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James Madison Elementary

Public Grades K-5

5603^rd

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 5,857 California Elementary Schools

Better than 4% of California elementary schools

Summary

James Madison Elementary is a K-5 public school serving 403 students in Indio, CA, as part of the Desert Sands Unified School District, and it faces significant academic challenges with a state ranking that has declined sharply over the past decade.

Academically, the school's proficiency rates in English, math, and science are the lowest among nearby schools, significantly trailing higher-performing neighbors like Amelia Earhart Elementary School of International Studies and Harry S. Truman Elementary. A major concern is chronic absenteeism, with over 35% of students missing too much school, a rate correlated with lower performance and higher than at more successful area schools. Interestingly, James Madison spends more per student than several of these better-performing schools, suggesting how resources are used is a key factor.

Despite these challenges, the school shows a relative strength in serving its Special Education students. The analysis also reveals that even schools with very similar student populations, like Herbert Hoover Elementary, achieve somewhat better results, and that a school in the neighboring Coachella Valley Unified district, Mountain Vista Elementary, outperforms it significantly, indicating potential strategies for improvement could be learned from nearby examples.

403

Students ?

23.7

Student/teacher ratio ?

$22,309

Per pupil spending ?

93.5%

Free/discounted lunch ?

80-845 Avenue 46
Indio, CA 92201-5059

(760) 775-3850

District: Desert Sands Unified

Students who attend James Madison Elementary usually attend:

Middle:	Indio Middle
High:	Indio High

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

89.1%

Two or more races:

8.2%

White:

2.0%

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At a glance

▼ Ranking trend: Declining — 30th percentile in 2013 → 4th in 2025

Worth a look

!Test scores below the California average (14% vs 41% meeting standards)

!In the lower quartile statewide (4th percentile)

!High chronic absenteeism (35% vs 19% California)

Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?

This school14%

District avg33%

California avg41%

5,603^rd of 5,857

California public elementary schools ?

Bottom 4%▼ down 27 pts since 2015

From bottom 31% (2015) to bottom 4% (2025)

See the entire ranking list of California Elementary Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

18^th of 19Elementary Schools in the Desert Sands Unified

989^th of 1,543Desert Sands 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	10.5	5603 of 5857	4.3%	☆☆☆☆☆
2024	15.5	5261 of 5869	10.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	13.0	5480 of 5859	6.5%	☆☆☆☆☆
2022	15.6	5311 of 5883	9.7%	☆☆☆☆☆
2019	20.5	4749 of 5789	18.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	24.4	4281 of 5662	24.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2017	19.7	4720 of 5692	17.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2016	21.6	4461 of 5614	20.5%	★☆☆☆☆
2015	27.8	3876 of 5611	30.9%	★★☆☆☆
2013	32.5	3848 of 5530	30.4%	★★☆☆☆
2012	25.5	4278 of 5390	20.6%	★☆☆☆☆
2011	25.1	4326 of 5377	19.5%	★☆☆☆☆
2010	29.7	3877 of 5314	27.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2009	27.0	3908 of 5193	24.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2008	41.3	2870 of 5113	43.9%	★★☆☆☆
2007	29.8	3585 of 5113	29.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2006	24.0	3721 of 4818	22.8%	★☆☆☆☆
2005	26.2	3547 of 4822	26.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2004	26.6	3441 of 4809	28.4%	★☆☆☆☆

Disabled

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2019	19.6	2368 of 2585	8.4%	☆☆☆☆☆

English Language Learner

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2024	20.5	3058 of 3162	3.3%	☆☆☆☆☆
2023	17.0	3221 of 3245	0.7%	☆☆☆☆☆
2022	18.4	3255 of 3311	1.7%	☆☆☆☆☆
2019	57.3	914 of 3275	72.1%	★★★★☆
2018	46.2	1444 of 3246	55.5%	★★★☆☆

Female

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	11.4	5345 of 5597	4.5%	☆☆☆☆☆
2024	17.2	4942 of 5612	11.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	14.2	5213 of 5609	7.1%	☆☆☆☆☆
2022	18.5	4847 of 5635	14.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	20.6	4564 of 5492	16.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	20.9	4462 of 5413	17.6%	★☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	13.3	4850 of 5107	5.0%	☆☆☆☆☆
2024	21.2	4388 of 5107	14.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	17.3	4654 of 5087	8.5%	☆☆☆☆☆
2022	21.2	4425 of 5084	13.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	26.1	3968 of 4963	20.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	29.7	3575 of 4830	26.0%	★☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	13.1	5165 of 5460	5.4%	☆☆☆☆☆
2024	20.7	4734 of 5517	14.2%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	17.6	4852 of 5363	9.5%	☆☆☆☆☆
2022	22.4	4479 of 5264	14.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	22.5	4389 of 5173	15.2%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	28.6	3880 of 5084	23.7%	★☆☆☆☆

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	10.9	5386 of 5628	4.3%	☆☆☆☆☆
2024	14.8	5175 of 5643	8.3%	☆☆☆☆☆
2023	13.3	5283 of 5638	6.3%	☆☆☆☆☆
2022	14.7	5236 of 5663	7.5%	☆☆☆☆☆
2019	22.0	4465 of 5510	19.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	29.0	3769 of 5431	30.6%	★★☆☆☆

Special Education

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	26.7	2213 of 2847	22.3%	★☆☆☆☆

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)

Special Education (2025)22nd percentile+18 vs school

Disabled (2019)8th percentile-10 vs school

Low Socio Economic Status (2025)5th percentile~ school

Hispanic (2025)5th percentile~ school

Female (2025)5th percentile~ school

Male (2025)4th percentile~ school

English Language Learner (2024)3rd percentile-7 vs school

By subject vs California (2024-2025) ?

English Language Arts/Literacy20%-29 vs state

Mathematics10%-27 vs state

Science8%-25 vs state

★

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Schools Near James Madison Elementary

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)	% Varicella (2022)	% DTP (2022)	% MMR (2022)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)
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 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 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 All Grades	% Completely Immunized KG	% Polio KG	% Varicella KG	% DTP KG	% MMR KG	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
James Madison Elementary	Public	K-5	80-845 Avenue 46	Indio	92201	Riverside County	Desert Sands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 775-3850	403	17	23.7	93.5%	8 (2.0%)	2 (0.5%)	359 (89.1%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	33 (8.2%)	10.5	5603^rd of 5857 public elementary schools	4.3%		15.5	5261^st of 5869 public elementary schools	10.4%	342	7.6	7.6	14.6	28.6	14.0		20.0	6.3	15.7	7.6		10.3						$22,309	$3,505	$18,804
John F. Kennedy Elementary	Public	K-5	45-100 Clinton St.	Indio	92201	Riverside County	Desert Sands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 775-3840	390	18	21.5	91.3%	2 (0.5%)	3 (0.8%)	376 (96.4%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.1%)	8	5739^th of 5857 public elementary schools	2.0%		10	5686^th of 5869 public elementary schools	3.1%	53	6.7	6.7	12.8	16.7	8.3		12.7	20.9	10.6	1.7		12.3	95.5			95.5		$23,280	$3,427	$19,853
Lyndon B. Johnson Elementary	Public	K-5	44-640 Clinton St.	Indio	92201	Riverside County	Desert Sands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 863-3680	560	27	21.1	89.5%	13 (2.3%)	7 (1.3%)	513 (91.6%)	7 (1.3%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (3.4%)	13.9	5352^nd of 5857 public elementary schools	8.6%		12.5	5521^st of 5869 public elementary schools	5.9%	169	12.6	12.6	33.3	16.9	20.7		23.5	19.1	12.4	10.3		13.9	96.6					$21,865	$3,328	$18,537
Carrillo Ranch Elementary	Public	K-5	43-775 Madison St.	Indio	92201	Riverside County	Desert Sands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 238-9700	459	21	22.3	89.1%	15 (3.3%)	6 (1.3%)	419 (91.3%)	11 (2.4%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (1.3%)	36.1	3474^th of 5857 public elementary schools	40.7%		29.9	3932^nd of 5869 public elementary schools	33.0%	458	28.2	28.2	37.5	43.0	42.2		40.9	23.2	33.3	26.5		27.6						$21,142	$3,517	$17,625
Amelia Earhart Elementary School of International Studies	Public	K-5	45-250 Dune Palms Rd.	Indio	92201	Riverside County	Desert Sands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 200-3720	748	30	24.9	65.1%	169 (22.6%)	5 (0.7%)	492 (65.8%)	30 (4.0%)	4 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	48 (6.4%)	48.1	2691^st of 5857 public elementary schools	54.1%		43.6	2954^th of 5869 public elementary schools	49.7%	263	37.5	37.5	40.9	47.2	48.4		45.5	43.3	36.8	26.8		35.6	96.8		98.1	97.5	98.1	$19,984	$3,063	$16,921
Dr. Reynaldo J. Carreon Junior Academy	Public	K-5	47-368 Monroe St.	Indio	92201	Riverside County	Desert Sands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 863-1544	592	26	22.7	81.1%	13 (2.2%)	3 (0.5%)	546 (92.2%)	17 (2.9%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.7%)	8 (1.4%)	30.5	3918^th of 5857 public elementary schools	33.1%		30.2	3907^th of 5869 public elementary schools	33.4%	11	25.8	25.8	32.0	39.5	33.3		34.7	27.8	32.5	23.7		27.8	97.5	98.4	98.4	97.5	98.4	$21,901	$3,323	$18,578
Herbert Hoover Elementary	Public	K-5	44-300 Monroe St.	Indio	92201	Riverside County	Desert Sands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 775-3820	326	14	24.1	96.9%	6 (1.8%)	2 (0.6%)	298 (91.4%)	6 (1.8%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (4.0%)	12.8	5434^th of 5857 public elementary schools	7.2%		16.9	5128^th of 5869 public elementary schools	12.6%	306	14.3	14.3	14.0	25.4	20.0		20.4	14.0	20.3	8.2		14.6	92.3			92.3		$22,717	$3,383	$19,334
Mountain Vista Elementary	Public	K-6	49-750 Hjorth St.	Indio	92201	Riverside County	Coachella Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 775-6888	599	28	21.3	76.8%	13 (2.2%)	1 (0.2%)	575 (96.0%)	7 (1.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	28	4134^th of 5857 public elementary schools	29.4%		29.2	3996^th of 5869 public elementary schools	31.9%	138	17.2	17.2	42.3	31.1	24.7	33.3	32.5	40.9	31.9	14.9	22.5	27.1	95.4			95.4		$31,003	$1,220	$29,783
Theodore Roosevelt Elementary	Public	K-5	83-200 Dr. Carreon Blvd.	Indio	92201	Riverside County	Desert Sands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 775-3860	490	22	22.2	90.4%	3 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	460 (93.9%)	9 (1.8%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (3.1%)	16.7	5135^th of 5857 public elementary schools	12.3%		13.1	5475^th of 5869 public elementary schools	6.7%	340	17.1	17.1	30.0	11.1	27.9		22.5	23.2	9.6	22.2		17.9	96.7					$21,093	$3,347	$17,746
Andrew Jackson Elementary	Public	K-5	82-850 Kenner Ave.	Indio	92201	Riverside County	Desert Sands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 775-3830	750	33	22.7	88.8%	24 (3.2%)	4 (0.5%)	691 (92.1%)	9 (1.2%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (2.7%)	12.8	5431^st of 5857 public elementary schools	7.3%		16.8	5134^th of 5869 public elementary schools	12.5%	297	13.0	13.0	16.8	21.6	23.3		20.6	21.7	18.4	8.6		16.3	95.7		97.8	97.1		$19,142	$3,382	$15,760

Frequently Asked Questions about James Madison Elementary

What is the racial makeup of James Madison Elementary?

Students at James Madison Elementary are 89% Hispanic, 8% Two or more races, 2% White.

What schools do graduates of James Madison Elementary attend?

Students who attend James Madison Elementary usually go on to attend:

Middle : Indio Middle
High : Indio High

Is James Madison Elementary a good school?

James Madison Elementary ranks in the bottom 4.3% of California elementary schools.

What district is James Madison Elementary in?

Desert Sands Unified

How many students attend James Madison Elementary?

In the 2024-25 school year, 403 students attended James Madison Elementary.

Rate James Madison Elementary!

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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.