Best Public Schools in Zip Code 95316

Schools in ZIP code 95316 include six schools spanning elementary, middle and high school grades, plus an alternative school, with options from three elementary schools to a K–8 school. Results vary sharply across the area: Gratton Charter leads the reported core-subject results, while several Denair schools are well below state results. The most important takeaway is that school results differ considerably, so an area-wide picture can hide large differences between options.

Gratton Charter stands out at 70% in ELA, 66% in math and 52% in science—about 21, 28 and 16 percentage points above state results. The next-highest ELA result is 44% at Gratton Elementary, while the lowest is 24% at Denair Elementary Charter Academy, a 46-point gap from the highest school. Math ranges from 66% at Gratton Charter to 5% at Denair Charter Academy; science ranges from 52% at Gratton Charter to 3% at Denair High. Within Denair Unified, Denair Middle has the highest all-grades ELA result, 37%.

Group averages fell or lagged the state from 2024–25 to 2025–26: the ELA average slipped from 40% to 39%, math from 28% to 27%, and science from 25% to 20% among schools with results in both years. Gains at Gratton Charter in ELA and math and at Gratton Elementary in both subjects contrast with declines at the three Denair Unified schools in those subjects. SchoolDigger ranks Gratton Charter in the 77th percentile with four stars; Denair Elementary Charter Academy is in the 9th percentile with zero stars, while Denair High and Denair Middle are in the 18th and 21st percentiles, each with one star. The 2024–25 free/reduced lunch eligible shares range from 13% at Gratton Charter to 76% at Denair Charter Academy; these are context, not an explanation of results. Gratton Elementary has only 24 students, so its results warrant particular caution.