Sierra Oaks K-8: The scores are below where anyone wants them. Here's what they don't tell you.
Sierra Oaks K-8 posts low test scores — and grade 5 tests above grade 3 here this year, by 2.1pp. 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 | 30 | 13% | 30% | +2.1 | 28.5% | 7.7% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Sierra Oaks K-8 scores 30 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 17th 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 “30% proficient” and call it done. Sierra Oaks K-8 deserves a closer read. The school sits in Sacramento, where more than half of 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
Slipped from the 71st to the 17th percentile since 2019.
This school hasn't fully recovered from the pandemic: 30% meet the standard today, versus 58% in 2019 — a gap worth asking about on a visit.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 58% | 31% | 24% | 36% | 21% |
| Grade 4 | 65% | 40% | 38% | 35% | 49% |
| Grade 5 | 61% | 51% | 53% | 36% | 30% |
| Grade 6 | 66% | 50% | 36% | 36% | 33% |
| Grade 7 | 50% | 48% | 39% | 25% | 35% |
| Grade 8 | 51% | 60% | 44% | 33% | 29% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 53% | 41% | 23% | 32% | 26% |
| Grade 4 | 64% | 35% | 42% | 31% | 33% |
| Grade 5 | 45% | 38% | 43% | 25% | 20% |
| Grade 6 | 40% | 19% | 17% | 20% | 13% |
| Grade 7 | 40% | 30% | 23% | 15% | 25% |
| Grade 8 | 29% | 27% | 27% | 9% | 11% |
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 how the school follows up when a student starts missing days — chronic absence often starts outside the classroom, not inside it.
- 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 Sierra Oaks K-8 in Sacramento, 23.1% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 29.1% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Sierra Oaks K-8 trails its district average for low-income students by 6.0 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (15.0% Math proficient); White students (37.7% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 29.6 percentage points for english learner students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 260 students tested.
5 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 4.5pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +4.5pp.
Showing up, and staying in class
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
$558 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), 20% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Sierra Oaks K-8 a good elementary school?
What are Sierra Oaks K-8's CAASPP test scores?
How does Sierra Oaks K-8 rank in California?
Is Sierra Oaks K-8 getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Sierra Oaks K-8?
How does Sierra Oaks K-8 compare to other schools in Sacramento?
How does Sierra Oaks K-8 serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 70
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 | 78 | 6% | 14% | 27% | 53% | 21% | −23 |
| Grade 4 | 76 | 29% | 20% | 11% | 41% | 49% | +4 |
| Grade 5 | 82 | 10% | 21% | 20% | 50% | 30% | −17 |
| Grade 6 | 63 | 13% | 21% | 24% | 43% | 33% | −13 |
| Grade 7 | 60 | 17% | 18% | 30% | 35% | 35% | −13 |
| Grade 8 | 51 | 8% | 22% | 33% | 37% | 29% | −17 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 77 | 5% | 21% | 13% | 61% | 26% | −20 |
| Grade 4 | 86 | 16% | 16% | 27% | 41% | 33% | −9 |
| Grade 5 | 84 | 11% | 10% | 14% | 65% | 20% | −15 |
| Grade 6 | 63 | 5% | 8% | 24% | 63% | 13% | −22 |
| Grade 7 | 65 | 6% | 18% | 22% | 54% | 25% | −9 |
| Grade 8 | 63 | 2% | 10% | 17% | 71% | 11% | −21 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 149 | 6% | 14% | 52% | 28% |
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 | 260 | 23.1% | −6 | −15 |
| White | 151 | 37.7% | −10 | −24 |
| English Learners | 85 | 4.7% | −1 | −6 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sierra Oaks K-8 ← | — | 30 | 12.9% | 29.7% | +2.1 | 7.7% |
| Phoebe A. Hearst Elementary | 2.3 mi | 86 | 58.3% | 80.9% | −0.3 | 0.6% |
| Caleb Greenwood Elementary | 2 mi | 69 | 48.2% | 71.5% | +1.8 | 0.8% |
| Mariemont Elementary | 2 mi | 54 | 33.9% | 64.5% | +1.1 | 1.2% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 53 | 71 | #1590 | 28.3% | 57.8% | 12.9% | 6.0% | -2.8pp |
| 2022 | 42 | 64 | #2051 | 19.1% | 39.5% | 38.8% | 5.4% | +8.3pp |
| 2023 | 52 | 76 | #1394 | 15.7% | 37.2% | 32.3% | 4.5% | +24.8pp |
| 2024 | 31 | 20 | #4579 | 15.7% | 32.5% | 28.0% | 6.9% | -3.2pp |
| 2025 | 30 | 17 | #4758 | 12.9% | 29.7% | 28.5% | 7.7% | +2.1pp |
- — 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 15 points in ELA — worth asking how the school is closing that gap.
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 14.2% | 27.6% | +13.4pp |
| Male | 11.7% | 30.6% | +18.9pp |
| Asian | 5.5% | 19.5% | +14.0pp |
| Black/African American | 26.3% | 54.5% | +28.2pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 15.3% | 34.9% | +19.6pp |
| Two or More Races | 7.1% | 31.7% | +24.6pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 28.4% | 38.3% | +9.9pp |
| English Learners | 14.3% | 23.7% | +9.4pp |
| Homeless | 45.5% | 52.5% | +7.0pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 18.7% | 34.9% | +16.2pp |
| All Students | 12.9% | 29.1% | +16.2pp |
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