Sunny Sands Elementary

Summary:

Sunny Sands Elementary is a public elementary school in Cathedral City, California, serving students from kindergarten to 5th grade as part of the Palm Springs Unified School District. With a diverse student population that is predominantly Hispanic, Sunny Sands Elementary stands out for its strong academic performance, particularly in English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics.

Sunny Sands Elementary consistently outperforms the district and state averages on Smarter Balanced Assessments, with 45.72% of students proficient or better in English Language Arts/Literacy and 45.88% in Mathematics, compared to 34.49% and 21.79% for the district, respectively. The school's performance is especially impressive in the 5th grade, where over 50% of students are proficient or better in both subjects. Sunny Sands also excels in supporting specific student subgroups, such as Hispanic students and English Language Learners, who perform exceptionally well compared to their peers across California.

While Sunny Sands Elementary's academic achievements are noteworthy, the school has experienced a significant increase in chronic absenteeism, rising from 5.1% in 2018-2019 to 28.0% in the current school year. This trend is concerning and may require attention from the school and district to address the underlying causes and improve student attendance. Nonetheless, Sunny Sands remains a high-performing school, outpacing many of its nearby counterparts, such as Katherine Finchy Elementary and Cahuilla Elementary, in academic achievement.


Detail:

Public K-5

 69-310 McCallum Way
       Cathedral City, CA  92234-2997


(760) 770-8635

District: Palm Springs Unified

SchoolDigger Rank:
2229th of 5,874 California Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures:  $13,029 Help


Students who attend Sunny Sands Elementary usually attend:

High:    Rancho Mirage High

Student/teacher ratio:  22.5 Help
Number of students:  721

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
85.9%
White:
6.7%
Asian:
4.0%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  98.1% Help


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Performance Trends
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Compare Details Sunny Sands Elementary ranks better than 62.1% of elementary schools in California. It also ranks 2nd among 16 ranked elementary schools in the Palm Springs Unified School District. (See more...)
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Compare Details In 2023 the calculated Average Standard Score was 56.19. (See more...)
Help
Chronic absenteeism in a high 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
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Compare Details Racial makeup is: Hispanic (85.9%), White (6.7%), Asian (4%). (See more...)
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Compare Details 98.1% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)
Teachers
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Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Sunny Sands Elementary is 22.5, which is the highest among 16 elementary schools in the Palm Springs Unified School District! (See more...)
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Compare Sunny Sands Elementary employs 31.9 full-time teachers.
Finance
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Compare Details The average total spent per student at Sunny Sands Elementary is $13,029, which is the 6th highest among 16 elementary schools in the Palm Springs Unified School District.
Schooldigger 2023 Rankings:

Sunny Sands Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks Sunny Sands Elementary 2229th of 5874 California public elementary schools. (See Sunny Sands Elementary in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:


English Language Learner students:
Low Socio Economic Status students:
Homeless students:
Female students:
Male students:
Hispanic students:


Palm Springs Unified:

SchoolDigger ranks Palm Springs Unified 1046th of 1563 California school districts. (See district ranking list.)


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Rank History for Sunny Sands Elementary

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Rank History for all students at Sunny Sands Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2004 36.86 2816th 4809 41.4%
2005 36.47 2923rd 4822 39.4%
2006 37.54 2855th 4818 40.7%
2007 48.72 2400th 5113 53.1%
2008 53.22 2214th 5113 56.7%
2009 61.11 1865th 5193 64.1%
2010 66.91 1634th 5314 69.3%
2011 60.09 2023rd 5377 62.4%
2012 64.35 1823rd 5390 66.2%
2013 60.03 2111th 5530 61.8%
2015 33.01 3468th 5611 38.2%
2016 50.99 2443rd 5614 56.5%
2017 61.99 1918th 5692 66.3%
2018 50.67 2536th 5662 55.2%
2019 47.59 2728th 5789 52.9%
2022 52.18 2440th 5883 58.5%
2023 56.19 2229th 5874 62.1%
See the entire list of California Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Sunny Sands Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 45.81 1458th 3246 55.1%
2019 49.19 1298th 3275 60.4%
2022 77.54 334th 3311 89.9%
2023 78.35 290th 3250 91.1%
See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Sunny Sands Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 62.05 1626th 5084 68.0%
2019 63.37 1546th 5173 70.1%
2022 72.29 1059th 5264 79.9%
2023 74.63 1004th 5374 81.3%
See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Homeless students at Sunny Sands Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2023 85.85 29th 336 91.4%
See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Homeless Students!

Rank History for Female students at Sunny Sands Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 50.71 2450th 5413 54.7%
2019 47.95 2608th 5492 52.5%
2022 53.78 2224th 5635 60.5%
2023 51.83 2308th 5617 58.9%
See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Disabled students at Sunny Sands Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 20.94 1923rd 2128 9.6%
2022 40.08 1071st 2227 51.9%
See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Disabled Students!

Rank History for Male students at Sunny Sands Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 50.22 2433rd 5431 55.2%
2019 46.44 2649th 5510 51.9%
2022 49.32 2483rd 5663 56.2%
2023 58.34 2029th 5650 64.1%
See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Sunny Sands Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 56.03 1837th 4830 62.0%
2019 53.91 2043rd 4963 58.8%
2022 66.52 1316th 5084 74.1%
2023 70.82 1144th 5098 77.6%
See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for White students at Sunny Sands Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2019 62.98 1096th 2834 61.3%
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.

Sunny Sands Elementary Test Scores
Tests: 
  
Grades: 
  
Years: 
  
Group by: 
District Scores:
State Scores:    
  
Subgroup: 






Data source: California Department of Education

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Enrollment information for Sunny Sands Elementary

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Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
1990 245 10 11 282 0 n/a n/a 0 548
1991 344 32 18 319 2 n/a n/a 0 715
1992 386 36 28 377 7 n/a n/a 0 834
1993 390 46 33 436 4 n/a n/a 0 909
1994 430 46 42 443 1 n/a n/a 0 962
1995 368 33 51 565 6 n/a n/a 0 1023
1996 368 33 51 565 6 n/a n/a 0 1023
1997 370 38 51 613 10 n/a n/a 0 1082
1998 330 49 53 693 6 n/a n/a 0 1131
1999 346 49 61 743 4 n/a n/a 0 1203
2000 307 30 87 653 3 n/a n/a 0 1080
2001 318 26 62 633 7 n/a n/a 0 1046
2002 293 30 75 651 8 n/a n/a 0 1057
2003 293 30 75 651 8 n/a n/a 0 1057
2004 270 27 77 722 6 n/a n/a 0 1102
2005 189 6 56 710 4 n/a n/a 0 965
2006 152 8 64 773 3 n/a n/a 0 1000
2007 158 13 78 793 0 n/a n/a 0 1042
2008 147 12 75 793 2 n/a n/a 0 1029
2009 134 12 80 761 4 2 1 0 994
2010 121 14 87 755 5 2 5 0 989
2011 115 17 74 780 3 1 5 0 995
2012 108 10 72 754 7 1 8 0 960
2013 93 11 51 802 5 1 11 0 974
2014 83 8 59 781 5 0 16 0 952
2015 68 9 61 808 5 0 22 0 973
2016 54 13 52 717 3 0 27 0 866
2017 51 14 50 628 3 0 22 0 768
2018 43 11 48 628 5 0 27 0 762
2019 45 10 37 610 4 0 20 0 726
2020 41 6 36 605 4 0 26 0 718
2021 43 5 37 601 4 1 20 0 711
2022 48 4 30 557 4 0 15 0 658
2023 48 8 29 619 4 0 13 0 721

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 Sunny Sands Elementary

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1990 548 20.0 27.4 n/a
1991 715 27.0 26.4 n/a
1992 834 27.4 30.4 38.2
1993 909 37.6 24.2 47.7
1994 962 37.8 25.4 48
1995 1023 37.0 27.6 54.7
1996 1023 37.0 27.6 54.7
1997 1082 42.0 25.8 56.2
1998 1131 49.0 23.1 67.4
1999 1203 58.0 20.7 67.4
2000 1080 53.0 20.4 50.9
2001 1046 56.0 18.7 61.1
2002 1057 53.2 19.9 53
2003 1057 53.2 19.9 53
2004 1102 53.0 20.8 47.2
2005 965 46.0 21.0 49.1
2006 1000 48.0 20.8 61.1
2007 1042 48.0 21.7 57.7
2008 1029 55.1 18.7 63.8
2009 994 48.0 19.9 69.5
2010 989 46.0 21.5 78.4
2011 995 n/a n/a 79.6
2012 960 35.0 27.4 72.2
2013 974 33.0 29.5 72.4
2014 952 34.0 28.0 76.7
2015 973 37.0 26.2 85.9
2016 866 35.0 24.7 82.3
2017 768 31.0 24.7 78.5
2018 762 31.0 24.5 86.7
2019 726 31.0 23.4 89.5
2020 718 n/a n/a 93.2
2021 711 30.0 23.7 98.3
2022 658 29.5 22.3 95.1
2023 721 31.9 22.5 98.1

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 Sunny Sands Elementary

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1990 548 20.0 27.4 n/a
1991 715 27.0 26.4 n/a
1992 834 27.4 30.4 38.2
1993 909 37.6 24.2 47.7
1994 962 37.8 25.4 48
1995 1023 37.0 27.6 54.7
1996 1023 37.0 27.6 54.7
1997 1082 42.0 25.8 56.2
1998 1131 49.0 23.1 67.4
1999 1203 58.0 20.7 67.4
2000 1080 53.0 20.4 50.9
2001 1046 56.0 18.7 61.1
2002 1057 53.2 19.9 53
2003 1057 53.2 19.9 53
2004 1102 53.0 20.8 47.2
2005 965 46.0 21.0 49.1
2006 1000 48.0 20.8 61.1
2007 1042 48.0 21.7 57.7
2008 1029 55.1 18.7 63.8
2009 994 48.0 19.9 69.5
2010 989 46.0 21.5 78.4
2011 995 n/a n/a 79.6
2012 960 35.0 27.4 72.2
2013 974 33.0 29.5 72.4
2014 952 34.0 28.0 76.7
2015 973 37.0 26.2 85.9
2016 866 35.0 24.7 82.3
2017 768 31.0 24.7 78.5
2018 762 31.0 24.5 86.7
2019 726 31.0 23.4 89.5
2020 718 n/a n/a 93.2
2021 711 30.0 23.7 98.3
2022 658 29.5 22.3 95.1
2023 721 31.9 22.5 98.1

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.

Kindergarten Immunization Rates

Sunny Sands Elementary

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Compare
YearCompletely ImmunizedReligious ExemptionMedical ExemptionConditionalPolioHepatitis BVaricellaDTPMMR
201296.0%0.0%0.0%4.0%96.0%99.0%99.0%96.0%96.0%
201397.0%0.0%0.0%3.0%98.0%98.0%100.0%98.0%98.0%
201492.0%1.0%0.0%8.0%94.0%99.0%99.0%95.0%97.0%
201597.0%0.0%0.0%3.0%99.0%99.0%100.0%99.0%100.0%
201695.0%0.0%0.0%5.0%99.0%99.0%100.0%96.0%99.0%
2017≥98.0%≤2.0%≤2.0%≤2.0%≥98.0%≥98.0%≥98.0%≥98.0%≥98.0%
201897.0%0.0%0.0%3.0%97.0%≥99.0%≥99.0%97.0%≥99.0%
201992.0%0.0%1.0%97.0%≥99.0%≥99.0%93.0%≥99.0%
202095.9%0.0%4.1%97.3%95.9%97.3%
202186.0%0.9%0.0%92.1%96.5%98.3%87.7%92.1%

Data source: California Department of Public Health
Finances

Per Pupil Expenditures for Sunny Sands Elementary

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YearTotal Expenditures Per Pupil
2018 $13,029

Data source: California Department of Education
Pre and Post Pandemic Data

Impact of COVID-19 on Sunny Sands Elementary

The coronavirus has had a profound impact on education in America. Learning shifted online overnight, attendance numbers dwindled, and enrollment decreased. SchoolDigger.com is making it easier for you to better assess how COVID-19 has impacted your school. Through the collection of pre-pandemic (2019) and current data, SchoolDigger.com is sharing test scores, enrollment numbers and school demographics from schools across the country – and we make it easy to see how impacted schools compare locally and statewide.

Rankings

Rank
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Rank
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Ranks 2728th of 5789 Elementary schoolsRanks 2229th of 5874 Elementary schools
 9.2%

Test Scores

% proficient
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
% proficient
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
3rd Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Sunny Sands Elementary)34.842.6
 7.8%
   3rd Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Palm Springs Unified)42.827.1
 15.7%
   3rd Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (California)48.543
 5.6%
3rd Grade Mathematics (Sunny Sands Elementary)42.649.6
 7%
   3rd Grade Mathematics (Palm Springs Unified)42.929.5
 13.4%
   3rd Grade Mathematics (California)50.245.1
 5.1%
4th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Sunny Sands Elementary)5341.2
 11.8%
   4th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Palm Springs Unified)42.530.9
 11.6%
   4th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (California)49.543.7
 5.7%
4th Grade Mathematics (Sunny Sands Elementary)46.242.5
 3.7%
   4th Grade Mathematics (Palm Springs Unified)33.726.9
 6.8%
   4th Grade Mathematics (California)44.940.8
 4.1%
5th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Sunny Sands Elementary)5354.3
 1.3%
   5th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Palm Springs Unified)42.938.2
 4.7%
   5th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (California)51.746.7
 5%
5th Grade Mathematics (Sunny Sands Elementary)41.745.7
 4%
   5th Grade Mathematics (Palm Springs Unified)28.621.6
 7%
   5th Grade Mathematics (California)3833.4
 4.6%
5th Grade Science (Sunny Sands Elementary)25.826.7
 0.9%
   5th Grade Science (Palm Springs Unified)23.222.3
 0.9%
   5th Grade Science (California)31.731.9
 0.1%

Student Body

Number of students
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Number of students
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Total Students726721
 0.7%
African American108
 20%
American Indian44
Asian3729
 21.6%
Hispanic610619
 1.5%
Pacific Islander00
White4548
 6.7%
Two or More Races2013
 35%
% Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients89.5%98.1%
 8.5%


Schools Near Sunny Sands Elementary









Frequently Asked Questions about Sunny Sands Elementary

In the 2022-23 school year, 721 students attended Sunny Sands Elementary.

Sunny Sands Elementary ranks 2229th of 5874 California elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 3 stars out of 5.

Students at Sunny Sands Elementary are 86% Hispanic, 7% White, 4% Asian, 2% Two or more races, 1% African American.

Students who attend Sunny Sands Elementary usually go on to attend:

High : Rancho Mirage High


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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.





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