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Sierra Preparatory Academy

Public Grades K-8
4853rd
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 5,817 California Elementary Schools
Better than 17% of California elementary schools
Summary

Sierra Preparatory Academy is a 697-student K–8 school in Santa Ana, part of Santa Ana Unified. Its results have improved, but in 2025–26 the share meeting proficiency remained below both district and state levels in ELA, math, and science—the most important takeaway for families comparing academic outcomes.

Among nearby schools with 2025–26 results, Sierra ranked lowest in ELA and below all of them in math; in science, it was ahead of two nearby schools but behind four. Sierra’s strongest relative subject is science: its proficiency was 12%, compared with 20% districtwide and 36% statewide, gaps of 9 and 24 percentage points. ELA was weakest: 23% met proficiency, versus 33% in the district and 49% statewide. Third grade is a bright spot: 43% met proficiency in both ELA and math, placing Sierra second among nearby schools with third-grade results, behind John Muir Fundamental Elementary. Results are much weaker in some later grades, including seventh-grade math at 7% and eighth-grade ELA at 16%.

Scores have risen since 2022–23: ELA increased by 7 percentage points, math by 4, and science by 7. State gaps narrowed most in ELA, by 4 points, while math and science gaps each narrowed by less than 1 point. SchoolDigger places Sierra at the 17th percentile with 1 star in 2025–26 (rank 4,841 of 5,804), up from the 7th percentile in 2022–23. Context measures include a student–teacher ratio of 17.3 in 2024–25 and 94% free/reduced lunch eligible that year. Chronic absenteeism fell by 15 points from 2021–22, but was still 22% in 2025–26, above district and state rates. SchoolDigger’s relative standing for English Language Learner students fell from the 34th percentile in 2021–22 to the 15th in 2023–24; its Homeless Students percentile dropped from 28 in 2023–24 to 3 in 2024–25.

697
Students ?
17.3
Student/teacher ratio ?
$33,135
Per pupil spending ?
94.1%
Free/reduced lunch eligible (2024-25) ?
All students in California receive free school meals.
95%
Kindergartners with all required immunizations (2024-25)
Exemptions: 0% (any vaccine)
 2021 North Grand Ave.
       Santa Ana, CA  92705-1751

(714) 567-3500

District: Santa Ana Unified


Students who attend Sierra Preparatory Academy usually attend:

High:    Century High
Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
97.7%
African American:
0.7%
Asian:
0.6%
more
 See top rated California elementary schools

 Compare Sierra Preparatory Academy to nearby elementary schools!
At a glance
▲ Ranking trend: Improving — 7th percentile in 2023 → 17th in 2026
Strengths
✓Ranking is trending up — up 10 percentile points since 2023
Worth a look
!Test scores below the California average (17% vs 42% meeting standards)
!In the lower quartile statewide (17th percentile)
!English Language Arts/Literacy scores 26 pts below the California average
Students meeting standards (2025-2026) ?
This school17%
District avg26%
California avg42%
Elementary school
4,853rd of 5,817
California public elementary schools ?
Bottom 17%▲ up 9 pts since 2023
From bottom 7% (2023) to bottom 17% (2026)
See the entire ranking list of California Elementary Schools →
★★★★★
SchoolDigger rating ?
Middle school
2,597th of 2,740
California public middle schools ?
Bottom 5%▼ down 3 pts since 2016
See the entire ranking list of California Middle Schools →
★★★★★
SchoolDigger rating ?
16th of 34Elementary Schools in the Santa Ana Unified
1257th of 1,530Santa Ana 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)
Elementary school ranking
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202619.54853 of 581716.6%★☆☆☆☆
202516.05185 of 585711.5%★☆☆☆☆
202412.65507 of 58696.2%☆☆☆☆☆
202313.55435 of 58597.2%☆☆☆☆☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202427.92692 of 316214.9%★☆☆☆☆
202332.02396 of 324526.2%★☆☆☆☆
202235.22190 of 331133.9%★★☆☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202621.84525 of 558118.9%★☆☆☆☆
202516.84955 of 559711.5%★☆☆☆☆
202410.15465 of 56122.6%☆☆☆☆☆
202312.25367 of 56094.3%☆☆☆☆☆
202214.65223 of 56357.3%☆☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202625.54068 of 509420.1%★☆☆☆☆
202521.04397 of 510713.9%★☆☆☆☆
202416.54685 of 51078.3%☆☆☆☆☆
202318.24593 of 50879.7%☆☆☆☆☆
202221.44411 of 508413.2%★☆☆☆☆

Homeless

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202514.6416 of 4293.0%☆☆☆☆☆
202434.6261 of 36428.3%★☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202625.04335 of 542320.1%★☆☆☆☆
202519.44772 of 546012.6%★☆☆☆☆
202415.55115 of 55177.3%☆☆☆☆☆
202317.34878 of 53639.0%☆☆☆☆☆
202222.74439 of 526415.7%★☆☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202619.34764 of 560315.0%★☆☆☆☆
202516.84984 of 562811.4%★☆☆☆☆
202417.74925 of 564312.7%★☆☆☆☆
202316.55032 of 563810.7%★☆☆☆☆
202218.74847 of 566314.4%★☆☆☆☆

Special Education

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202521.62493 of 284712.4%★☆☆☆☆
Middle school ranking
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202610.02597 of 27405.2%☆☆☆☆☆
202511.42571 of 27616.9%☆☆☆☆☆
202411.72605 of 27836.4%☆☆☆☆☆
20239.42698 of 27813.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20228.32686 of 27402.0%☆☆☆☆☆
201910.52539 of 27156.5%☆☆☆☆☆
20188.72379 of 24804.1%☆☆☆☆☆
201710.82352 of 25086.2%☆☆☆☆☆
201611.82294 of 24978.1%☆☆☆☆☆
201516.32147 of 247713.3%★☆☆☆☆
201315.62113 of 237911.2%★☆☆☆☆
201213.22055 of 22599.0%☆☆☆☆☆
201119.81911 of 223614.5%★☆☆☆☆
201017.31915 of 217912.1%★☆☆☆☆
200915.91829 of 206311.3%★☆☆☆☆
200815.41790 of 200510.7%★☆☆☆☆
200717.61711 of 199914.4%★☆☆☆☆
20068.91705 of 18045.5%☆☆☆☆☆
200510.51669 of 17776.1%☆☆☆☆☆
200413.11616 of 17698.6%☆☆☆☆☆

Disabled

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202222.31370 of 153110.5%★☆☆☆☆
201928.31073 of 149128.0%★☆☆☆☆
201828.9987 of 136927.9%★☆☆☆☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202428.11335 of 14789.7%☆☆☆☆☆
202328.91269 of 152116.6%★☆☆☆☆
202230.11246 of 154019.1%★☆☆☆☆
201924.91378 of 14424.4%☆☆☆☆☆
201828.41080 of 136420.8%★☆☆☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
20269.62426 of 25163.6%☆☆☆☆☆
202511.92364 of 25336.7%☆☆☆☆☆
202410.62448 of 25514.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20238.92482 of 25311.9%☆☆☆☆☆
20227.72481 of 25091.1%☆☆☆☆☆
201910.12266 of 23804.8%☆☆☆☆☆
20189.72161 of 22624.5%☆☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202612.22206 of 23576.4%☆☆☆☆☆
202513.42214 of 23957.6%☆☆☆☆☆
202414.52193 of 23888.2%☆☆☆☆☆
202311.02284 of 23743.8%☆☆☆☆☆
20229.82305 of 23592.3%☆☆☆☆☆
201912.42078 of 22136.1%☆☆☆☆☆
201810.51994 of 20723.8%☆☆☆☆☆

Homeless

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202619.6394 of 44210.9%★☆☆☆☆
202528.8366 of 47723.3%★☆☆☆☆
202425.7321 of 39418.5%★☆☆☆☆
202324.5269 of 32015.9%★☆☆☆☆
202218.6311 of 3367.4%☆☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202612.62362 of 25296.6%☆☆☆☆☆
202514.12340 of 25427.9%☆☆☆☆☆
202413.92387 of 25797.4%☆☆☆☆☆
202311.52434 of 25313.8%☆☆☆☆☆
202210.42388 of 24582.8%☆☆☆☆☆
201912.92207 of 23696.8%☆☆☆☆☆
201810.82129 of 22304.5%☆☆☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202611.22362 of 25146.0%☆☆☆☆☆
202511.02397 of 25345.4%☆☆☆☆☆
202413.22366 of 25527.3%☆☆☆☆☆
202310.62444 of 25383.7%☆☆☆☆☆
20229.92460 of 25272.7%☆☆☆☆☆
201910.42289 of 24074.9%☆☆☆☆☆
20188.12223 of 22732.2%☆☆☆☆☆

Special Education

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202617.01569 of 16052.2%☆☆☆☆☆
202519.11491 of 15664.8%☆☆☆☆☆
202430.61079 of 155230.5%★★☆☆☆
202321.51403 of 15318.4%☆☆☆☆☆
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)
Elementary school
Hispanic (2026)20th percentile+4 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2026)20th percentile+3 vs school
Female (2026)19th percentile~ school
Male (2026)15th percentile~ school
English Language Learner (2024)15th percentile+9 vs school
Special Education (2025)12th percentile~ school
Homeless (2025)3rd percentile-8 vs school
Middle school
Homeless (2026)11th percentile+6 vs school
Disabled (2022)11th percentile+9 vs school
English Language Learner (2024)10th percentile+3 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2026)7th percentile~ school
Hispanic (2026)6th percentile~ school
Male (2026)6th percentile~ school
Female (2026)4th percentile~ school
Special Education (2026)2nd percentile-3 vs school
By subject vs California (2025-2026) ?
English Language Arts/Literacy23%-26 vs state
Mathematics13%-26 vs state
Science12%-24 vs state

★
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Schools Near Sierra Preparatory Academy

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Frequently Asked Questions about Sierra Preparatory Academy

In the 2024-25 school year, 697 students attended Sierra Preparatory Academy.

Sierra Preparatory Academy ranks in the bottom 16.6% of California elementary schools.

Students at Sierra Preparatory Academy are 98% Hispanic.

Students who attend Sierra Preparatory Academy usually go on to attend:

High : Century High

Rate Sierra Preparatory Academy!



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Latest California data All new data »
2024–25 school spending data (updated)NewNov 2, 2026
2013–14 through 2024–25 immunization rates (updated)Oct 19, 2026
2025–26 attendance data, dropout rates & graduation ratesOct 15, 2026
2025–26 CAST, CSA Spanish & Smarter Balanced Assessments scoresOct 15, 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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