Summary:
ZIP code 96122 has three schools serving kindergarten through grade 12: C. Roy Carmichael Elementary (K–6), Portola Junior/Senior High (7–12), and Beckwourth (Jim) High (Continuation) (9–12); together they enroll 615 students. The clearest shared challenge in the reported 2025–26 results is math: the equal-school average for Carmichael and Portola is 20% proficient, compared with 38% statewide, a 19-point gap. Their average gaps are smaller in ELA (37% versus 49%, 12 points) and science (26% versus 36%, 10 points).
Portola Junior/Senior High stands out in ELA and science: 44% were proficient in ELA, compared with 30% at Carmichael, and 30% in science, versus 22% at Carmichael. Math is nearly even, at 20% for Portola and 19% for Carmichael, and both are about 19 points below the state. SchoolDigger ranks Portola in the 39th percentile with 2 stars, compared with Carmichael in the 20th percentile with 1 star. Carmichael’s fourth-grade math is a relative bright spot at 36%, though still below the state’s 42%; its fifth- and sixth-grade results are 9% and 5%, versus 37% statewide in each grade. Beckwourth’s 2025–26 scores are state-suppressed, so its performance cannot be ranked against the others.
Recent results improved in ELA and science at both schools, while math moved in different directions: from 2024–25 to 2025–26, Carmichael’s ELA rose 3 points and science 4, while math fell 4; Portola’s ELA rose 3 points, science 19, and math 5. SchoolDigger rankings remain lower than in 2023–24: Carmichael fell from the 43rd to the 20th percentile, while Portola went from the 60th to the 39th, with a one-point rise in the latest year. Portola has a 13.6 student-teacher ratio, compared with Carmichael’s 20.2. All three report the same income measure, free/reduced lunch eligible, for 2024–25: 54% at Portola, 71% at Carmichael, and 60% at Beckwourth; these figures offer context, not an explanation for school results.
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