Ceres Unified

The Ceres Unified school district serves approximately 12,000 students across 23 schools in a community facing significant economic challenges, with most schools having high rates of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch.

Academic performance varies widely across the district, with standout schools including La Rosa Elementary and the comprehensive high schools, Central Valley High and Ceres High, which perform above district averages and have graduation rates over 94%. In contrast, schools like Walter White Elementary and Argus High (Continuation) rank in the lowest percentiles and struggle with very low test scores and high chronic absenteeism. The charter schools, particularly Whitmore Charter School of Art & Technology, consistently show stronger outcomes with much lower absenteeism.

Key district takeaways are that mathematics is a major challenge area, with proficiency rates lagging well behind state averages, and that chronic absenteeism is strongly correlated with lower academic performance. Interestingly, higher per-student spending does not guarantee better results, and the district's high schools succeed in graduating students despite many of their feeder elementary and middle schools facing substantial academic hurdles.