Summary
Magnolia Elementary is a K–5 school in El Cajon, serving 703 students in the Cajon Valley Union district. In 2025–2026, about 12% of students were proficient in English language arts (ELA), 8% in math and 9% in science. Each result was below the district and state rates, and Magnolia’s overall results were among the lowest of nearby K–5 schools. The most important concern is that proficiency is low across all three subjects, with math the weakest.
Science is Magnolia’s strongest subject relative to nearby K–5 schools, the district and the state, while ELA has the largest gaps to the district and state. Magnolia’s science proficiency was 9%, compared with 24% in the district and 36% statewide; ELA was 12%, versus 31% and 49%. Math was lowest at 8%, versus 23% in the district and 38% statewide. Among five nearby K–5 schools with comparable results, average proficiency was 19% in ELA, 13% in math and 13% in science. Lexington Elementary, which had a similar free/reduced-lunch-eligible rate, scored higher than Magnolia in ELA and math, while Madison Avenue Elementary also had higher results in all three subjects. These are comparisons, not explanations for differences in scores.
Magnolia’s proficiency has declined overall since 2022–2023, even as state rates rose: its ELA result fell 3 percentage points, math 5 points and science 2 points. Over that period, the state–Magnolia gaps widened by 5 points in ELA, 9 in math and 8 in science. SchoolDigger ranked Magnolia in the 1st percentile and gave it 0 stars in 2025–2026; its percentile fell from 5 in 2022–2023. The student–teacher ratio was 26.2 in 2024–2025, and 91% of students were free/reduced lunch eligible that year. SchoolDigger’s statewide group rankings show a notably higher result for African American students: the 29th percentile in 2025–2026, compared with the school’s overall 1st percentile. Its ranking for Special Education Students fell from the 26th percentile in 2023–2024 to the 5th in 2025–2026.
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