Summary
Ayer Elementary serves 590 students in grades K–6 in Fresno, within Fresno Unified. Its academic results are mixed, and attendance is a significant concern: in 2025–2026, chronic absenteeism was 34%, compared with 27% in the district and 18% statewide. The rate was also 9 points above the nearby-school average and the highest among the 10 nearby schools.
Academically, the school is stronger in ELA and math than the district, but below California overall; science is its clearest weakness. In 2025–2026, ELA proficiency was 42% at Ayer, versus 40% in the district and 49% statewide; math was 34%, versus 29% and 38%. Science proficiency was 20%, below the district’s 24%, the state’s 36%, and the nearby-school average of 21%. Results vary by grade: sixth graders performed above the state in ELA and math, while fifth-grade math was 21%, compared with 29% in the district and 37% statewide. Nearby, Edith B. Storey Elementary was a stronger local performer, with 63% proficiency in ELA and 55% in math.
ELA and math have made substantial longer-term gains: since 2022–2023, ELA rose 15 percentage points and math rose 8, while science declined 4 points overall. Ayer remains below the state in all three subjects, but its gaps narrowed in ELA and math. SchoolDigger’s statewide rating improved from the 22nd percentile and 1 star in 2024–2025 to the 44th percentile and 2 stars in 2025–2026. The student-teacher ratio was 19.1:1 in 2024–2025; 90% of students were reported as free/reduced lunch eligible that year, close to the nearby average of 91%. One group stood out: SchoolDigger ranked the school at the 82nd percentile for English Language Learner students in 2023–2024, compared with the 33rd percentile overall, indicating a notably stronger result for this group on that measure.
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