Taylor Leadership Academy

Taylor Leadership Academy is a K-8 public school serving 397 students in the Stockton Unified School District, operating in a high-need community where the vast majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

Academically, the school faces significant challenges, with proficiency rates in English, math, and science well below state averages; however, its performance is nuanced when compared to nearby schools. For instance, Taylor's English proficiency is actually higher than several other Stockton Unified schools like George Washington Elementary and John Marshall Elementary. A notable finding is a dramatic drop in math scores after 3rd grade, suggesting a specific need for intervention in upper-grade math instruction. The school has shown recent positive trends, improving its statewide ranking and reducing its chronic absenteeism rate, which, while still high at 34%, is now lower than Hazelton Elementary.

An interesting comparison is with its close neighbor, John Marshall Elementary, which spends more per student and has smaller classes but has lower academic performance, indicating that resources alone are not the sole driver of success. Compared to schools in the neighboring Manteca Unified district, such as Great Valley Elementary, Taylor's results are lower, though it performs similarly to San Joaquin Elementary within its own district. The key takeaways are that the school is showing signs of improvement in attendance and ranking, has relative strengths in English, but requires a focused strategy to address mathematics achievement, particularly in grades 4 through 8.