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Northside Elementary

Q: Is Northside Elementary a good school?

Northside Elementary ranks 1623 rd of 5857 California elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 4 stars out of 5.

Public Grades K-6

1623^rd

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 5,857 California Elementary Schools

Better than 72% of California elementary schools

Summary

Northside Elementary is a K-6 public school serving 283 students in Cool, California, within the Black Oak Mine Unified district, and it has shown impressive and steady academic improvement over the last several years.

The school consistently outperforms both its district and the state in English, math, and science, with a particularly strong showing in mathematics. A key factor in this success is a dramatic drop in chronic absenteeism, now at just 8.8%, which is far better than nearby schools like Auburn Elementary (30.1%) and EV Cain Middle (31.6%). Northside also excels at supporting economically disadvantaged students, ranking in the 81st percentile statewide for that subgroup. While not the absolute top performer in the area—schools like Placer Elementary rank higher—it achieves solid results while serving a more economically diverse population than some of those higher-ranked schools.

Northside’s improvement coincides with higher per-student spending, suggesting resources are being used effectively. The school stands out in its district context, significantly outperforming the Black Oak Mine Unified average, while nearby schools in the lower-performing Auburn Union Elementary district generally lag behind. With strengths in upper grades and a clear upward trajectory, Northside Elementary represents a school that is successfully raising achievement and supporting all its students.

283

Students ?

21.7

Student/teacher ratio ?

$21,408

Per pupil spending ?

28.6%

Free/discounted lunch ?

860 Cave Valley Rd.
Cool, CA 95614-9441

(530) 333-8355

District: Black Oak Mine Unified

Students who attend Northside Elementary usually attend:

High:

Golden Sierra Junior Senior High

Racial breakdown:

White:

65.0%

Two or more races:

17.0%

Hispanic:

16.3%

See top rated California elementary schools

Compare Northside Elementary to nearby elementary schools!

At a glance

▲ Ranking trend: Improving — 56th percentile in 2015 → 72nd in 2025

Strengths

✓Test scores above the California average (52% vs 41% meeting standards)

✓Ranking is trending up — up 16 percentile points since 2015

✓Above the California median (72nd percentile)

Worth a look

!Some student groups rank well below the school's overall statewide standing

Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?

This school52%

District avg37%

California avg41%

1,623^rd of 5,857

California public elementary schools ?

Top 28%▲ up 16 pts since 2015

From top 44% (2015) to top 28% (2025)

See the entire ranking list of California Elementary Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

1^st of 2Elementary Schools in the Black Oak Mine Unified

761^st of 1,543Black Oak Mine Unified among California districts

Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)

Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	69.5	1623 of 5857	72.3%	★★★★☆
2024	72.3	1483 of 5869	74.7%	★★★★☆
2023	67.3	1697 of 5859	71.0%	★★★★☆
2022	70.0	1605 of 5883	72.7%	★★★★☆
2021	59.1	525 of 1417	62.9%	★★★☆☆
2019	47.9	2707 of 5789	53.2%	★★★☆☆
2018	40.7	3107 of 5662	45.1%	★★☆☆☆
2017	41.8	2987 of 5692	47.5%	★★☆☆☆
2016	52.2	2383 of 5614	57.6%	★★★☆☆
2015	49.7	2463 of 5611	56.1%	★★★☆☆
2013	53.9	2453 of 5530	55.6%	★★★☆☆
2012	54.4	2372 of 5390	56.0%	★★★☆☆
2011	66.5	1666 of 5377	69.0%	★★★☆☆
2010	58.6	2063 of 5314	61.2%	★★★☆☆
2009	68.2	1523 of 5193	70.7%	★★★★☆
2008	74.0	1238 of 5113	75.8%	★★★★☆
2007	64.7	1611 of 5113	68.5%	★★★☆☆
2006	65.7	1516 of 4818	68.5%	★★★☆☆
2005	72.2	1242 of 4822	74.2%	★★★★☆
2004	73.2	1184 of 4809	75.4%	★★★★☆

Female

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	59.6	1969 of 5597	64.8%	★★★☆☆
2024	66.3	1642 of 5612	70.7%	★★★★☆
2023	62.1	1849 of 5609	67.0%	★★★☆☆
2022	65.1	1726 of 5635	69.4%	★★★☆☆
2021	63.0	411 of 1267	67.6%	★★★☆☆
2019	44.6	2829 of 5492	48.5%	★★☆☆☆
2018	43.4	2862 of 5413	47.1%	★★☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	74.0	1047 of 5460	80.8%	★★★★☆
2024	67.0	1407 of 5517	74.5%	★★★★☆
2023	66.9	1400 of 5363	73.9%	★★★★☆
2022	73.3	1023 of 5264	80.6%	★★★★☆
2021	68.0	262 of 1110	76.4%	★★★★☆
2019	55.9	2014 of 5173	61.1%	★★★☆☆
2018	34.3	3448 of 5084	32.2%	★★☆☆☆

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	70.9	1479 of 5628	73.7%	★★★★☆
2024	70.5	1480 of 5643	73.8%	★★★★☆
2023	70.7	1474 of 5638	73.9%	★★★★☆
2022	71.3	1466 of 5663	74.1%	★★★★☆
2021	52.9	530 of 1272	58.3%	★★★☆☆
2019	49.5	2482 of 5510	55.0%	★★★☆☆
2018	38.0	3157 of 5431	41.9%	★★☆☆☆

White

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	40.5	1677 of 2598	35.5%	★★☆☆☆
2024	43.8	1600 of 2651	39.6%	★★☆☆☆
2023	46.7	1519 of 2661	42.9%	★★☆☆☆
2022	43.2	1648 of 2726	39.5%	★★☆☆☆
2019	24.1	2296 of 2834	19.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	16.3	2418 of 2737	11.7%	★☆☆☆☆

How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)

Low Socio Economic Status (2025)81st percentile+9 vs school

Male (2025)74th percentile~ school

Female (2025)65th percentile-7 vs school

White (2025)35th percentile-37 vs school

By subject vs California (2024-2025) ?

English Language Arts/Literacy54%+5 vs state

Mathematics52%+15 vs state

Science46%+13 vs state

1.0

1 rating · 1 written review

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What people are saying

by a parent
Tuesday, June 21, 2011

We had the pleasure of sharing space on the Northside school campus in Cool, California as a charter school called Golden Canyons. We were so pleased to be working with a local school in support of our cause of establishing an art infused school in the BOMUSD.

The honeymoon was soon over as we realized in horror that we were unwelcome on the campus & treated accordingly.

I give the principal one star for she did come around eventually after multiple complaints about her & one Kindergarten teacher in particular. But the reality is... it was a little, too little, too late.

On the plus side, our Golden Canyons class had a great school year with involved parents, engaged students and that is what's really important here. We had an overall very high satisfaction rate.

The kids worked on their knitting skills, wet on wet watercolor, main lesson books, form drawing, beeswax modeling, Spanish language, plenty of movement & play in between, science, crafts, math, weekly nature walks... Our year culminated with play performances we gave to select NS school classes & parents. The kids were so proud of themselves and really shown bright as the little stars they are in their performances.

Gratefully, they were too young to notice the vitriol going on around us and were protected from the influences that didn't appreciate our unique presence.

Northside school, like Georgetown school have a way to go to be the educational asset this community desires.

Both schools harbor teachers who are beyond their usefulness to teach children effectively & appropriately. Specifically, parents pull kids out of NS to avoid a 4th grade teacher & hope they don't get one Kindergarten teacher in particular. And at Georgetown avoidance of 2, 2/3 grade teachers.

It's sad to see parents jockeying around the district to fulfill educational needs to avoid unwanted teachers.

It is a shame our Black Oak Mine Unified School District board is impotent when it comes to responding to parent complaints, acting upon them and exerting any sort of power over the way the schools in the district are run. Close Quote

Schools Near Northside Elementary

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Immunizations Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				CAST Science (2025)			Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy (2025)							Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics (2025)							% Completely Immunized (2022)	% Polio (2022)	% Hepatitis B (2022)	% Varicella (2022)	% DTP (2022)	% MMR (2022)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	CAST Science 5th Grade	CAST Science 8th Grade	CAST Science All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 3rd Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 4th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 3rd Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 4th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics All Grades	% Completely Immunized KG	% Polio KG	% Hepatitis B KG	% Varicella KG	% DTP KG	% MMR KG	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Northside Elementary	Public	K-6	860 Cave Valley Rd.	Cool	95614	El Dorado County	Black Oak Mine Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 333-8355	283	13	21.7	28.6%	184 (65.0%)	1 (0.4%)	46 (16.3%)	2 (0.7%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	48 (17.0%)	69.5	1623^rd of 5857 public elementary schools	72.3%		72.3	1483^rd of 5869 public elementary schools	74.7%	140	46.0		46.0	46.7	43.9	67.6	57.1			53.7	60.0	52.4	46.0	50.0			51.8	89.4	93.6	93.6		91.5		$21,408	$21,320	$88
Skyridge Elementary	Public	K-8	800 Perkins Way	Auburn	95603	Placer County	Auburn Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 885-7019	461	23	19.7	49.2%	345 (74.8%)	0 (0.0%)	82 (17.8%)	4 (0.9%)	1 (0.2%)	7 (1.5%)	22 (4.8%)	58	2167^th of 5857 public elementary schools	63.0%		55.2	2276^th of 5869 public elementary schools	61.2%	109	42.4	32.0	37.6	41.5	54.7	55.9	43.9	45.7	41.7	47.8	56.6	39.6	42.4	24.4	37.1	31.9	39.6	87.9	90.1	93.4	89.0	90.1	89.0	$15,613	$14,256	$1,357
EV Cain Elementary	Public	K-8	150 Palm Ave.	Auburn	95603	Placer County	Auburn Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 823-6106	411	24	17.0	69.1%	228 (55.5%)	4 (1.0%)	139 (33.8%)	2 (0.5%)	9 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (7.1%)								(n/a)	26.3	28.6	27.7	36.7	46.0	33.3	25.6	42.9	34.9	36.7	36.7	43.2	18.0	12.8	14.0	27.0	24.2							$15,750	$14,256	$1,494
Bowman Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	13777 Bowman Rd.	Auburn	95603	Placer County	Ackerman Charter	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 885-1974	606	28	21.9	25.1%	422 (69.6%)	3 (0.5%)	109 (18.0%)	10 (1.7%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	61 (10.1%)	75.9	1334^th of 5857 public elementary schools	77.2%		84.8	956^th of 5869 public elementary schools	83.7%	378	75.0	45.8	61.0	62.1	55.6	81.3	38.1	73.9	55.9	61.5	54.6	60.3	65.6	39.7	44.9	50.0	52.5	97.5						$21,391	$20,480	$911
Ophir STEAM Academy	Public	K-8	1373 Lozanos Rd.	Newcastle	95658	Placer County	Loomis Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 885-3495	200	10	19.2	21.0%	154 (77.0%)	3 (1.5%)	29 (14.5%)	2 (1.0%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (5.5%)	76.6	1302^nd of 5857 public elementary schools	77.8%		91.4	613^th of 5869 public elementary schools	89.6%	689	63.0	74.1	68.5	52.6		63.0	77.8	81.0	77.8	71.3	31.6		51.9	51.9	61.9	48.2	51.9							$25,235	$24,266	$969
Auburn Elementary	Public	K-8	11400 Lariat Ranch Rd.	Auburn	95603	Placer County	Auburn Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 887-1958	501	23	21.7	84.4%	176 (35.1%)	6 (1.2%)	283 (56.5%)	12 (2.4%)	5 (1.0%)	2 (0.4%)	17 (3.4%)	14.7	5286^th of 5857 public elementary schools	9.7%		17.8	5049^th of 5869 public elementary schools	14.0%	237	19.6	15.4	17.5	18.6	21.8	31.4	22.5	29.7	28.6	24.8	18.0	11.5	15.7	14.3	7.9	17.3	14.3	52.4	64.3	85.7	52.4	59.5	59.5	$15,750	$14,256	$1,494
Harvest Ridge Cooperative Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	9050 Old State Hwy.	Newcastle	95658	Placer County	Harvest Ridge Cooperative Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 259-1425	349	16	21.6	12.3%	275 (78.8%)	0 (0.0%)	49 (14.0%)	2 (0.6%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (6.0%)	68.1	1685^th of 5857 public elementary schools	71.2%		54.1	2337^th of 5869 public elementary schools	60.2%	652	51.1	40.9	47.8	48.7	57.1	52.2	65.5	71.9	63.6	58.7	59.5	51.4	30.4	51.7	37.5	40.9	44.8	51.3	56.4	61.5	59.0	56.4	56.4
Newcastle Elementary	Public	K-8	8951 Valley View Dr.	Newcastle	95658	Placer County	Newcastle Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 663-3307	164	12	14.0	13.4%	129 (78.7%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (15.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (5.5%)	78.3	1226^th of 5857 public elementary schools	79.1%		90.6	664^th of 5869 public elementary schools	88.7%	562	55.0	71.4	61.8	50.0	75.0	55.0	77.8	77.8	78.6	67.5	62.5	70.0	50.0	38.9	83.3	64.3	61.4							$38,356	$37,122	$1,234
Newcastle Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	8951 Valley View Dr.	Newcastle	95658	Placer County	Newcastle Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 663-3307	333	12	28.6	18.3%	241 (72.4%)	2 (0.6%)	51 (15.3%)	5 (1.5%)	3 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	31 (9.3%)	81.1	1111^th of 5857 public elementary schools	81.0%		81.4	1093^rd of 5869 public elementary schools	81.4%	18	61.0	57.5	59.3	64.1	79.3	80.5	56.4	81.0	72.5	72.2	69.2	72.4	53.7	27.5	61.9	58.5	56.5	94.3			94.3			$12,946	$12,946	$00
Placer Elementary	Public	K-8	8650 Horseshoe Bar Rd.	Loomis	95650	Placer County	Loomis Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 652-1830	505	20	25.1	6.9%	402 (79.6%)	0 (0.0%)	68 (13.5%)	6 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	29 (5.7%)	92.7	502^nd of 5857 public elementary schools	91.4%		93.2	497^th of 5869 public elementary schools	91.5%	5	72.2	52.5	62.0	67.9	78.6	76.4	72.9	79.7	67.8	73.9	71.7	76.8	76.4	56.3	68.3	66.1	69.5							$17,313	$16,220	$1,093

Frequently Asked Questions about Northside Elementary

What is the racial makeup of Northside Elementary?

Students at Northside Elementary are 65% White, 17% Two or more races, 16% Hispanic.

How many students attend Northside Elementary?

In the 2024-25 school year, 283 students attended Northside Elementary.

What schools do graduates of Northside Elementary attend?

Students who attend Northside Elementary usually go on to attend:

High : Golden Sierra Junior Senior High

What district is Northside Elementary in?

Black Oak Mine Unified

Is Northside Elementary a good school?

Northside Elementary ranks 1623^rd of 5857 California elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 4 stars out of 5.

Rate Northside Elementary!

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Latest California data All new data »

2024–25 school spending dataJul 1, 2026

2024–25 attendance dataMar 13, 2026

2024–25 CSA Spanish test scoresDec 22, 2025

2024–25 dropout rates & graduation ratesNov 14, 2025

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.