Summary:
The city of Fillmore, California, is served by seven public schools within the Fillmore Unified district, educating roughly 3,400 students from elementary through high school, including an alternative independent study program, in a community with high levels of economic need.
Among these schools, Fillmore Senior High stands out as the district's strongest performer, with a graduation rate well above the state average and the best English language arts scores, despite serving many students from low-income families. In contrast, the district's elementary schools show varied results, with Rio Vista Elementary having the highest test scores and lowest chronic absenteeism, while Fillmore Middle represents a significant challenge, with academic performance dropping sharply in the middle grades.
The district faces notable struggles in mathematics, where all schools score below state averages, and has two alternative programs, Sierra High and Heritage Valley Independent Study, which serve smaller populations with very high chronic absenteeism and lower test scores. Overall, while the district excels at graduating students, families should be aware of the wide variation in academic performance and student engagement between schools, particularly the middle school bottleneck and the district-wide difficulty with math proficiency.
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