Vena Avenue Elementary: English learners reach fluency faster than the state rate. But the zoned next school scores lower.
Vena Avenue 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 | 58 | 32% | 57% | -0.3 | 14.3% | 0.1% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Vena Avenue Elementary scores 58 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 79th 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 →
🤝 Culture First — Ask whether the low absenteeism and suspension numbers come from what the school does or from the community it serves — both can produce the same numbers, and only a visit tells you which.
Most rating sites would stop at “57% proficient” and call it done. Vena Avenue deserves a closer read. The school sits in Arleta, where three in four students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
Vena Avenue's low-income kids hit 53.5% proficiency in ELA — a number the same group reaches at 38.2% statewide. If you're trying to read past zip-code-driven test scores, that's the signal worth weighing.
The seven-year arc
Has held the 79th-percentile line every tested year since 2019.
This school hasn't fully recovered from the pandemic: 57% meet the standard today, versus 62% in 2019 — a gap worth asking about on a visit.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 66% | 70% | 54% | 67% | 51% |
| Grade 4 | 66% | 56% | 70% | 62% | 66% |
| Grade 5 | 68% | 80% | 68% | 65% | 60% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 62% | 71% | 57% | 65% | 55% |
| Grade 4 | 56% | 47% | 65% | 56% | 65% |
| Grade 5 | 51% | 58% | 54% | 58% | 46% |
The story this school is actually telling
of English learners reached the top ELPAC level, versus 18.0% statewide.
the zoned path continues to Richard E. Byrd Middle, which scores 19 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 8.4pp. The state average rises 4.5pp over the same span. A school visit and conversation with teachers will tell you more than this number.
Vena Avenue's most underrated number
53.5% of low-income students met the ELA standard — versus 38.2% for the same group statewide. That's the strongest kind of signal a school can post: it holds across income lines.
The 6 things our score weighs
Ask which schools families here actually choose next — the zoned path is only the default.
- Ask whether extra support — tutoring, counseling, small groups — reaches kids across income lines, not just the students already ahead.
- 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 Vena Avenue Elementary in Arleta, 53.5% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 40.9% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Vena Avenue Elementary outperforms its district average for low-income students by 12.5 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (51.1% Math proficient); Hispanic students (56.3% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 5.1 percentage points for low-income students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 173 students tested.
8 of 14 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 6.9pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +4.5pp.
Showing up, and staying in class
TK/K students miss school at roughly twice the rate of Grades 4–6 students (21.6% vs 11.0%). Chronic absence here concentrates in the earliest grades — worth asking how the school works with new families on attendance.
Where the path goes
The zoned path continues to Richard E. Byrd Middle, which scores 19 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
$1,970 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), 38% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Vena Avenue Elementary a good elementary school?
What are Vena Avenue Elementary's CAASPP test scores?
How does Vena Avenue Elementary rank in California?
Is Vena Avenue Elementary getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Vena Avenue Elementary?
How does Vena Avenue Elementary compare to other schools in Arleta?
How does Vena Avenue Elementary serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 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 | 76 | 32% | 20% | 20% | 29% | 51% | +8 |
| Grade 4 | 64 | 34% | 31% | 17% | 17% | 66% | +21 |
| Grade 5 | 77 | 31% | 29% | 17% | 23% | 60% | +12 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 78 | 29% | 26% | 19% | 26% | 55% | +9 |
| Grade 4 | 63 | 33% | 32% | 22% | 13% | 65% | +23 |
| Grade 5 | 78 | 32% | 14% | 23% | 31% | 46% | +11 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 79 | 15% | 23% | 51% | 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 | 173 | 53.5% | +13 | +15 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 199 | 56.3% | +15 | +17 |
| Students with Disabilities | 25 | 8.0% | −8 | −9 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vena Avenue Elementary ← | — | 58 | 32.0% | 57.2% | −0.3 | 0.1% |
| Lashon Academy | 3.2 mi | 65 | 27.2% | 50.8% | +5.1 | 0.1% |
| San Jose Street Elementary | 2.6 mi | 60 | 28.4% | 48.9% | +6.7 | 0.5% |
| Alta California Elementary | 2.2 mi | 56 | 25.0% | 48.3% | +2.5 | 0.1% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 56 | 75 | #1396 | 34.1% | 61.6% | 8.7% | 0.0% | -4.1pp |
| 2022 | 55 | 83 | #986 | 35.8% | 63.6% | 31.2% | 0.2% | -1.9pp |
| 2023 | 60 | 84 | #904 | 32.0% | 61.2% | 20.6% | 0.0% | +5.5pp |
| 2024 | 59 | 81 | #1094 | 35.1% | 62.2% | 14.3% | 0.1% | -4.3pp |
| 2025 | 58 | 79 | #1219 | 32.0% | 57.2% | 14.3% | 0.1% | -0.3pp |
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 9.0% | 15.8% | +6.8pp |
| Male | 8.3% | 12.5% | +4.2pp |
| Asian | 9.1% | 0.0% | -9.1pp |
| White | 10.0% | 7.1% | -2.9pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 8.3% | 13.9% | +5.6pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 8.2% | 17.5% | +9.3pp |
| English Learners | 9.3% | 13.2% | +3.9pp |
| Foster Youth | 0.0% | — | — |
| Homeless | 16.0% | — | — |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 8.8% | 14.6% | +5.8pp |
| All Students | 8.7% | 14.0% | +5.3pp |
| Filipino | — | 23.1% | — |
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