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Best Public Schools in Zip Code 95301

At a glance

Schools

8,780

Students

Districts

Top rankedThomas Olaeta Elementary2051^st of 5,857 California elementary schools

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Biggest riser

Aileen Colburn Elementary up 361 spots statewide this year

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Smallest classes

Bellevue Senior Elementary 15.2 students per teacher

SchoolDigger ratings

3★

2★

1 school without a SchoolDigger rating (too few tested students)

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Summary:

The 95301 zip code in Atwater, California, serves 8,375 students across 13 public schools from kindergarten through 12th grade, managed by the Merced Union High, Atwater Elementary, and Merced County Office of Education districts.

Parents will find a mix of school performances within the area. Standout schools include Buhach Colony High, the highest-ranked high school, and elementary schools like Thomas Olaeta Elementary, Mitchell Elementary, and Juniper Elementary, which boasts exceptional science scores. However, Valley Atwater Community school shows severe academic and dropout rate challenges. A clear trend is that elementary schools generally perform closer to state averages, while academic gaps, especially in math, widen significantly in middle and high school.

Despite these academic struggles in upper grades, both Atwater High and Buhach Colony High maintain graduation rates well above the state average. Attendance is notably strong in elementary schools but becomes a concern in high school. While per-student spending varies, it does not directly correlate with better academic outcomes in this community, suggesting factors beyond funding significantly influence school success.

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Immunizations Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				CAST Science (2025)					Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy (2025)								Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics (2025)								% Completely Immunized (2022)	% Polio (2022)	% Hepatitis B (2022)	% Varicella (2022)	% DTP (2022)	% MMR (2022)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	CAST Science 5th Grade	CAST Science 8th Grade	CAST Science 11th Grade	CAST Science 12th Grade	CAST Science All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 3rd Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 4th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 11th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 3rd Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 4th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 11th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics All Grades	% Completely Immunized KG	% Polio KG	% Hepatitis B KG	% Varicella KG	% DTP KG	% MMR KG	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Aileen Colburn Elementary	Public	K-6	2201 Heller St.	Atwater	95301	Merced County	Atwater Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 357-6136	371	17	21.8	91.6%	33 (8.9%)	12 (3.2%)	322 (86.8%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	40.1	3216^th of 5857 public elementary schools	45.1%		34.3	3577^th of 5869 public elementary schools	39.1%	361	18.5				18.5	41.5	50.0	40.4	37.8				42.7	61.1	29.6	14.8	24.4				32.9	94.7	97.4		96.1	96.1	97.4	$24,989	$22,596	$2,393
Bellevue Elementary	Public	K-6	1020 East Bellevue Rd.	Atwater	95301	Merced County	Atwater Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 357-6140	599	25	23.9	91.8%	30 (5.0%)	9 (1.5%)	535 (89.3%)	10 (1.7%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	13 (2.2%)	33.1	3716^th of 5857 public elementary schools	36.6%		35	3514^th of 5869 public elementary schools	40.1%	202	16.3				16.3	33.8	33.3	32.2	47.7				36.8	39.0	30.0	29.4	24.4				30.5	95.3		98.1	97.2	96.3	97.2	$25,194	$22,748	$2,446
Elmer Wood Elementary	Public	K-6	1271 West Bellevue Rd.	Atwater	95301	Merced County	Atwater Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 357-6143	514	22	23.3	76.3%	95 (18.5%)	7 (1.4%)	387 (75.3%)	9 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (3.1%)	47.7	2725^th of 5857 public elementary schools	53.5%		57.9	2156^th of 5869 public elementary schools	63.3%	569	25.4				25.4	32.5	50.0	44.1	53.7				45.2	32.5	48.1	28.8	38.6				37.5	94.3			96.6	96.6	96.6	$21,732	$19,418	$2,314
Mitchell Elementary	Public	K-6	1761 Grove Ave.	Atwater	95301	Merced County	Atwater Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 357-6112	528	22	24.0	86.0%	40 (7.6%)	8 (1.5%)	444 (84.1%)	21 (4.0%)	6 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (1.7%)	54.7	2324^th of 5857 public elementary schools	60.3%		51.3	2491^st of 5869 public elementary schools	57.6%	167	28.6				28.6	46.0	24.4	47.4	56.1				45.4	63.5	30.4	40.8	44.8				46.0	96.9				96.9		$23,398	$21,320	$2,078
Mitchell Intermediate	Public	7-8	1753 Fifth St.	Atwater	95301	Merced County	Atwater Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 357-6124	744	31	23.8	75.9%	97 (13.0%)	15 (2.0%)	577 (77.6%)	37 (5.0%)	3 (0.4%)	3 (0.4%)	12 (1.6%)	38.9	1520^th of 2761 public middle schools	44.9%		43.6	1352^nd of 2783 public middle schools	51.4%	168		17.6			17.6					48.1	45.0		46.5					25.0	24.3		24.7							$19,052	$17,048	$2,004
Shaffer Elementary	Public	K-6	1434 California St.	Atwater	95301	Merced County	Atwater Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 357-6145	405	18	22.2	81.0%	48 (11.9%)	5 (1.2%)	324 (80.0%)	21 (5.2%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.5%)	4 (1.0%)	32.2	3784^th of 5857 public elementary schools	35.4%		35.2	3503^rd of 5869 public elementary schools	40.3%	281	24.6				24.6	35.6	36.8	41.1	31.2				36.1	42.4	26.3	16.1	26.2				27.9	94.4			97.2	97.2	97.2	$24,606	$22,466	$2,140
Thomas Olaeta Elementary	Public	K-6	2266 High St.	Atwater	95301	Merced County	Atwater Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 357-6148	374	17	22.0	73.8%	51 (13.6%)	6 (1.6%)	282 (75.4%)	17 (4.5%)	4 (1.1%)	1 (0.3%)	13 (3.5%)	60.3	2051^st of 5857 public elementary schools	65.0%		64.1	1870^th of 5869 public elementary schools	68.1%	181	33.3				33.3	54.4	64.0	43.8	46.3				52.0	55.3	50.0	35.4	38.9				44.7	92.2	95.3	96.9	93.8	93.8	93.8	$26,002	$23,884	$2,118
Peggy Heller Elementary	Public	K-8	201 Lake View Dr.	Atwater	95301	Merced County	Atwater Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 357-6517	712	30	23.7	63.8%	138 (19.4%)	12 (1.7%)	499 (70.1%)	35 (4.9%)	5 (0.7%)	2 (0.3%)	21 (2.9%)	36.6	3434^th of 5857 public elementary schools	41.4%		50.9	2513^th of 5869 public elementary schools	57.2%	921	21.7	24.1			22.9	30.8	45.2	37.0	41.4	62.8	58.6		46.6	35.4	38.7	24.1	32.2	38.3	46.0		35.8	96.6			96.6			$20,385	$18,046	$2,339
Atwater Senior Academy	Public	6-8	1800 Juniper Ave.	Atwater	95301	Merced County	Atwater Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 357-6515	5	1	4.9		0 (0.0%)	2 (40.0%)	3 (60.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								(n/a)													6.3								0.0
Bellevue Senior Elementary	Public	7-8	1020 East Bellevue Rd.	Atwater	95301	Merced County	Atwater Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 357-6140	178	12	15.2	93.8%	8 (4.5%)	5 (2.8%)	161 (90.4%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.7%)	33.1	1712^th of 2761 public middle schools	38.0%		37.7	1538^th of 2783 public middle schools	44.7%	174		23.3			23.3					41.9	38.1		40.0					21.6	19.8		20.7							$14,567	$12,890	$1,677
Juniper Elementary	Public	K-6	661 East Juniper Ave.	Atwater	95301	Merced County	Atwater Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 357-9930	495	20	24.7	73.3%	61 (12.3%)	4 (0.8%)	381 (77.0%)	36 (7.3%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (2.4%)	54.4	2345^th of 5857 public elementary schools	60.0%		48.1	2657^th of 5869 public elementary schools	54.7%	312	45.3				45.3	29.1	53.3	57.8	42.1				46.2	37.5	41.7	42.2	36.8				39.7							$20,392	$18,244	$2,148
Atwater High	Public	9-12	2201 Fruitland Ave.	Atwater	95301	Merced County	Merced Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 325-1200	2,029	98	20.6	82.1%	251 (12.4%)	30 (1.5%)	1,654 (81.5%)	54 (2.7%)	8 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	32 (1.6%)	35.9	1362^nd of 2162 public high schools	37.0%		37.9	1294^th of 2159 public high schools	40.1%	68			22.2	7.1	21.7							41.5	41.5							13.5	13.5							$25,953	$24,340	$1,613
Buhach Colony High	Public	9-12	1800 Buhach Rd.	Atwater	95301	Merced County	Merced Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 325-1400	1,704	76	22.5	78.5%	261 (15.3%)	36 (2.1%)	1,187 (69.7%)	169 (9.9%)	14 (0.8%)	2 (0.1%)	34 (2.0%)	50.3	1032^nd of 2162 public high schools	52.3%		36.7	1322^nd of 2159 public high schools	38.8%	290			31.6	40.0	31.9							53.0	53.0							15.3	15.3							$26,106	$24,400	$1,706
Valley Atwater Community	Public	6-12	1800 Matthew Ave.	Atwater	95301	Merced County	Merced County Office of Education	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 381-4550	122	8	15.6	94.3%	14 (11.5%)	3 (2.5%)	100 (82.0%)	1 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (3.3%)	8.2	2108^th of 2162 public high schools	2.5%		9	2122^nd of 2159 public high schools	1.7%	14		0.0	0.0		0.0						0.0	9.8	6.8						0.0	0.0	0.0							$41,493	$40,454	$1,039

Cities Near Zip Code 95301

City	Distance	# of Schools	Statewide Rank
Atwater	0.3 mi	14	540^th
Winton	2.12 mi	5	395^th
Merced	4.34 mi	37	707^th
Livingston	4.55 mi	7	689^th
Cressey	5.66 mi	1

See the top CA California cities

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.