Santa Monica Alternative (K-8): Most kids here clear the bar, year after year. The question is what happens after that.
Santa Monica Alternative (K-8) posts 58% meeting the standard, and 31.4% going well past it. Most kids here keep up. Fewer get pushed further. Ask the school what it does for a child who already finds the work easy.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 54 | 31% | 58% | +4.2 | 8.7% | 0.7% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Santa Monica Alternative (K-8) scores 54 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 74th 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 “58% proficient” and call it done. Santa Monica Alternative (K-8) deserves a closer read. It sits at the 74th percentile of 5,744 California elementary schools — but the ranking is the least interesting thing on this page.
The headline number: 8.7% chronic absenteeism — versus 17.9% statewide. Attendance is the quietest strong signal a school can post.
The seven-year arc
Has held the 74th-percentile line every tested year since 2019.
This school hasn't fully recovered from the pandemic: 58% meet the standard today, versus 62% in 2019 — a gap worth asking about on a visit.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 67% | 79% | 86% | 58% | 43% |
| Grade 4 | — | 67% | 91% | 71% | 58% |
| Grade 5 | 75% | 81% | 95% | 84% | 65% |
| Grade 6 | 82% | 67% | 82% | 74% | 75% |
| Grade 7 | 82% | 69% | 78% | 79% | 86% |
| Grade 8 | 85% | 68% | 92% | 69% | 65% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 50% | 69% | 70% | 67% | 62% |
| Grade 4 | — | 57% | 74% | 63% | 75% |
| Grade 5 | 56% | 36% | 42% | 89% | 48% |
| Grade 6 | 73% | 50% | 52% | 50% | 50% |
| Grade 7 | 88% | 62% | 61% | 74% | 81% |
| Grade 8 | 83% | 67% | 80% | 73% | 71% |
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 rises 5.8pp across grades; the floor rises 22.4pp. The state average rises 4.5pp over the same span. Kids here gain ground the longer they stay — the pattern you want to see. A school visit and conversation with teachers will tell you more than this number.
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 Santa Monica Alternative (K-8) in Santa Monica, 64.7% of white students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 81.5% district-wide and 61.8% statewide. Santa Monica Alternative (K-8) trails its district average for white students by 16.8 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: White students (63.5% Math proficient). Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 51 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
Grades 7–8 students miss school at roughly twice the rate of TK/K students (9.8% vs 4.2%). Chronic absence here concentrates in the upper grades.
Where the path goes
The path below follows attendance boundaries — scores shown for each next step.
Estimated path based on proximity within the same district. Contact your school district for official feeder information.
The people teaching here
Pay is set by the district, not the school.
What gets spent here
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 216 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), 63% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Santa Monica Alternative (K-8) a good elementary school?
What are Santa Monica Alternative (K-8)'s CAASPP test scores?
How does Santa Monica Alternative (K-8) rank in California?
Is Santa Monica Alternative (K-8) getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Santa Monica Alternative (K-8)?
How does Santa Monica Alternative (K-8) compare to other schools in Santa Monica?
How does Santa Monica Alternative (K-8) serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 81
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 | 21 | 33% | 10% | 33% | 24% | 43% | −1 |
| Grade 4 | 19 | 37% | 21% | 21% | 21% | 58% | +13 |
| Grade 5 | 23 | 39% | 26% | 35% | 0% | 65% | +17 |
| Grade 6 | 16 | 25% | 50% | 25% | 0% | 75% | +28 |
| Grade 7 | 22 | 32% | 55% | 5% | 9% | 86% | +39 |
| Grade 8 | 17 | 18% | 47% | 29% | 6% | 65% | +19 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 21 | 29% | 33% | 19% | 19% | 62% | +16 |
| Grade 4 | 20 | 20% | 55% | 15% | 10% | 75% | +33 |
| Grade 5 | 23 | 30% | 17% | 35% | 17% | 48% | +13 |
| Grade 6 | 16 | 38% | 13% | 44% | 6% | 50% | +15 |
| Grade 7 | 21 | 48% | 33% | 14% | 5% | 81% | +47 |
| Grade 8 | 17 | 53% | 18% | 29% | 0% | 71% | +38 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 40 | 15% | 48% | 38% | 0% |
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 | 51 | 64.7% | −17 | +3 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Monica Alternative (K-8) ← | — | 54 | 31.4% | 58.5% | +4.2 | 0.7% |
| Franklin Elementary | 2.4 mi | 83 | 57.7% | 83.5% | +3.7 | 0.3% |
| Canyon Charter Elementary | 2.5 mi | 80 | 61.1% | 85.6% | +6.1 | 0.2% |
| Edison Elementary | 1.6 mi | 80 | 50.4% | 81.3% | −10.8 | 0.1% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 59 | 79 | #1183 | 27.6% | 62.0% | 6.2% | 0.1% | +7.3pp |
| 2022 | 52 | 79 | #1208 | 32.8% | 64.8% | 21.2% | 0.0% | -15.3pp |
| 2023 | 63 | 87 | #747 | 35.8% | 76.3% | 17.1% | 0.5% | -9.4pp |
| 2024 | 75 | 95 | #278 | 41.1% | 71.8% | 11.1% | 0.3% | +24.3pp |
| 2025 | 54 | 74 | #1498 | 31.4% | 58.5% | 8.7% | 0.7% | +4.2pp |
- — Scored here as an elementary school — other grade spans appear in the data appendix.
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 6.5% | 5.1% | -1.4pp |
| Male | 4.9% | 7.6% | +2.7pp |
| Black/African American | 0.0% | — | — |
| Hispanic/Latino | 11.4% | 17.1% | +5.7pp |
| Two or More Races | 2.6% | 0.0% | -2.6pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 5.6% | 8.5% | +2.9pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 20.7% | 18.9% | -1.8pp |
| All Students | 5.7% | 6.5% | +0.8pp |
| Asian | — | 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