Summary:
The city of Indian Wells, California is home to a single public elementary school, Gerald R. Ford Elementary, which serves students from kindergarten through 5th grade. Despite being part of the Desert Sands Unified school district, which is ranked 1011 out of 1568 districts in the state, Gerald R. Ford Elementary has consistently outperformed both district and state averages in key academic areas.
The school's students have demonstrated exceptional proficiency in English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics on the Smarter Balanced Assessments, with 5th-grade students scoring 68.13% and 46.74% proficient, respectively, compared to the district's 43.31% and 28.93%, and the state's 47.37% and 35.02%. Additionally, the school's 5th-grade students have achieved a 51.09% proficiency rate on the California Science Test (CAST), significantly higher than the district's 28.15% and the state's 32.68%.
While the school faces some challenges, such as a relatively high chronic absenteeism rate of 27.5% and a high percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch at 58.71%, its overall academic performance is a standout within the region. Gerald R. Ford Elementary has consistently ranked in the top 25% of California elementary schools, with a 4-star rating out of 5 from SchoolDigger, demonstrating its ability to provide a high-quality education to its students despite the district's lower overall ranking.
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