Schools in Zip Code 95659

Zip code 95659 has two schools: East Nicolaus High, serving grades 9–12 with 308 students, and Marcum-Illinois Union Elementary, serving kindergarten through eighth grade with 179 students. Because they serve different grade spans, their all-grades scores are not a same-grade comparison. The clearest overall finding is that the schools fall on opposite sides of the state result in all three subjects: Marcum is above California, while East Nicolaus is below.

Marcum leads the supplied all-grades results, scoring 56% in ELA, 56% in math and 48% in science, compared with state results of 49%, 38% and 36%. Its advantages are 6, 17 and 12 percentage points, respectively. East Nicolaus scores 30% in ELA, 13% in math and 20% in science—shortfalls of 20, 26 and 16 points against the state. Marcum’s lead over East Nicolaus is largest in math, at 43 points. Grade-level results also show a strength and a gap at Marcum: seventh-grade math is 72%, 35 points above the state, while fifth-grade ELA is 43%, 6 points below.

Results changed unevenly over the two reported years: ELA fell at both schools, while East Nicolaus math improved by 6 points and Marcum science rose by 3; science fell by 7 points at East Nicolaus. SchoolDigger’s rankings also declined: East Nicolaus is at the 26th percentile with 1 star, down from the 42nd percentile and 2 stars, while Marcum is at the 71st percentile with 4 stars, down from the 84th percentile. The schools have nearly identical student-teacher ratios—17.8 at East Nicolaus and 17.9 at Marcum. Both report free/reduced lunch eligible figures for 2024–25: 26% at East Nicolaus and 30% at Marcum. East Nicolaus also has a 96% graduation rate versus 88% statewide, and chronic absenteeism of 12% versus 18%; these indicators provide positive context alongside its below-state test results.