Summary:
In zip code 92257, which covers the rural area of Niland, California, there is one elementary school, Grace Smith Elementary, serving grades Kindergarten through 4th grade with 65 students as part of the Calipatria Unified school district.
This school serves a community with significant economic challenges, with over 92% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. Academically, the school shows a notable strength in mathematics, where its students perform better than the district average and close to the state average. However, performance in English Language Arts is below both the district and state averages. A significant concern is the chronic absenteeism rate of 22.9%, which is higher than both the district and state, indicating that consistent attendance is a major challenge affecting student learning.
Despite these hurdles, the school maintains a favorable student-teacher ratio of 13-to-1, which allows for more individual attention. Its statewide ranking has been volatile in recent years, jumping to the 61st percentile before settling at the 40th percentile. With very high per-student spending, the school is heavily resourced to address the needs of its community, and its ability to outperform its low-performing district in math suggests there are effective practices in place that could be built upon to improve overall outcomes.
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