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Santa Rita Elementary

Public Grades K-5
5740th
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 5,817 California Elementary Schools
Better than 1% of California elementary schools
Summary

Santa Rita Elementary serves 545 students in grades K–5 in Salinas, in the Santa Rita Union Elementary district. In 2025–26, proficiency was low in all three tested subjects: 9% in English Language Arts/Literacy (ELA), 13% in math, and 4% in science. Chronic absenteeism, by contrast, was down to 10%. The clearest academic concern is ELA: the school’s result was 40 points below the state and lower than every nearby K–5 school in the comparison.

Math is the school’s relative bright spot, though its results still trail the state, district, and nearby K–5 average: 13% proficient, compared with 38% statewide, 18% districtwide, and an 18% average for those nearby schools. ELA was 9%, versus 49% statewide and 26% districtwide; science was 4%, compared with 36% statewide and 15% districtwide. Science is also weak locally: the school was 7 points below the nearby K–5 average, and only McKinnon scored lower among the 11 nearby schools. Attendance is a notable strength: chronic absenteeism fell from 32% in 2021–22 to 10% in 2025–26, lower than the district, state, and every nearby school with a reported figure.

Results have changed unevenly: from 2022–23 to 2025–26, ELA fell by 4 points and science by 2, while math rose by 2; overall, the gaps with the state widened. SchoolDigger ranked the school in the 1st percentile with 0 stars in 2025–26, down from the 7th percentile in 2021–22. Its 22.7 student–teacher ratio was close to the nearby average of 22.9. The reported free/reduced lunch eligible rate was 97% in 2024–25, the highest among nearby schools reporting the same measure; California is identified in the data as a statewide free-meals state, so this figure does not mean other students cannot receive free meals. One subgroup ranking stands out: SchoolDigger placed the school’s effectiveness for Special Education Students at the 27th percentile in 2025–26, compared with 1st overall, up from 4th the prior year.

545
Students ?
22.7
Student/teacher ratio ?
$20,272
Per pupil spending ?
97.2%
Free/reduced lunch eligible (2024-25) ?
All students in California receive free school meals.
≥ 98%
Kindergartners with all required immunizations (2024-25)
 2014 Santa Rita St.
       Salinas, CA  93906-1912

(831) 443-7221

District: Santa Rita Union Elementary


Students who attend Santa Rita Elementary usually attend:

Middle:    Gavilan View Middle
High:    Everett Alvarez High
Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
99.1%
White:
0.7%
Pacific Islander:
0.2%
 See top rated California elementary schools

 Compare Santa Rita Elementary to nearby elementary schools!
At a glance
▬ Ranking trend: Holding steady — 4th percentile in 2015 → 1st in 2026
Worth a look
!Test scores below the California average (10% vs 42% meeting standards)
!In the lower quartile statewide (1st percentile)
!English Language Arts/Literacy scores 40 pts below the California average
Students meeting standards (2025-2026) ?
This school10%
District avg21%
California avg42%
5,740th of 5,817
California public elementary schools ?
Bottom 1%▼ down 1 pts since 2016
See the entire ranking list of California Elementary Schools →
★★★★★
SchoolDigger rating ?
4th of 4Elementary Schools in the Santa Rita Union Elementary
1427th of 1,530Santa Rita Union 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
20266.75740 of 58171.3%☆☆☆☆☆
20257.15777 of 58571.4%☆☆☆☆☆
20248.05770 of 58691.7%☆☆☆☆☆
20239.15736 of 58592.1%☆☆☆☆☆
202214.05443 of 58837.5%☆☆☆☆☆
201913.45357 of 57897.5%☆☆☆☆☆
201812.95266 of 56627.0%☆☆☆☆☆
201710.65463 of 56924.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20169.05495 of 56142.1%☆☆☆☆☆
201511.15408 of 56113.6%☆☆☆☆☆
201310.95255 of 55305.0%☆☆☆☆☆
201212.55107 of 53905.3%☆☆☆☆☆
201122.74486 of 537716.6%★☆☆☆☆
201024.34276 of 531419.5%★☆☆☆☆
200912.44884 of 51936.0%☆☆☆☆☆
200811.74835 of 51135.4%☆☆☆☆☆
200713.34756 of 51137.0%☆☆☆☆☆
200617.44172 of 481813.4%★☆☆☆☆
200514.64361 of 48229.6%☆☆☆☆☆
200412.54520 of 48096.0%☆☆☆☆☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202423.42933 of 31627.2%☆☆☆☆☆
202324.12944 of 32459.3%☆☆☆☆☆
202235.72142 of 331135.3%★★☆☆☆
201927.82640 of 327519.4%★☆☆☆☆
201834.92066 of 324636.4%★★☆☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
20267.25526 of 55811.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20257.25547 of 55970.9%☆☆☆☆☆
20247.95556 of 56121.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20239.25522 of 56091.6%☆☆☆☆☆
202213.45329 of 56355.4%☆☆☆☆☆
201913.65112 of 54926.9%☆☆☆☆☆
201813.75009 of 54137.5%☆☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
20268.74999 of 50941.9%☆☆☆☆☆
20259.05017 of 51071.8%☆☆☆☆☆
202410.24993 of 51072.2%☆☆☆☆☆
202311.54963 of 50872.4%☆☆☆☆☆
202218.44614 of 50849.2%☆☆☆☆☆
201917.64527 of 49638.8%☆☆☆☆☆
201817.34411 of 48308.7%☆☆☆☆☆

Homeless

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202619.3335 of 3668.5%☆☆☆☆☆
202511.9424 of 4291.2%☆☆☆☆☆
202415.3347 of 3644.7%☆☆☆☆☆
202324.5295 of 33511.9%★☆☆☆☆
202228.4287 of 35619.4%★☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
20268.95315 of 54232.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20258.95357 of 54601.9%☆☆☆☆☆
202410.25387 of 55172.4%☆☆☆☆☆
202311.25234 of 53632.4%☆☆☆☆☆
202219.74675 of 526411.2%★☆☆☆☆
201916.54762 of 51737.9%☆☆☆☆☆
201817.24652 of 50848.5%☆☆☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
20268.05515 of 56031.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20258.35521 of 56281.9%☆☆☆☆☆
20249.45530 of 56432.0%☆☆☆☆☆
202310.95470 of 56383.0%☆☆☆☆☆
202216.05122 of 56639.6%☆☆☆☆☆
201914.55090 of 55107.6%☆☆☆☆☆
201813.25076 of 54316.5%☆☆☆☆☆

Migrant

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202314.566 of 682.9%☆☆☆☆☆

Special Education

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202628.82139 of 292726.9%★☆☆☆☆
202516.22747 of 28473.5%☆☆☆☆☆
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)
Special Education (2026)27th percentile+26 vs school
Homeless (2026)8th percentile+7 vs school
English Language Learner (2024)7th percentile+6 vs school
Migrant (2023)3rd percentile~ school
Low Socio Economic Status (2026)2nd percentile~ school
Hispanic (2026)2nd percentile~ school
Male (2026)2nd percentile~ school
Female (2026)1st percentile~ school
By subject vs California (2025-2026) ?
Mathematics13%-25 vs state
English Language Arts/Literacy9%-40 vs state
Science4%-32 vs state

★
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Frequently Asked Questions about Santa Rita Elementary

Santa Rita Elementary ranks in the bottom 1.3% of California elementary schools.

Students at Santa Rita Elementary are 99% Hispanic.

Students who attend Santa Rita Elementary usually go on to attend:

Middle : Gavilan View Middle
High : Everett Alvarez High

In the 2024-25 school year, 545 students attended Santa Rita Elementary.

Rate Santa Rita Elementary!



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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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