Willows Unified

Willows Unified has four schools serving kindergarten through grade 12, with enrollment ranging from 24 students at Willows Community High to 488 at Murdock Elementary. The schools’ reported 2025–26 All Grades averages were below state rates in ELA, math, and science by 16, 16, and 10 percentage points, respectively. Community High also had much higher chronic absenteeism than the district and state—91%, compared with 18% for each. Most importantly, grade-matched results show especially wide ELA gaps for elementary and intermediate students: 20–25 points below the state at Murdock and 19–23 points below at Willows Intermediate.

Willows High stands out in ELA and science, while Murdock leads local math results. High scored 48.9% in ELA, close to the state’s 49.3%, and 32% in science, the highest reported locally; its math score was 20%, well below the state’s 38%. Murdock had the highest reported math score, 30%, while Intermediate had the lowest, at 16%. Community High had 79% graduation, below the district’s 96% and state’s 88%. SchoolDigger ranks High at the 49th statewide percentile, versus the 18th for Murdock and 15th for Intermediate.

Recent test trends are mixed: ELA gaps narrowed by an average of 6 points and science gaps by 3, while math gaps widened by 2. From 2024–25 to 2025–26, Murdock improved 4 points in ELA and 9 in math; High rose 15 in ELA and 12 in science but fell 8 in math. SchoolDigger’s rankings also rose 11 percentile points for Murdock and 2 for High, while Intermediate fell 7. In 2024–25, free/reduced lunch eligible figures ranged from 71% to 74% at the three larger schools and were 58% at Community High; student–teacher ratios ranged from 18.8 to 20.0 at those larger schools and were 33.3 at Community High. Community High’s current test scores are suppressed, and All Grades comparisons reflect schools serving different grade spans.