Is Sunflower Elementary a good school?

Sunflower Elementary ranks 2338 th of 5862 California elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 3 stars out of 5.

How many students attend Sunflower Elementary?

In the 2023-24 school year, 398 students attended Sunflower Elementary.

What is the racial makeup of Sunflower Elementary?

Students at Sunflower Elementary are 95% Hispanic, 3% White, 1% Two or more races.

What schools do graduates of Sunflower Elementary attend?

Students who attend Sunflower Elementary usually go on to attend: High : Southwest High

Sunflower Elementary

Summary:

Sunflower Elementary is a public elementary school in El Centro, California, serving 410 students in grades K-6. It is part of the El Centro Elementary School District, which has a 2-star rating out of 5 from SchoolDigger.

Sunflower Elementary stands out as a relatively high-performing school within the district, consistently outperforming the district and the state of California in English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics proficiency rates. For example, in 2023-2024, 54.39% of Sunflower Elementary students were proficient or better in ELA, compared to 39.09% for the district and 47.04% for the state. The school also ranks among the top California elementary schools for English Language Learner (ELL) students, with a 5-star rating in 2023-2024 and 2022-2023. However, Sunflower Elementary has seen a significant increase in chronic absenteeism, from 7.9% in 2018-2019 to 25.2% in 2022-2023, which is higher than the district average.

Compared to nearby schools, Sunflower Elementary generally outperforms the other El Centro Elementary district schools in both ELA and Mathematics proficiency. However, the nearby Imperial Valley Home School Academy, a public charter school, has shown strong academic performance, often matching or exceeding Sunflower Elementary's results. Additionally, Sunflower Elementary has a high percentage of students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds, with 74.88% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch in 2022-2023, which is higher than the district average.

Detail:

Public K-6

2450 Main St.
El Centro, CA 92243-3577

(760) 337-4890

District: El Centro Elementary

SchoolDigger Rank:
2338^th of 5,862 California Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $7,619

Students who attend Sunflower Elementary usually attend:

High:

Southwest High

Student/teacher ratio: 23.4

Number of students: 398

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

95.5%

White:

2.5%

Two or more races:

1.3%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 77.4%

See top rated California elementary schools

Compare Sunflower Elementary to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Sunflower Elementary ranks better than 60.1% of elementary schools in California. It also ranks first among 10 ranked elementary schools in the El Centro Elementary School District! (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 54.04. (See more...)

Chronic absenteeism in a school refers to a situation where students repeatedly miss school, with the threshold often defined as missing 10% or more of school days for any reason, excused or unexcused.

Student Body

Compare Details Racial makeup is: Hispanic (95.5%), White (2.5%), two or more races (1.3%). (See more...)

Compare Details 77.4% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Compare Details (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Sunflower Elementary is 23.4, which is the 5^th best among 10 elementary schools in the El Centro Elementary School District. (See more...)

Compare Sunflower Elementary employs 17 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Sunflower Elementary is $7,619. 6 elementary schools in the El Centro Elementary School District spend more per student.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Sunflower Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks Sunflower Elementary 2338^th of 5862 California public elementary schools. (See Sunflower Elementary in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

English Language Learner students:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Male students:

Hispanic students:

El Centro Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks El Centro Elementary 890^th of 1568 California school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Rank History for Sunflower Elementary

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Rank History for all students at Sunflower Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2004	67.38	1384^th	4809	71.2%
2005	62.57	1635^th	4822	66.1%
2006	41.90	2619^th	4818	45.6%
2007	49.01	2386^th	5113	53.3%
2008	57.62	1959^th	5113	61.7%
2009	58.87	1984^th	5193	61.8%
2010	54.89	2282^nd	5314	57.1%
2011	53.03	2406^th	5377	55.3%
2012	68.31	1614^th	5390	70.1%
2013	63.40	1923^rd	5530	65.2%
2015	55.09	2175^th	5611	61.2%
2016	62.94	1862^nd	5614	66.8%
2017	63.21	1877^th	5692	67.0%
2018	61.99	1950^th	5662	65.6%
2019	60.06	2071^st	5789	64.2%
2022	47.79	2660^th	5883	54.8%
2023	44.64	2848^th	5874	51.5%
2024	54.04	2338^th	5862	60.1%

See the entire list of California Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Sunflower Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	76.31	420^th	3246	87.1%
2019	80.44	312^th	3275	90.5%
2022	61.11	725^th	3311	78.1%
2023	76.95	323^rd	3250	90.1%
2024	84.92	174^th	3160	94.5%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Sunflower Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	31.44	1578^th	2420	34.8%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Sunflower Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	73.51	1009^th	5084	80.2%
2019	64.71	1471^st	5173	71.6%
2022	61.52	1595^th	5264	69.7%
2023	49.42	2408^th	5374	55.2%
2024	60.10	1777^th	5511	67.8%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Sunflower Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	60.99	1931^st	5413	64.3%
2019	59.98	1966^th	5492	64.2%
2022	44.54	2729^th	5635	51.6%
2023	43.57	2778^th	5617	50.5%
2024	59.98	1956^th	5605	65.1%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Disabled students at Sunflower Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2022	58.71	618^th	2227	72.2%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Disabled Students!

Rank History for Male students at Sunflower Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	60.35	1909^th	5431	64.8%
2019	59.26	1988^th	5510	63.9%
2022	50.22	2430^th	5663	57.1%
2023	45.68	2696^th	5650	52.3%
2024	46.96	2634^th	5636	53.3%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Sunflower Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	74.40	930^th	4830	80.7%
2019	73.59	983^rd	4963	80.2%
2022	61.02	1583^rd	5084	68.9%
2023	60.49	1636^th	5098	67.9%
2024	68.36	1256^th	5102	75.4%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Hispanic Students!

Data source: test scores: California Department of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Data source: California Department of Education

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Enrollment information for Sunflower Elementary

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Total
1997	137	12	21	465	0	n/a	n/a	635
1998	140	9	32	477	3	n/a	n/a	661
1999	90	10	31	415	2	n/a	n/a	548
2000	92	9	49	406	2	n/a	n/a	558
2001	91	5	54	408	2	n/a	n/a	560
2002	77	8	45	425	0	n/a	n/a	555
2003	77	8	45	425	0	n/a	n/a	555
2004	60	7	41	434	0	n/a	n/a	542
2005	68	7	36	444	0	n/a	n/a	555
2006	53	6	38	457	0	n/a	n/a	554
2007	42	7	30	398	0	n/a	n/a	477
2008	39	11	26	383	4	n/a	n/a	463
2009	38	9	25	413	0	1	1	487
2010	37	8	20	398	1	1	0	465
2011	34	8	24	387	2	0	2	457
2012	30	8	18	387	0	0	3	446
2013	22	4	13	384	0	0	6	429
2014	27	2	12	396	0	0	4	441
2015	26	4	7	410	0	0	4	451
2016	27	3	7	393	0	0	6	436
2017	18	3	4	374	0	0	8	407
2018	15	2	5	369	0	0	5	396
2019	13	1	3	414	1	0	4	436
2020	12	0	2	426	0	0	2	442
2021	11	0	0	400	0	0	5	416
2022	12	0	0	376	0	0	5	393
2023	9	1	1	392	0	0	7	410
2024	10	3	0	380	0	0	5	398

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Sunflower Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1997	635	24.0	26.5	45.2
1998	661	26.0	25.4	54.6
1999	548	26.0	21.1	55.5
2000	558	25.0	22.3	44.3
2001	560	25.0	22.4	44.6
2002	555	25.5	21.8	44.3
2003	555	25.5	21.8	44.3
2004	542	24.0	22.6	42.8
2005	555	25.0	22.2	48.3
2006	554	25.0	22.2	54.9
2007	477	20.0	23.9	52
2008	463	21.0	22.0	58.1
2009	487	22.0	21.2	65.5
2010	465	20.0	23.2	62.2
2011	457	n/a	n/a	64.3
2012	446	16.0	27.8	n/a
2013	429	15.0	28.6	71.1
2014	441	15.0	29.4	67.8
2015	451	17.0	26.5	60.8
2016	436	16.0	27.2	70.2
2017	407	14.0	29.0	70.8
2018	396	16.0	24.7	69.4
2019	436	n/a	n/a	74.8
2020	442	n/a	n/a	73.5
2021	416	16.0	26.0	76.4
2022	393	16.0	24.5	74.8
2023	410	15.0	27.3	74.9
2024	398	17.0	23.4	77.4

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Sunflower Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1997	635	24.0	26.5	45.2
1998	661	26.0	25.4	54.6
1999	548	26.0	21.1	55.5
2000	558	25.0	22.3	44.3
2001	560	25.0	22.4	44.6
2002	555	25.5	21.8	44.3
2003	555	25.5	21.8	44.3
2004	542	24.0	22.6	42.8
2005	555	25.0	22.2	48.3
2006	554	25.0	22.2	54.9
2007	477	20.0	23.9	52
2008	463	21.0	22.0	58.1
2009	487	22.0	21.2	65.5
2010	465	20.0	23.2	62.2
2011	457	n/a	n/a	64.3
2012	446	16.0	27.8	n/a
2013	429	15.0	28.6	71.1
2014	441	15.0	29.4	67.8
2015	451	17.0	26.5	60.8
2016	436	16.0	27.2	70.2
2017	407	14.0	29.0	70.8
2018	396	16.0	24.7	69.4
2019	436	n/a	n/a	74.8
2020	442	n/a	n/a	73.5
2021	416	16.0	26.0	76.4
2022	393	16.0	24.5	74.8
2023	410	15.0	27.3	74.9
2024	398	17.0	23.4	77.4

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.

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