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.
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