Summary:
Arcata, California, a coastal city in Humboldt County, is served by six elementary schools for the 2024-2025 school year, including traditional public and charter options that generally cover grades from Kindergarten through 5th or 8th.
Among these schools, Union Street Charter stands out as the top performer, ranking in the top 3% of all California elementary schools with exceptionally high test scores in English, math, and science, and the lowest rate of chronic student absenteeism. In contrast, Arcata Elementary shows the lowest academic proficiency and highest absenteeism, despite having the highest per-student spending. The largest school, Pacific Union Elementary, demonstrates strong performance in its middle school grades, particularly in science.
Overall, the data reveals significant variation in school performance within Arcata. Charter schools like Coastal Grove Charter and Fuente Nueva Charter perform near state averages, while the very small Trillium Charter serves a high-need population. A notable finding is that higher per-student funding does not automatically correlate with better academic results, and smaller schools, along with lower chronic absenteeism, tend to be associated with stronger student outcomes across the district.
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