Elementary Schools in Santee

Among the 10 elementary schools in Santee, nine serve K–8 and Sycamore Canyon Elementary serves K–6. In 2025–2026, the nine schools with reported results averaged 60% proficiency in ELA, 50% in math and 44% in science, exceeding California’s averages by 11, 11 and 8 percentage points, respectively—the clearest overall takeaway is that Santee’s school averages are above the state in all three subjects.

Sycamore Canyon Elementary leads ELA at 74%, 10 points ahead of second-place PRIDE Academy at Prospect Avenue at 64%. Carlton Hills Elementary leads math at 58%, just ahead of Carlton Oaks Elementary at 57%; Carlton Oaks leads science at 52%, followed by Rio Seco Elementary at 50%. At the other end, Cajon Park Elementary has the lowest ELA and math results, 50% and 38%; its math result is about 1 point below the state. Chet F. Harritt Elementary has the lowest science result at 39%, still 3 points above the state. SchoolDigger ranks Sycamore Canyon highest among these schools, at the 83rd percentile, and Cajon Park lowest, at the 48th.

Year-to-year changes varied: Carlton Oaks improved in all three subjects, gaining 4 points in ELA, 4 in math and 7 in science, while Sycamore Canyon gained 10 points in ELA but fell 5 points each in math and science. Across the nine schools, average math results dipped by less than 1 point and science rose by 1, while state results rose by 1 point in math and 3 in science. For context, all nine schools report the measure free/reduced lunch eligible for 2024–2025; the reported shares range from 37% at Sycamore Canyon to 58% at Pepper Drive Elementary, with a nine-school average of 47%. Student-teacher ratios range from 20.7 at Sycamore Canyon to 25.4 at Chet F. Harritt; these are descriptive comparisons, not explanations of results. Proficiency comparisons cover two years; Santee Alternative has no reported ELA or math scores, and its science results are suppressed.