Best Public Schools in Zip Code 95126

ZIP code 95126 has three schools serving grades K–8: Merritt Trace Elementary (K–5), Herbert Hoover Middle (6–8), and ACE Inspire Academy (5–8). In 2024–2025, the three-school averages were 30% proficient in ELA, 24% in math, and 23% in science, all below state averages of 49%, 37%, and 33%. For the two schools with results in both years, their average proficiency remained below the state in every subject, and the gaps widened by 2025–2026.

Merritt Trace stands out in ELA and math: in 2025–2026, 39% of students were proficient in ELA and 28% in math, leading Hoover by 8 and 4 percentage points. Hoover led science, with 31% proficient compared with Merritt’s 28%. In 2024–2025, ACE Inspire was lowest in all three subjects: 18% in ELA, 20% in math, and 12% in science—18, 6, and 17 points below the average of the other two schools, respectively.

The comparable schools’ average ELA proficiency dipped from 36% to 35% between 2024–2025 and 2025–2026, while math edged from 26% to 26% and science rose from 28% to 29%; because state results rose faster, the gaps widened by 1 point in ELA, 1 in math, and 2 in science. One grade-level bright spot is Merritt’s grade 4 ELA result: 48%, about 3 points above the state. SchoolDigger gives Hoover 31st-percentile and Merritt 37th-percentile rankings, with two stars each; ACE Inspire’s latest ranking is 18th percentile and one star. In 2024–2025, free/reduced lunch eligible measures were 63% at Hoover, 54% at Merritt, and 87% at ACE Inspire; student-teacher ratios were 18.5, 22.1, and 25.0, respectively. Hoover and Merritt also reported 30% and 26% chronic absenteeism in 2025–2026, both above the state’s 18%.