Penryn Elementary: High scores, healthy climate, strong attendance. We looked for a catch — we didn't find one.
Penryn 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.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 70 | 37% | 75% | -6.3 | 10.1% | 1.5% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Penryn Elementary scores 70 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 91st 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 →
🌱 Building Momentum — This label means the data doesn't clearly sort the school one way or the other — ask what the school is proud of, and what it's working on.
Most rating sites would stop at “75% proficient” and call it done. Penryn deserves a closer read. It sits at the 91st percentile of 5,744 California elementary schools — but the ranking is the least interesting thing on this page.
The headline number: +6.3pp 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 64th to the 91st percentile since 2019 — past roughly 1500 elementary schools.
The pandemic drop is behind this school: 75% of students meet the standard today, above the 56% who did in 2019.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 57% | 56% | 30% | 69% | 70% |
| Grade 4 | 65% | 60% | 72% | 53% | 72% |
| Grade 5 | 58% | 64% | 67% | 78% | 82% |
| Grade 6 | 85% | 83% | 65% | 69% | 69% |
| Grade 7 | 94% | 95% | 79% | 75% | 81% |
| Grade 8 | 88% | 81% | 68% | 84% | 67% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 50% | 92% | 81% | 77% | 81% |
| Grade 4 | 67% | 73% | 60% | 53% | 88% |
| Grade 5 | 36% | 64% | 70% | 63% | 57% |
| Grade 6 | 74% | 58% | 52% | 52% | 62% |
| Grade 7 | 67% | 77% | 71% | 64% | 73% |
| Grade 8 | 79% | 66% | 48% | 77% | 80% |
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 falls 8.6pp across grades; the floor rises 11.8pp. The state average rises 4.5pp over the same span. A school visit and conversation with teachers will tell you more than this number.
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.
- 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 Penryn Elementary in Penryn, 72.7% of white students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 71.2% district-wide and 61.8% statewide. Penryn Elementary outperforms its district average for white students by 1.5 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: White students (73.4% Math proficient). Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 143 students tested.
7 of 11 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 twice the rate of Grades 4–6 students (17.4% 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
$149 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 250 students, this school is much smaller than the typical California elementary school (≈480).
Transitional kindergarten is offered here — confirmed by actual Census Day enrollment, not just the listed grade span.
On the state's science test (CAST), 52% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Penryn Elementary a good elementary school?
What are Penryn Elementary's CAASPP test scores?
How does Penryn Elementary rank in California?
Is Penryn Elementary getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Penryn Elementary?
How does Penryn Elementary compare to other schools in Penryn?
How does Penryn Elementary serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
2 within ~3 mi · avg 60
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 | 27 | 41% | 30% | 19% | 11% | 70% | +27 |
| Grade 4 | 25 | 32% | 40% | 28% | 0% | 72% | +27 |
| Grade 5 | 28 | 32% | 50% | 11% | 7% | 82% | +34 |
| Grade 6 | 26 | 27% | 42% | 27% | 4% | 69% | +23 |
| Grade 7 | 26 | 27% | 54% | 15% | 4% | 81% | +33 |
| Grade 8 | 30 | 33% | 33% | 27% | 7% | 67% | +21 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 27 | 44% | 37% | 4% | 15% | 81% | +36 |
| Grade 4 | 25 | 48% | 40% | 12% | 0% | 88% | +46 |
| Grade 5 | 28 | 25% | 32% | 29% | 14% | 57% | +22 |
| Grade 6 | 26 | 46% | 15% | 23% | 15% | 62% | +27 |
| Grade 7 | 26 | 54% | 19% | 19% | 8% | 73% | +39 |
| Grade 8 | 30 | 53% | 27% | 7% | 13% | 80% | +48 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 58 | 14% | 38% | 43% | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White | 143 | 72.7% | +2 | +11 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penryn Elementary ← | — | 70 | 37.0% | 75.2% | −6.3 | 1.5% |
| H. Clarke Powers Elementary | 2.1 mi | 61 | 25.9% | 57.9% | +30.1 | 1.4% |
| Loomis Elementary | 2.2 mi | 59 | 34.8% | 62.2% | −31.5 | 0.5% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 49 | 64 | #1972 | 29.6% | 55.5% | 4.1% | 4.2% | -6.6pp |
| 2022 | 56 | 83 | #970 | 34.0% | 68.3% | 14.3% | 1.2% | -9.7pp |
| 2023 | 59 | 84 | #943 | 28.0% | 63.4% | 7.2% | 2.4% | +13.0pp |
| 2024 | 53 | 74 | #1469 | 30.9% | 65.6% | 8.1% | 0.9% | -2.7pp |
| 2025 | 70 | 91 | #499 | 37.0% | 75.2% | 10.1% | 1.5% | -6.3pp |
- — Scored here as an elementary school — other grade spans appear in the data appendix.
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 5.1% | 7.8% | +2.7pp |
| Male | 2.5% | 9.4% | +6.9pp |
| Asian | 0.0% | — | — |
| Hispanic/Latino | 8.3% | 12.5% | +4.2pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 7.7% | 8.3% | +0.6pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 10.5% | 19.4% | +8.9pp |
| All Students | 3.9% | 8.6% | +4.7pp |
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