Is John R. Peterson Elementary a good school?

John R. Peterson Elementary ranks 715 th of 5862 California elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 4 stars out of 5.

How many students attend John R. Peterson Elementary?

In the 2023-24 school year, 512 students attended John R. Peterson Elementary.

What is the racial makeup of John R. Peterson Elementary?

Students at John R. Peterson Elementary are 44% White, 30% Hispanic, 17% Two or more races, 8% Asian.

What schools do graduates of John R. Peterson Elementary attend?

Students who attend John R. Peterson Elementary usually go on to attend: Middle : Ethel Dwyer Middle High : Huntington Beach High

John R. Peterson Elementary

Summary:

John R. Peterson Elementary is a public elementary school in Huntington Beach, California, serving 489 students in grades K-5. The school is part of the Huntington Beach City Elementary District, which is ranked 107 out of 1,568 districts in the state and has a 5-star rating from SchoolDigger.

John R. Peterson Elementary consistently ranks in the top 15-20% of California elementary schools, with a 4-star rating from SchoolDigger. The school's proficiency rates in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics are significantly higher than the state averages, often exceeding 60-70% proficiency. In 2023-2024, the school's ELA proficiency rates ranged from 62.64% (4th grade) to 77.11% (5th grade), compared to the state average of 43.9% to 47.37%. In Mathematics, the school's proficiency rates ranged from 63.74% (4th grade) to 69.23% (3rd grade), compared to the state average of 41.2% to 45.64%. The school's Science proficiency rates, as measured by the CAST assessment, are also strong, with 59.04% proficiency in 5th grade compared to the state average of 32.68%.

John R. Peterson Elementary performs well compared to other schools in the Huntington Beach City Elementary District, with test scores generally on par or slightly lower than the top-performing schools like Ralph E. Hawes Elementary and Newland (William T.) Elementary. However, the school's performance is significantly stronger than the nearby schools in the Newport-Mesa Unified District, such as Victoria Elementary, which has lower proficiency rates across all subject areas. The school's diverse student population and strong performance across various subgroups are notable strengths, though the increase in chronic absenteeism is an area that warrants further attention and intervention.

Detail:

Public K-5

20661 Farnsworth Ln.
Huntington Beach, CA 92646-5511

(714) 378-1515

District: Huntington Beach City Elementary

SchoolDigger Rank:
715^th of 5,862 California Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $15,740

Students who attend John R. Peterson Elementary usually attend:

Middle:	Ethel Dwyer Middle
High:	Huntington Beach High

Student/teacher ratio: 22.2

Number of students: 512

Racial breakdown:

White:

44.1%

Hispanic:

30.3%

Two or more races:

16.8%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 44.5%

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Compare John R. Peterson Elementary to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details John R. Peterson Elementary ranks better than 87.8% of elementary schools in California. It also ranks 5^th among 6 ranked elementary schools in the Huntington Beach City Elementary School District. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 89.72. (See more...)

Chronic absenteeism in a school refers to a situation where students repeatedly miss school, with the threshold often defined as missing 10% or more of school days for any reason, excused or unexcused.

Student Body

Compare Details Student population at John R. Peterson Elementary is diverse. Racial makeup is: White (44.1%), Hispanic (30.3%), two or more races (16.8%). (See more...)

Compare Details 44.5% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. This is the highest percentage in the Huntington Beach City Elementary School District. (See more...)

Compare Details

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at John R. Peterson Elementary is 22.2, which is the 2^nd best among 6 elementary schools in the Huntington Beach City Elementary School District. (See more...)

Compare John R. Peterson Elementary employs 22.9 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at John R. Peterson Elementary is $15,740, which is the highest among 6 elementary schools in the Huntington Beach City Elementary School District! (See more...)

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

John R. Peterson Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks John R. Peterson Elementary 715^th of 5862 California public elementary schools. (See John R. Peterson Elementary in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

Multi-racial students:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Male students:

Hispanic students:

White students:

Huntington Beach City Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks Huntington Beach City Elementary 107^th of 1568 California school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Rank History for John R. Peterson Elementary

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Rank History for all students at John R. Peterson Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2004	87.30	620^th	4809	87.1%
2005	81.66	861^st	4822	82.1%
2006	87.35	624^th	4818	87.0%
2007	86.76	682^nd	5113	86.7%
2008	83.25	826^th	5113	83.8%
2009	81.14	945^th	5193	81.8%
2010	79.66	1019^th	5314	80.8%
2011	85.80	692^nd	5377	87.1%
2012	88.18	541^st	5390	90.0%
2013	91.13	391^st	5530	92.9%
2015	93.97	385^th	5611	93.1%
2016	92.12	495^th	5614	91.2%
2017	93.00	451^st	5692	92.1%
2018	84.80	899^th	5662	84.1%
2019	87.69	767^th	5789	86.8%
2022	84.28	978^th	5883	83.4%
2023	89.29	756^th	5874	87.1%
2024	89.72	715^th	5862	87.8%

See the entire list of California Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at John R. Peterson Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	41.01	238^th	339	29.8%
2019	66.66	157^th	445	64.7%
2022	50.79	346^th	610	43.3%
2023	49.46	383^rd	669	42.8%
2024	27.19	537^th	669	19.7%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Multi-racial Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at John R. Peterson Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	70.97	462^nd	2420	80.9%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at John R. Peterson Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	74.42	955^th	5084	81.2%
2019	72.49	1060^th	5173	79.5%
2022	61.64	1589^th	5264	69.8%
2023	88.97	428^th	5374	92.0%
2024	85.32	616^th	5511	88.8%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at John R. Peterson Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	84.17	860^th	5413	84.1%
2019	87.66	681^st	5492	87.6%
2022	79.13	1150^th	5635	79.6%
2023	89.43	666^th	5617	88.1%
2024	91.84	513^th	5605	90.8%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Disabled students at John R. Peterson Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2018	72.85	375^th	2128	82.4%
2019	74.06	437^th	2585	83.1%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Disabled Students!

Rank History for Male students at John R. Peterson Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	83.13	928^th	5431	82.9%
2019	85.30	809^th	5510	85.3%
2022	85.08	865^th	5663	84.7%
2023	85.15	862^nd	5650	84.7%
2024	82.72	973^rd	5636	82.7%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Asian students at John R. Peterson Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	81.82	82^nd	1071	92.3%
2019	89.02	4^th	1149	99.7%
2022	68.85	416^th	1154	64.0%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Asian Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at John R. Peterson Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	72.76	1001^st	4830	79.3%
2019	74.33	951^st	4963	80.8%
2022	73.14	1009^th	5084	80.2%
2023	78.69	799^th	5098	84.3%
2024	87.99	429^th	5102	91.6%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for White students at John R. Peterson Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	69.28	850^th	2737	68.9%
2019	72.88	708^th	2834	75.0%
2022	63.76	1021^st	2726	62.5%
2023	76.93	542^nd	2662	79.6%
2024	76.02	593^rd	2647	77.6%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: California Department of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Data source: California Department of Education

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Enrollment information for John R. Peterson Elementary

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1998	485	4	53	107	0	n/a	n/a	0	649
1999	520	5	58	122	2	n/a	n/a	0	707
2000	504	4	62	118	2	n/a	n/a	0	690
2001	488	4	75	123	2	n/a	n/a	0	692
2002	468	4	64	149	4	n/a	n/a	3	692
2003	468	4	64	149	4	n/a	n/a	3	692
2004	463	4	44	134	2	n/a	n/a	37	684
2005	433	6	57	130	5	n/a	n/a	65	696
2006	458	5	63	141	5	n/a	n/a	72	744
2007	440	4	63	126	4	n/a	n/a	72	709
2008	403	4	54	122	4	n/a	n/a	0	587
2009	391	6	53	100	4	4	103	0	661
2010	395	5	58	146	5	3	54	0	666
2011	378	4	64	137	3	2	63	0	651
2012	397	2	57	124	2	1	59	0	642
2013	375	4	55	132	2	3	57	0	628
2014	386	4	65	149	2	2	66	0	674
2015	374	2	63	149	1	3	60	0	652
2016	399	7	74	157	1	2	65	0	705
2017	384	5	74	139	2	2	71	0	677
2018	369	4	72	132	4	3	84	0	668
2019	389	3	64	132	5	2	88	0	683
2020	353	0	58	118	5	1	95	0	630
2021	334	1	61	133	4	0	89	0	622
2022	263	0	56	145	2	0	88	0	554
2023	221	1	43	144	2	0	78	0	489
2024	226	1	43	155	1	0	86	0	512

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at John R. Peterson Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1998	649	28.0	23.2	17.9
1999	707	32.5	21.8	20.5
2000	690	33.5	20.6	20.6
2001	692	33.5	20.7	21.5
2002	692	31.5	22.0	21.8
2003	692	31.5	22.0	21.8
2004	684	28.5	24.0	21.8
2005	696	28.5	24.4	23.1
2006	744	30.5	24.4	24.9
2007	709	29.5	24.0	22.1
2008	587	30.5	19.2	26.1
2009	661	27.4	22.5	22.7
2010	666	26.7	24.9	22.2
2011	651	n/a	n/a	21
2012	642	21.0	30.5	n/a
2013	628	24.0	26.1	22.3
2014	674	22.0	30.6	23.9
2015	652	22.0	29.6	26.4
2016	705	24.0	29.3	23.1
2017	677	23.0	29.4	22.9
2018	668	24.0	27.8	27.2
2019	683	25.0	27.3	21.5
2020	630	n/a	n/a	21.7
2021	622	27.3	22.7	25.4
2022	554	28.0	19.7	31.8
2023	489	22.9	21.2	42.7
2024	512	22.9	22.2	44.5

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio John R. Peterson Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1998	649	28.0	23.2	17.9
1999	707	32.5	21.8	20.5
2000	690	33.5	20.6	20.6
2001	692	33.5	20.7	21.5
2002	692	31.5	22.0	21.8
2003	692	31.5	22.0	21.8
2004	684	28.5	24.0	21.8
2005	696	28.5	24.4	23.1
2006	744	30.5	24.4	24.9
2007	709	29.5	24.0	22.1
2008	587	30.5	19.2	26.1
2009	661	27.4	22.5	22.7
2010	666	26.7	24.9	22.2
2011	651	n/a	n/a	21
2012	642	21.0	30.5	n/a
2013	628	24.0	26.1	22.3
2014	674	22.0	30.6	23.9
2015	652	22.0	29.6	26.4
2016	705	24.0	29.3	23.1
2017	677	23.0	29.4	22.9
2018	668	24.0	27.8	27.2
2019	683	25.0	27.3	21.5
2020	630	n/a	n/a	21.7
2021	622	27.3	22.7	25.4
2022	554	28.0	19.7	31.8
2023	489	22.9	21.2	42.7
2024	512	22.9	22.2	44.5

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.

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