Summary:
These 10 Palmdale-area elementary schools in zip code 93550 serve grades K–5 or K–8, with five schools in each group and enrollments ranging from 63 to 664. In 2025–26, their average proficiency was 28% in English language arts (ELA), 20% in math and 16% in science, compared with California’s 49%, 38% and 36%. The most important finding is that the area averages trail the state by about 22 percentage points in ELA, 19 in math and 20 in science.
Barrel Springs Elementary leads all-grades ELA at 48%, about 6 points ahead of Innovations Academy of Palmdale at 42, though Barrel Springs remains about 2 points below the state. Innovations leads math at 37% and science at 28%, ahead of the next school by about 2 points in each subject; it is about 1 point below the state in math and 8 below in science. At the low end, Oak Tree Community Day has the lowest ELA and math results, both about 2%, while Yucca Elementary has the lowest science result at 8%. Grade-level results add bright spots: Barrel Springs’ fifth-grade ELA is 76% versus 49% statewide, and Tumbleweed Elementary leads reported fourth-grade ELA at 50% versus 46% statewide.
Average scores rose from 2024–25 to 2025–26 by about 4 points in ELA and 2 points each in math and science; results did not improve everywhere, and the science gap with the state widened by about 1 point. SchoolDigger’s statewide percentile rank for Innovations rose from 3rd in 2023–24 to 45th in 2025–26. Attendance and school context also differ: Innovations’ chronic absenteeism is 10%, compared with 22% at Barrel Springs and 55% at Oak Tree, while Innovations has 28 students per teacher and Oak Tree has 8. In 2024–25, nine schools reported free/reduced lunch eligible, ranging from 77% at Barrel Springs to 96% at Yucca; Oak Tree instead reported 67% directly certified for free meals and is marked as likely serving free meals to all students. These figures describe differences among schools, not what causes their results.
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