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Bret Harte Elementary

Public Grades K-6
4534th
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 5,804 California Elementary Schools
Better than 22% of California elementary schools
Summary

Bret Harte Elementary is a K–6 school in Modesto, California, serving 867 students in the Modesto City Elementary area. In 2025–2026, its students’ proficiency rates were 28% in English language arts (ELA), 26% in math, and 13% in science. The most important takeaway is that math is a relative bright spot, but proficiency in all three subjects remains below the state level.

Math is the school’s strongest subject compared with local and district benchmarks: its 26% proficiency rate was 2 percentage points above the nearby-school average and 2 points above the district’s rate, though 12 points below the state’s 38%. ELA was 28%, below the nearby average of 31%, the district’s 35%, and the state’s 49%. Science was the weakest subject against the district and state: 13% proficiency was 8 points below the district and 23 points below the state; the nearby-school average was 16%. Among the 11 schools in the comparison, including Bret Harte, it ranked seventh in ELA and math and eighth in science.

Results have improved overall since 2022–2023, especially in math: proficiency rose 14 percentage points to 26%, while ELA increased 8 points to 28%; science rose 3 points to 13%, but its gap with the state widened. SchoolDigger placed the school at the 22nd percentile statewide in 2025–2026, with 1 star; its percentile ranking has risen 15 points since 2022–2023, though it remains below the state midpoint. Attendance is a relative positive: chronic absenteeism was 14%, below the district’s 17% and state’s 18%. In 2024–2025, 87% of students were free/reduced lunch eligible, compared with a 90% nearby-school average, and the student-teacher ratio was 22.7. SchoolDigger’s relative standing was notably stronger for English Language Learner Students, at the 61st percentile in 2023–2024 versus the school’s overall 18th percentile that year; for Special Education Students, it was at the 42nd percentile in 2025–2026 versus 22nd overall.

867
Students ?
22.7
Student/teacher ratio ?
$24,258
Per pupil spending ?
86.5%
Free/reduced lunch eligible (2024-25) ?
All students in California receive free school meals.
 909 Glenn Ave.
       Modesto, CA  95358-6010

(209) 574-1952

District: Modesto City Elementary


Students who attend Bret Harte Elementary usually attend:

Middle:    Evelyn Hanshaw Middle
High:    Thomas Downey High
Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
94.5%
Two or more races:
2.5%
White:
1.8%
more
 See top rated California elementary schools

 Compare Bret Harte Elementary to nearby elementary schools!
At a glance
▲ Ranking trend: Improving — 2nd percentile in 2016 → 22nd in 2026
Strengths
✓Ranking is trending up — up 20 percentile points since 2016
Worth a look
!Test scores below the California average (26% vs 42% meeting standards)
!In the lower quartile statewide (22nd percentile)
!Science scores 23 pts below the California average
Students meeting standards (2025-2026) ?
This school26%
District avg28%
California avg42%
4,534th of 5,804
California public elementary schools ?
Bottom 22%▲ up 20 pts since 2016
From bottom 2% (2016) to bottom 22% (2026)
See the entire ranking list of California Elementary Schools →
★★★★★
SchoolDigger rating ?
15th of 22Elementary Schools in the Modesto City Elementary
764th of 968Modesto City Elementary 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

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202623.24534 of 580421.9%★☆☆☆☆
202517.05102 of 585712.9%★☆☆☆☆
202420.44821 of 586917.9%★☆☆☆☆
202313.75421 of 58597.5%☆☆☆☆☆
202212.75554 of 58835.6%☆☆☆☆☆
202110.81376 of 14172.9%☆☆☆☆☆
20196.25720 of 57891.2%☆☆☆☆☆
20187.15573 of 56621.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20178.65568 of 56922.2%☆☆☆☆☆
20169.15492 of 56142.2%☆☆☆☆☆
201512.05350 of 56114.7%☆☆☆☆☆
20138.15372 of 55302.9%☆☆☆☆☆
20128.05267 of 53902.3%☆☆☆☆☆
201113.05074 of 53775.6%☆☆☆☆☆
201011.65078 of 53144.4%☆☆☆☆☆
200914.94736 of 51938.8%☆☆☆☆☆
200814.24702 of 51138.0%☆☆☆☆☆
200715.84588 of 511310.3%★☆☆☆☆
20068.04706 of 48182.3%☆☆☆☆☆
20057.14768 of 48221.1%☆☆☆☆☆
200410.14668 of 48092.9%☆☆☆☆☆

Disabled

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
201919.52377 of 25858.0%☆☆☆☆☆
201819.51986 of 21286.7%☆☆☆☆☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202449.11230 of 316261.1%★★★☆☆
202334.22221 of 324531.6%★★☆☆☆
202230.82549 of 331123.0%★☆☆☆☆
202126.1551 of 6028.5%☆☆☆☆☆
201922.13076 of 32756.1%☆☆☆☆☆
201822.42895 of 324610.8%★☆☆☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202621.44544 of 556918.4%★☆☆☆☆
202517.04943 of 559711.7%★☆☆☆☆
202422.84442 of 561220.8%★☆☆☆☆
202316.94959 of 560911.6%★☆☆☆☆
202213.35338 of 56355.3%☆☆☆☆☆
202111.71226 of 12673.2%☆☆☆☆☆
20196.35448 of 54920.8%☆☆☆☆☆
20186.95358 of 54131.0%☆☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202629.83736 of 508526.5%★☆☆☆☆
202522.94241 of 510717.0%★☆☆☆☆
202426.34006 of 510721.6%★☆☆☆☆
202317.94607 of 50879.4%☆☆☆☆☆
202216.44730 of 50847.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20198.24898 of 49631.3%☆☆☆☆☆
20189.94730 of 48302.1%☆☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202629.83946 of 541227.1%★☆☆☆☆
202522.34567 of 546016.4%★☆☆☆☆
202425.64330 of 551721.5%★☆☆☆☆
202317.84842 of 53639.7%☆☆☆☆☆
202215.44945 of 52646.1%☆☆☆☆☆
202115.21057 of 11104.8%☆☆☆☆☆
20197.75105 of 51731.3%☆☆☆☆☆
20188.84997 of 50841.7%☆☆☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202626.54154 of 559025.7%★☆☆☆☆
202518.44839 of 562814.0%★☆☆☆☆
202419.74762 of 564315.6%★☆☆☆☆
202312.35351 of 56385.1%☆☆☆☆☆
202213.85313 of 56636.2%☆☆☆☆☆
202111.51229 of 12723.4%☆☆☆☆☆
20197.05447 of 55101.1%☆☆☆☆☆
20188.85326 of 54311.9%☆☆☆☆☆

Multi-racial

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
20223.3595 of 6102.5%☆☆☆☆☆

Special Education

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202636.61683 of 292042.4%★★☆☆☆
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)
English Language Learner (2024)61st percentile+43 vs school
Special Education (2026)42nd percentile+20 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2026)27th percentile+5 vs school
Hispanic (2026)27th percentile+5 vs school
Male (2026)26th percentile+4 vs school
Female (2026)18th percentile-3 vs school
Disabled (2019)8th percentile+7 vs school
Multi-racial (2022)2nd percentile-3 vs school
By subject vs California (2025-2026) ?
English Language Arts/Literacy28%-22 vs state
Mathematics26%-12 vs state
Science13%-23 vs state

★
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Frequently Asked Questions about Bret Harte Elementary

Students who attend Bret Harte Elementary usually go on to attend:

Middle : Evelyn Hanshaw Middle
High : Thomas Downey High

Students at Bret Harte Elementary are 94% Hispanic, 3% Two or more races, 2% White.

In the 2024-25 school year, 867 students attended Bret Harte Elementary.

Bret Harte Elementary ranks in the bottom 21.9% of California elementary schools.

Rate Bret Harte Elementary!



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Latest California data All new data »
2025–26 attendance data, dropout rates & graduation ratesNewOct 15, 2026
2025–26 CAST, CSA Spanish & Smarter Balanced Assessments scoresNewOct 15, 2026
2024–25 school spending dataJul 1, 2026
2024–25 attendance dataMar 13, 2026


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.

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