Summary:
ZIP code 96118 has two schools in Sierra-Plumas Joint Unified: Loyalton Elementary, serving kindergarten through grade 5, and Loyalton High, serving grades 9–12. In 2025–2026, the Elementary school was above California in math and science, while the High school was above the state in English language arts (ELA). The most important takeaway is that neither school is strongest across every subject: results differ by school and subject.
Loyalton Elementary stood out in science, with 48% proficient, 12 percentage points above the state’s 36%; its math result was 45%, 7 points above the state. ELA was its relative weakness at 41%, 8 points below California. Loyalton High stood out in ELA: 56% proficient, 7 points above the state. It was below the state in math (29%, 9 points lower) and science (33%, 3 points lower). Within Elementary, grade 4 ELA is a notable weak spot: 28% proficient, 18 points below the grade-specific state result. Because the schools serve different grade spans and have no overlapping tested grades, their all-grade results are not like-for-like comparisons of students in the same grade.
Recent changes were mixed. From 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, Elementary math rose 14 percentage points and science rose 29, while ELA was nearly unchanged; High ELA rose 5 points, but math fell 4 and science fell 10. SchoolDigger’s rankings also shifted: Elementary went from the 45th percentile to the 59th over three years, while High moved from the 61st to the 60th after reaching the 78th. In 2024–2025, Elementary’s student-teacher ratio was 23, compared with 13.5 at High; the reported free/reduced lunch eligible shares that year were 35% and 27%, respectively. High’s 97% graduation rate was above the state’s 88%, but its chronic absenteeism was also higher (27% versus 18%). These context measures describe different aspects of the schools and do not explain their test results.
Thank you for your feedback!