Romero-Cruz Academy: The scores are below where anyone wants them. Here's what they don't tell you.
Romero-Cruz Academy posts low test scores — and the same students gain more here than at most schools between grade 3 and grade 5. If this is your zoned school, the numbers below are where to start a conversation, not where to end one.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 26 | 2% | 10% | +7.5 | 21.2% | 12.6% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Romero-Cruz Academy scores 26 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 10th 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 →
📈 On the Rise — Ask how many years the improvement has held, not just the latest one — one strong cohort and a real turnaround can look identical in a single year of data.
Most rating sites would stop at “10% proficient” and call it done. Romero-Cruz Academy deserves a closer read. The school sits in Santa Ana, where nearly all students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
Test scores are one lens, and at this school they're a rough one right now. The sections below show the fuller picture — including the parts that are working.
The seven-year arc
Has stayed near the 10th percentile since 2022.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | — | 0% | 12% | 9% | 5% |
| Grade 4 | 33% | 20% | 15% | 9% | 4% |
| Grade 5 | 31% | 14% | 15% | 22% | 24% |
| Grade 6 | — | 6% | 13% | 9% | 6% |
| Grade 7 | — | 20% | 7% | 11% | 16% |
| Grade 8 | — | 11% | 22% | 10% | 14% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | — | 8% | 17% | 16% | 11% |
| Grade 4 | 35% | 10% | 4% | 16% | 11% |
| Grade 5 | 19% | 0% | 9% | 4% | 7% |
| Grade 6 | — | 2% | 8% | 4% | 5% |
| Grade 7 | — | 8% | 4% | 9% | 12% |
| Grade 8 | — | 9% | 9% | 6% | 12% |
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 6 things our score weighs
Ask what changed in the last two years, and what the school is asking families for. Growth shows up in these numbers a year or two after it shows up in classrooms.
- Ask what typically leads to a suspension, and what happens before it gets there.
- 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 Romero-Cruz Academy in Santa Ana, 11.4% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 31.4% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Romero-Cruz Academy trails its district average for low-income students by 20.0 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (9.9% Math proficient); Hispanic students (10.7% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 10.5 percentage points for disabilities students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 640 students tested.
6 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 20.5pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +8.5pp.
Showing up, and staying in class
Grades 7–8 students miss school at roughly one and a half times the rate of Grades 4–6 students (28.3% vs 16.3%). Chronic absence here concentrates in the upper grades.
Where the path goes
The path below follows attendance boundaries — scores shown for each next step.
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
$458 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 827 students, this school is well above 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), 6% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Romero-Cruz Academy a good elementary school?
What are Romero-Cruz Academy's CAASPP test scores?
How does Romero-Cruz Academy rank in California?
Is Romero-Cruz Academy getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Romero-Cruz Academy?
How does Romero-Cruz Academy compare to other schools in Santa Ana?
How does Romero-Cruz Academy serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 57
Private alternatives nearby
Private schools within ~10 miles. These schools do not participate in state testing and cannot be scored or ranked.
A low score doesn't tell the whole story. Read: Your School Scored Low — Here's What That Actually Means
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 | 38 | 3% | 3% | 26% | 68% | 5% | −38 |
| Grade 4 | 45 | 0% | 4% | 7% | 89% | 4% | −40 |
| Grade 5 | 29 | 0% | 24% | 38% | 38% | 24% | −24 |
| Grade 6 | 188 | 1% | 5% | 22% | 72% | 6% | −41 |
| Grade 7 | 194 | 2% | 14% | 16% | 68% | 16% | −32 |
| Grade 8 | 168 | 1% | 13% | 28% | 58% | 14% | −32 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 38 | 3% | 8% | 13% | 76% | 11% | −35 |
| Grade 4 | 46 | 2% | 9% | 30% | 59% | 11% | −31 |
| Grade 5 | 30 | 3% | 3% | 37% | 57% | 7% | −29 |
| Grade 6 | 188 | 1% | 5% | 19% | 76% | 5% | −30 |
| Grade 7 | 194 | 5% | 7% | 17% | 71% | 12% | −22 |
| Grade 8 | 167 | 5% | 7% | 14% | 74% | 12% | −20 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 198 | 1% | 5% | 57% | 37% |
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 | 640 | 11.4% | −20 | −27 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 642 | 10.7% | −21 | −28 |
| English Learners | 348 | 2.6% | −4 | −8 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Romero-Cruz Academy ← | — | 26 | 1.8% | 10.3% | +7.5 | 12.6% |
| Ocia A. Peters Elementary | 2.1 mi | 58 | 38.8% | 56.3% | −18.9 | 0.7% |
| Agnes Ware Stanley Elementary | 3.1 mi | 58 | 30.8% | 54.2% | +9.9 | 1.1% |
| R. F. Hazard Elementary | 1.2 mi | 54 | 27.8% | 59.0% | −0.2 | 0.6% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 19 | 8 | #5293 | 0.0% | 8.6% | 30.9% | 12.0% | +3.3pp |
| 2023 | 21 | 6 | #5393 | 2.6% | 11.9% | 25.1% | 13.9% | -2.3pp |
| 2024 | 34 | 27 | #4187 | 2.1% | 12.6% | 21.7% | 13.4% | +0.7pp |
| 2025 | 26 | 10 | #5175 | 1.8% | 10.3% | 21.2% | 12.6% | +7.5pp |
- — Scored here as an elementary school — other grade spans appear in the data appendix.
- — Low-income students here trail the state average for their group by 27 points in ELA — worth asking how the school is closing that gap.
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 5.0% | 22.1% | +17.1pp |
| Male | 7.8% | 21.1% | +13.3pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 6.1% | 21.7% | +15.6pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 7.7% | 28.2% | +20.5pp |
| English Learners | 6.7% | 22.2% | +15.5pp |
| Homeless | 6.3% | 22.9% | +16.6pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 6.6% | 21.3% | +14.7pp |
| All Students | 6.4% | 21.6% | +15.2pp |
| Asian | — | 9.1% | — |
| Military-Connected | — | 37.5% | — |
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