Riley Elementary: Scores climb 1.8 points from grade 3 to grade 5. But the zoned next school scores lower.
Riley holds its own. Scores drop at the schools it feeds into. Ask where its graduates actually enrol, and whether families stay on the zoned path.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 60 | 25% | 53% | +1.8 | 21.7% | 1.4% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Riley Elementary scores 60 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 82nd 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 →
💪 Strong All-Around — Ask about what we don't score — class size, electives, the feel of a classroom — strong numbers everywhere on paper don't mean every classroom feels the same.
Most rating sites would stop at “53% proficient” and call it done. Riley deserves a closer read. The school sits in Lakewood, where more than half of students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
The headline number: +1.8pp 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 61st to the 82nd percentile since 2019 — past roughly 1100 elementary schools.
The pandemic drop is behind this school: 53% of students meet the standard today, above the 50% who did in 2019.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 42% | 38% | 35% | 62% | 38% |
| Grade 4 | 52% | 54% | 51% | 55% | 64% |
| Grade 5 | 51% | 50% | 52% | 67% | 55% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 53% | 35% | 34% | 71% | 55% |
| Grade 4 | 62% | 45% | 44% | 45% | 67% |
| Grade 5 | 42% | 33% | 27% | 33% | 42% |
The story this school is actually telling
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 zoned path continues to Hoover Middle, which scores 21 points lower — a school visit will tell you more than this number.
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 holds steady across grades; the floor rises 16.9pp. 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 6 things our score weighs
Ask which schools families here actually choose next — the zoned path is only the default.
- Ask how teachers track each child's growth over the year, not just where the class lands on test day.
- Ask which schools families here actually choose next — the zoned path is only the default.
- 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 Riley Elementary in Lakewood, 47.2% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 41.9% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Riley Elementary outperforms its district average for low-income students by 5.4 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (50.4% Math proficient); Hispanic students (44.7% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 6.7 percentage points for hispanic students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 127 students tested.
8 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 25.7pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +7.6pp.
Showing up, and staying in class
Where the path goes
The zoned path continues to Hoover Middle, which scores 21 points lower than this school — worth weighing alongside everything above. Families here often look at charter or magnet options for middle school.
Feeder patterns derived from NCES attendance boundary data. Boundaries are approximate and may have changed — verify with your school district for current assignments.
The people teaching here
Pay is set by the district, not the school.
What gets spent here
These measure different things: this figure is spending attributed to this campus, while district-wide figures also include central administration, districtwide programs, and the state's pension contributions made on the district's behalf — costs that never get assigned to a single school. The district number runs higher at nearly every school, not just this one.
$208 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
Transitional kindergarten is offered here — confirmed by actual Census Day enrollment, not just the listed grade span.
On the state's science test (CAST), 32% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Riley Elementary a good elementary school?
What are Riley Elementary's CAASPP test scores?
How does Riley Elementary rank in California?
Is Riley Elementary getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Riley Elementary?
How does Riley Elementary compare to other schools in Lakewood?
How does Riley Elementary serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 65
Nearby Middle Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 51
Nearby High Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 56
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 | 58 | 19% | 19% | 33% | 29% | 38% | −5 |
| Grade 4 | 58 | 40% | 24% | 22% | 14% | 64% | +19 |
| Grade 5 | 62 | 18% | 37% | 29% | 16% | 55% | +7 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 58 | 21% | 34% | 17% | 28% | 55% | +9 |
| Grade 4 | 58 | 33% | 34% | 26% | 7% | 67% | +26 |
| Grade 5 | 62 | 23% | 19% | 31% | 27% | 42% | +7 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 62 | 8% | 24% | 56% | 11% |
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 | 127 | 47.2% | +5 | +9 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 103 | 44.7% | −0 | +6 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riley Elementary ← | — | 60 | 25.4% | 53.5% | +1.8 | 1.4% |
| Las Flores Home Education Independent Study Academ | 2.8 mi | 70 | 31.1% | 64.6% | −4.0 | 0.6% |
| Henry | 2.6 mi | 63 | 37.1% | 62.9% | −4.8 | 0.2% |
| Longfellow Elementary | 2.2 mi | 63 | 35.6% | 60.7% | +3.9 | 1.4% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 47 | 61 | #2150 | 23.7% | 50.2% | 12.8% | 0.2% | -1.4pp |
| 2022 | 47 | 72 | #1606 | 24.3% | 42.6% | 38.7% | 0.3% | +5.0pp |
| 2023 | 47 | 68 | #1817 | 18.8% | 40.6% | 31.3% | 0.2% | +5.1pp |
| 2024 | 58 | 80 | #1130 | 25.0% | 55.5% | 23.5% | 1.6% | -16.4pp |
| 2025 | 60 | 82 | #1060 | 25.4% | 53.5% | 21.7% | 1.4% | +1.8pp |
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 16.4% | 22.1% | +5.7pp |
| Male | 9.6% | 21.9% | +12.3pp |
| Asian | 0.0% | 21.9% | +21.9pp |
| Black/African American | 10.9% | 24.3% | +13.4pp |
| White | 16.7% | 15.4% | -1.3pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 15.2% | 22.3% | +7.1pp |
| Two or More Races | 12.1% | 32.3% | +20.2pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 23.2% | 31.7% | +8.5pp |
| English Learners | 16.1% | 31.6% | +15.5pp |
| Homeless | 13.0% | 58.3% | +45.3pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 14.2% | 26.1% | +11.9pp |
| All Students | 12.8% | 22.0% | +9.2pp |
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