Summary
Central Elementary is a K–5 school serving 782 students in Banning, California, within Banning Unified. Its 2025–26 results are above the district in English and math, but below the state in all three tested subjects. The clearest concern is fifth-grade math: 10% of students met proficiency, below the district’s 13% and the state’s 37%, and the lowest result among nearby K–5 schools.
Math is Central’s strongest subject relative to its district, while science is its weakest compared with nearby schools. Across all grades, Central scored 27% in math, 9 percentage points above the district but 11 below the state; in ELA, it scored 32%, 3 points above the district and 17 below the state. Science was 15%—7 points below the district and 21 below the state. Among eight nearby schools with results, Central ranked fourth-lowest in ELA and math and second-lowest in science; its results were also below nearby-school averages in all three subjects. Attendance is a relative strength: chronic absenteeism was 14%, compared with 25% in the district and 18% statewide, making Central’s rate the second-lowest among nearby schools with current data.
Results have risen since 2022–23: ELA improved by 3 percentage points, math by 3, and science by 2. However, science gains lagged the state’s, widening Central’s science gap with the state from 17 to 21 points. SchoolDigger places Central at the 25th statewide percentile, up from 16 in 2021–22, and awards it 1 star; it remains in the lower portion of the nearby-school group. One notable subgroup result is English Language Learner Students: SchoolDigger’s statewide ranking for how well Central serves this group climbed from the 26th percentile in 2021–22 to the 81st in 2023–24, compared with Central’s overall 31st percentile that year. For context, the 2024–25 free/reduced lunch eligible rate was 92%, and the student-teacher ratio was 23.3, close to the nearby-school average.
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