Summary:
This analysis examines five elementary schools within the Pomona Unified district in zip code 91768, all serving grades K-6 except for one K-8 school, with each campus serving a high-need student population where over 88% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.
Among these schools, Cortez Elementary stands out as the highest-performing, earning a 3-star rating and achieving the strongest test scores, particularly in science where it exceeds the state average, while also having the lowest rate of chronic student absenteeism at 14.6%. In contrast, Lincoln Elementary faces the most significant challenges, with the lowest ranking and test scores alongside the highest absenteeism rate of 33.4%, despite receiving the most funding per student. The other schools—Roosevelt Elementary, Arroyo Elementary, and Kellogg Polytechnic Elementary—show variable performance, with some grades doing well while others struggle significantly.
Overall, these schools perform below state averages in English and math, with mathematics being a particular area of difficulty across the board. Chronic absenteeism is a common concern, averaging higher than the state rate. The performance of Cortez demonstrates that strong outcomes are achievable within this community, though most schools in the area are working to overcome similar challenges shared across the district.
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