Summary:
Schools in ZIP code 95642 include 12 schools, from elementary through high school, including two middle schools and several alternative or specialized schools; ten have 2025–2026 proficiency results, while two have no test-score results listed. The most important area-wide finding is that math is the clearest concern: the ten schools averaged 19% proficient, compared with 38% statewide, a gap of about 19 percentage points, and no school reached the state result.
Results vary sharply by school. North Star Academy had the highest all-grades ELA result, 67%, and a 100% graduation rate; Argonaut High also stood out, with 56% in ELA and 37% in science, just above the state’s 36%. Sutter Creek Elementary led in math at 32% and science at 37%, with its science result also slightly above the state. At the other end, Independence High (Continuation) had the lowest all-grades results—4% in ELA and 0% in math and science—and 94% chronic absenteeism. Ione Junior High had the lowest reported all-grades science result, at 7%.
Recent direction is mixed: the ten-school average in ELA rose from 32% to 36% between 2024–2025 and 2025–2026, narrowing its gap with the state, while math fell from 22% to 19% and science from 26% to 24%, widening those gaps. Grade-level results reveal strengths hidden by overall scores: Pioneer Magnet School for the Visual and Performing Arts exceeded the state in grade 4 and 5 ELA, and Sutter Creek was above the state in grade 5 ELA and math. SchoolDigger’s percentile ranking fell from 68 to 57 for Argonaut and from 54 to 48 for Sutter Creek between 2023–2024 and 2025–2026; Jackson Junior High fell from 44 to 27, while Plymouth Elementary stayed at 27. As context, free/reduced lunch eligible figures for 2024–2025 were 35% at Sutter Creek and 65% at Pioneer, whose student–teacher ratios were similar at 26.6 and 26.1. Because schools serve different grades and purposes, comparisons are not always like for like.
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