs exist and how progress is tracked for students below that top tier.

The school's overall suspension rate is low, at 2.0%. But Black/African American students are suspended at a rate 4.7 points above that school-wide number, the largest gap recorded here. This is a fact about outcomes, not an explanation — the data doesn't tell us why the gap exists. That's a fair, direct question to bring to the school.

Teachers here average 14.0 years of experience, none are in their first year, and 87.5% are fully credentialed. That describes a stable, veteran staff — a real strength, and one that matches the school's own description of itself as staffed by 'highly qualified teachers.'

$34,148 per pupil, well above the state average of $23,518. That's context, not a score — spending more doesn't automatically produce better results, and here the school's high spending and experienced staff haven't yet translated into proficiency rates above the state norm. It's a useful number for understanding resources, not for predicting outcomes.

Yes. Grade 3 ELA is the strongest tested combination, at 51.3% met or exceeded. Grade 5 math is the weakest, at just 7.9%. If you're entering your child at a specific grade, that gap matters more than the school-wide average — worth asking what changes instructionally between third and fifth grade, especially in math.

Chronic absenteeism is 29.6%, meaning a large share of students miss significant instructional time, while the suspension rate is a relatively low 2.0%. Together, that suggests a campus where formal discipline is rare but consistent attendance is a real challenge. Attendance and suspension data can show this pattern, but they can't tell you why kids are missing school, whether it's illness, transportation, or something else worth asking about directly.

Palms Elementary has 7 recorded feeder schools. That's a count only — this record doesn't say what level those schools are (middle or high school) or anything about their quality. Worth asking the district directly which schools your specific address feeds into.

Palms opened as a one-room schoolhouse in 1836 at the corner of Overland Avenue and Woodbine Street. A two-story frame building replaced it on the current site in 1888. After a 1913 condemnation and 1933 earthquake damage to later structures, the south building that holds most classrooms today was built in 1927, with the auditorium added in 1937 (school website). It's a campus with a long institutional history well before its current test scores or staffing numbers existed.