Summary:
The city of Hickman, California, is served by three public schools—Hickman Charter (K-8), Hickman Elementary (K-5), and Hickman Middle (6-8)—all operating under the Hickman Community Charter district on a shared campus, with a combined enrollment of about 1,100 students.
There are notable performance differences among the schools. Hickman Middle is the highest-ranked, performing in the top 20% of California middle schools with strong scores in English and science. Hickman Elementary is also a high performer, ranking above average statewide with particularly good math scores in the early grades. In contrast, Hickman Charter, the largest school, has the lowest academic rankings and proficiency rates, especially in mathematics, despite having the highest science scores and the best student attendance record in the group.
Key takeaways for parents include the district's strength in middle school education and a concerning trend where math scores tend to decline in the upper elementary and middle grades across all schools. A significant positive is that all three schools have exceptionally low chronic absenteeism, far below the state average, indicating strong student engagement. The performance gap between the two elementary models suggests parents may want to look closely at the specific programs and results at Hickman Elementary and Hickman Charter when making a choice.
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