Summary:
Colusa has five schools serving elementary through high-school grades, including two alternative programs; enrollment ranges from 27 students at Colusa Alternative High (Continuation) to 553 at George T. Egling Middle. The clearest area-wide concern is attendance at the alternative schools: chronic absenteeism is 57% at Colusa Alternative Home and 56% at Alternative High, compared with 18% statewide.
Academic strengths are concentrated in particular grades and subjects. James M. Burchfield Primary stands out in third-grade math, with 56% proficiency versus 47% statewide, though its ELA result is 39% versus 44%. Colusa High leads the reported 11th-grade ELA results at 59%, about 1 point above the state; its math is 15% versus 32% statewide, and science is 24% versus 38%. Its graduation rate, 97%, is 9 points above the state’s 88%. Egling Middle is below state levels in every reported ELA and math grade, with gaps of 3–13 points in ELA and 4–13 points in math.
Reported all-grades averages for the four schools with results in both years rose by 4 points in both ELA and math from 2024–25 to 2025–26, faster than the state’s increases of less than 1 point in ELA and 1 point in math; the averages nevertheless remained below state results. Progress varies by school: Colusa High’s science result rose 10 points, while its math rose by 1. SchoolDigger ranks Egling Middle and Colusa High at the 45th percentile and Alternative High at the 15th. For 2024–25, schools’ free/reduced lunch eligible figures ranged from 66% at Colusa High to 79% at Alternative Home; these are contextual observations, not explanations for achievement. Alternative Home’s current test scores are suppressed, and the alternative schools have 29 and 27 students, respectively.
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