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Nicholas Elementary

Public Grades K-6

5426^th

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 5,857 California Elementary Schools

Better than 7% of California elementary schools

Summary

Nicholas Elementary is a K-6 public school serving 482 students in the Sacramento City Unified district, located in a high-need community where 89% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

Academically, the school faces significant challenges, consistently ranking in the bottom 10% of California elementary schools for the past decade, with current proficiency rates in English and math below 20%. While its performance is similar to some nearby schools like Pacific Elementary and Ethel I. Baker Elementary, it lags far behind higher-performing neighbors such as Camellia Elementary (86th percentile) and Earl Warren Elementary (53rd percentile), despite all serving communities with similar economic needs.

Notably, Nicholas Elementary has made substantial progress in improving student attendance, cutting its chronic absenteeism rate by nearly half since 2022. The school also shows relative strength in supporting students with special education needs. However, academic gains have not followed the attendance improvement, and performance is particularly low in 5th grade, suggesting deep-rooted challenges that require targeted, systemic solutions beyond incremental changes.

482

Students ?

22.0

Student/teacher ratio ?

$21,075

Per pupil spending ?

89%

Free/discounted lunch ?

5100 El Paraiso Ave.
Sacramento, CA 95824-4006

(916) 395-4655

District: Sacramento City Unified

Students who attend Nicholas Elementary usually attend:

Middle:	Fern Bacon Middle
High:	Hiram W. Johnson High

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

49.8%

Asian:

24.7%

African American:

11.2%

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At a glance

▬ Ranking trend: Holding steady — 3rd percentile in 2013 → 7th in 2025

Worth a look

!Test scores below the California average (17% vs 41% meeting standards)

!In the lower quartile statewide (7th percentile)

!High chronic absenteeism (27% vs 19% California)

Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?

This school17%

District avg34%

California avg41%

5,426^th of 5,857

California public elementary schools ?

Bottom 7%▬ steady since 2015

See the entire ranking list of California Elementary Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

39^th of 49Elementary Schools in the Sacramento City Unified

982^nd of 1,543Sacramento City Unified among California districts

Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)

Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	12.9	5426 of 5857	7.4%	☆☆☆☆☆
2024	13.7	5411 of 5869	7.8%	☆☆☆☆☆
2023	14.4	5359 of 5859	8.5%	☆☆☆☆☆
2022	16.1	5261 of 5883	10.6%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	12.9	5385 of 5789	7.0%	☆☆☆☆☆
2018	15.7	5035 of 5662	11.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2017	13.0	5274 of 5692	7.3%	☆☆☆☆☆
2016	14.8	5058 of 5614	9.9%	☆☆☆☆☆
2015	14.2	5194 of 5611	7.4%	☆☆☆☆☆
2013	8.1	5374 of 5530	2.8%	☆☆☆☆☆
2012	15.2	4946 of 5390	8.2%	☆☆☆☆☆
2011	21.3	4587 of 5377	14.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2010	25.9	4156 of 5314	21.8%	★☆☆☆☆
2009	36.4	3283 of 5193	36.8%	★★☆☆☆
2008	38.6	3022 of 5113	40.9%	★★☆☆☆
2007	35.2	3219 of 5113	37.0%	★★☆☆☆
2006	30.8	3254 of 4818	32.5%	★★☆☆☆
2005	26.4	3521 of 4822	27.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2004	21.1	3863 of 4809	19.7%	★☆☆☆☆

African American

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2023	29.8	470 of 661	28.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	41.5	341 of 663	48.6%	★★☆☆☆
2019	36.9	459 of 747	38.6%	★★☆☆☆
2018	18.3	650 of 700	7.1%	☆☆☆☆☆

Asian

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	4.3	1143 of 1203	5.0%	☆☆☆☆☆
2024	3.5	1150 of 1205	4.6%	☆☆☆☆☆
2023	4.3	1120 of 1190	5.9%	☆☆☆☆☆
2022	2.0	1121 of 1154	2.9%	☆☆☆☆☆
2019	1.7	1123 of 1149	2.3%	☆☆☆☆☆
2018	5.5	1011 of 1071	5.6%	☆☆☆☆☆

Disabled

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2022	24.5	1762 of 2227	20.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	31.5	1715 of 2585	33.7%	★★☆☆☆
2018	31.4	1363 of 2128	35.9%	★★☆☆☆

English Language Learner

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2024	34.8	2193 of 3162	30.6%	★★☆☆☆
2023	36.6	2031 of 3245	37.4%	★★☆☆☆
2022	35.5	2169 of 3311	34.5%	★★☆☆☆
2019	33.3	2254 of 3275	31.2%	★★☆☆☆
2018	29.3	2440 of 3246	24.8%	★☆☆☆☆

Female

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	14.7	5121 of 5597	8.5%	☆☆☆☆☆
2024	13.5	5250 of 5612	6.5%	☆☆☆☆☆
2023	14.9	5142 of 5609	8.3%	☆☆☆☆☆
2022	16.8	5015 of 5635	11.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	15.6	4981 of 5492	9.3%	☆☆☆☆☆
2018	19.8	4562 of 5413	15.7%	★☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	12.7	4875 of 5107	4.5%	☆☆☆☆☆
2024	17.3	4643 of 5107	9.1%	☆☆☆☆☆
2023	15.3	4768 of 5087	6.3%	☆☆☆☆☆
2022	20.6	4465 of 5084	12.2%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	13.8	4717 of 4963	5.0%	☆☆☆☆☆
2018	18.7	4332 of 4830	10.3%	★☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	18.6	4819 of 5460	11.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	17.8	4954 of 5517	10.2%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	17.1	4890 of 5363	8.8%	☆☆☆☆☆
2022	23.7	4360 of 5264	17.2%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	17.7	4708 of 5173	9.0%	☆☆☆☆☆
2018	21.0	4410 of 5084	13.3%	★☆☆☆☆

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	12.4	5298 of 5628	5.9%	☆☆☆☆☆
2024	16.1	5071 of 5643	10.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	15.4	5120 of 5638	9.2%	☆☆☆☆☆
2022	16.6	5061 of 5663	10.6%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	11.9	5267 of 5510	4.4%	☆☆☆☆☆
2018	12.9	5095 of 5431	6.2%	☆☆☆☆☆

Special Education

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	35.2	1704 of 2847	40.1%	★★☆☆☆

How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)

Special Education (2025)40th percentile+33 vs school

English Language Learner (2024)31st percentile+23 vs school

African American (2023)29th percentile+20 vs school

Disabled (2022)21st percentile+10 vs school

Low Socio Economic Status (2025)12th percentile+4 vs school

Female (2025)9th percentile~ school

Male (2025)6th percentile~ school

Asian (2025)5th percentile~ school

Hispanic (2025)5th percentile-3 vs school

By subject vs California (2024-2025) ?

English Language Arts/Literacy18%-31 vs state

Mathematics18%-20 vs state

Science9%-24 vs state

★

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Schools Near Nicholas Elementary

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Immunizations Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				CAST Science (2025)			Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy (2025)							Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics (2025)							% Completely Immunized (2022)	% Polio (2022)	% Hepatitis B (2022)	% Varicella (2022)	% DTP (2022)	% MMR (2022)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	CAST Science 5th Grade	CAST Science 8th Grade	CAST Science All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 3rd Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 4th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 3rd Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 4th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics All Grades	% Completely Immunized KG	% Polio KG	% Hepatitis B KG	% Varicella KG	% DTP KG	% MMR KG	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Nicholas Elementary	Public	K-6	5100 El Paraiso Ave.	Sacramento	95824	Sacramento County	Sacramento City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 395-4655	482	22	22.0	89.0%	32 (6.6%)	54 (11.2%)	240 (49.8%)	119 (24.7%)	1 (0.2%)	15 (3.1%)	21 (4.4%)	12.9	5426^th of 5857 public elementary schools	7.4%		13.7	5411^th of 5869 public elementary schools	7.8%	15	8.7		8.7	22.7	18.6	11.8	19.4			18.1	28.6	19.4	8.6	14.1			17.6							$21,075	$3,561	$17,514
Ethel I. Baker Elementary	Public	K-6	5717 Laurine Way	Sacramento	95824	Sacramento County	Sacramento City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 395-4560	608	24	25.3	82.6%	22 (3.6%)	31 (5.1%)	386 (63.5%)	116 (19.1%)	1 (0.2%)	30 (4.9%)	22 (3.6%)	9.2	5676^th of 5857 public elementary schools	3.1%		8.5	5746^th of 5869 public elementary schools	2.1%	70	9.3		9.3	10.2	18.0	13.8	11.7			13.5	8.1	20.2	15.1	3.9			12.1	91.8	97.3	95.9	95.9	93.2	95.9	$20,110	$3,413	$16,697
Pacific Elementary	Public	K-6	6201 41st St.	Sacramento	95824	Sacramento County	Sacramento City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 395-4670	597	23	26.4	87.6%	103 (17.3%)	38 (6.4%)	255 (42.7%)	159 (26.6%)	5 (0.8%)	10 (1.7%)	27 (4.5%)	8.1	5734^th of 5857 public elementary schools	2.1%		6.7	5817^th of 5869 public elementary schools	0.9%	83	6.0		6.0	23.0	15.1	9.6	8.2			14.0	20.9	9.6	2.4	3.5			9.2	86.4	90.9	92.7	93.6	90.0	93.6	$20,624	$3,794	$16,830
Suy:u Elementary	Public	K-6	6032 36th Ave.	Sacramento	95824	Sacramento County	Sacramento City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 395-4680	392	17	22.9	76.0%	23 (5.9%)	41 (10.5%)	212 (54.1%)	84 (21.4%)	2 (0.5%)	4 (1.0%)	26 (6.6%)	20.6	4779^th of 5857 public elementary schools	18.4%		16.4	5180^th of 5869 public elementary schools	11.7%	401	17.5		17.5	33.9	28.6	11.9	23.4			24.4	28.6	31.3	13.8	17.5			22.8	90.0	94.0	92.0	92.0	92.0	94.0	$22,028	$3,486	$18,542
Bowling Green Elementary	Public, Charter	K-6	4211 Turnbridge Dr.	Sacramento	95823	Sacramento County	Sacramento City Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 395-5215	685	30	23.2	82.0%	14 (2.0%)	52 (7.6%)	485 (70.8%)	104 (15.2%)	2 (0.3%)	13 (1.9%)	15 (2.2%)	25	4395^th of 5857 public elementary schools	25.0%		20.3	4834^th of 5869 public elementary schools	17.6%	439	12.9		12.9	32.2	26.4	28.0	27.5			28.7	36.5	38.0	14.9	23.1			28.2	90.7	96.6	96.6	95.8	93.2	94.9	$24,112	$4,569	$19,543
Mark Twain Elementary	Public	K-6	4914 58th St.	Sacramento	95820	Sacramento County	Sacramento City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 395-4640	263	12	21.9	83.3%	32 (12.2%)	25 (9.5%)	146 (55.5%)	32 (12.2%)	1 (0.4%)	3 (1.1%)	24 (9.1%)	12.1	5496^th of 5857 public elementary schools	6.2%		14.8	5320^th of 5869 public elementary schools	9.4%	176	2.9		2.9	15.8	8.3	22.9	33.3			20.0	10.5	13.9	14.3	16.7			13.8	78.3	78.3	78.3	78.3	78.3	78.3	$22,738	$3,310	$19,428
Camellia Elementary	Public	K-6	6600 Cougar Dr.	Sacramento	95828	Sacramento County	Sacramento City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 395-4520	309	14	22.3	83.8%	8 (2.6%)	8 (2.6%)	52 (16.8%)	219 (70.9%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (2.3%)	15 (4.9%)	86.8	832^nd of 5857 public elementary schools	85.8%		79.3	1182^nd of 5869 public elementary schools	79.9%	350	55.0		55.0	69.8	59.5	65.0	70.6			66.5	76.7	73.8	57.5	54.9			65.3	94.7	96.0	96.0	94.7	96.0	96.0	$22,788	$3,795	$18,993
St. HOPE Public School 7	Public, Charter	K-8	5201 Strawberry Ln.	Sacramento	95820	Sacramento County	St. HOPE Public School 7 District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 649-7850	471	27	17.4	87.3%	5 (1.1%)	285 (60.5%)	120 (25.5%)	5 (1.1%)	2 (0.4%)	4 (0.8%)	50 (10.6%)	23.4	4554^th of 5857 public elementary schools	22.2%		11.7	5571^st of 5869 public elementary schools	5.1%	1017	7.1	14.0	11.1	48.1	43.9	23.3	28.3	36.0	35.1	35.8	23.5	11.9	14.0	15.1	4.0	7.0	12.5							$18,384	$6,070	$12,314
Parkway Elementary	Public	K-6	4720 Forest Pkwy.	Sacramento	95823	Sacramento County	Sacramento City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 395-4675	409	16	25.4	85.3%	17 (4.2%)	109 (26.7%)	137 (33.5%)	87 (21.3%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (6.6%)	32 (7.8%)	10.2	5623^rd of 5857 public elementary schools	4.0%		9.7	5697^th of 5869 public elementary schools	2.9%	74	10.3		10.3	13.3	16.3	22.8	15.8			17.3	11.1	20.4	6.9	10.5			12.0	91.5						$20,671	$3,367	$17,304
Oak Ridge Elementary	Public	K-6	4501 Martin Luther King Blvd.	Sacramento	95820	Sacramento County	Sacramento City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 395-4665	429	15	28.4	96.5%	21 (4.9%)	38 (8.9%)	250 (58.3%)	77 (17.9%)	1 (0.2%)	12 (2.8%)	30 (7.0%)	11	5571^st of 5857 public elementary schools	4.9%		12	5559^th of 5869 public elementary schools	5.3%	12	2.9		2.9	13.6	21.6	14.5	24.6			18.3	15.2	23.5	2.9	16.7			13.8	93.1		97.2		97.2	97.2	$21,425	$4,067	$17,358

Frequently Asked Questions about Nicholas Elementary

What schools do graduates of Nicholas Elementary attend?

Students who attend Nicholas Elementary usually go on to attend:

Middle : Fern Bacon Middle
High : Hiram W. Johnson High

How many students attend Nicholas Elementary?

In the 2024-25 school year, 482 students attended Nicholas Elementary.

What district is Nicholas Elementary in?

Sacramento City Unified

What is the racial makeup of Nicholas Elementary?

Students at Nicholas Elementary are 50% Hispanic, 25% Asian, 11% African American, 7% White, 4% Two or more races, 3% Pacific Islander.

Is Nicholas Elementary a good school?

Nicholas Elementary ranks in the bottom 7.4% of California elementary schools.

Rate Nicholas Elementary!

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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.