Luther Burbank Elementary

Luther Burbank Elementary is a K-6 public school serving 334 students in the Santa Rosa Elementary district, which faces systemic academic challenges, ranking in the bottom 27th percentile of all districts in California.

The school is currently facing significant difficulties, as its academic performance has declined sharply in recent years, now ranking in the bottom 20th percentile of all state schools. This drop is more severe than at most nearby schools, such as Proctor Terrace Elementary and Santa Rosa French-American Charter (SRFACS), which maintain higher rankings. A major concern is chronic absenteeism, with over a quarter of students missing too much school—a rate much higher than the district and state averages and strongly correlated with lower performance. Furthermore, the school shows large performance gaps; for example, female students rank significantly lower than male students, and scores for Hispanic students and those from low-income families have fallen dramatically.

Despite spending over $20,000 per student, which is comparable to higher-performing schools, academic outcomes remain poor, suggesting how resources are used is critical. The school serves a population with high economic need, but other schools with similar demographics, like Roseland Elementary and Sheppard Elementary, achieve better results. Key areas for potential improvement include addressing chronic absenteeism, strengthening early literacy instruction—especially in lower grades where proficiency is very low—and implementing targeted support for struggling student groups to reverse the current negative trend.