Is Prairie Elementary a good school?

Prairie Elementary ranks in the bottom 13.3% of California elementary schools.

How many students attend Prairie Elementary?

In the 2023-24 school year, 857 students attended Prairie Elementary.

What is the racial makeup of Prairie Elementary?

Students at Prairie Elementary are 50% Hispanic, 24% Asian, 13% African American, 5% Two or more races, 4% Pacific Islander, 4% White.

What schools do graduates of Prairie Elementary attend?

Students who attend Prairie Elementary usually go on to attend: Middle : Samuel Jackman Middle High : Valley High

Prairie Elementary

Summary:

Prairie Elementary is a public elementary school located in Sacramento, California, serving 793 students in grades K-6. It is part of the Elk Grove Unified School District, which is ranked 594 out of 1,568 districts in the state.

Prairie Elementary has faced significant challenges in recent years. The school has seen a sharp increase in chronic absenteeism, rising from 16.6% in 2017-2018 to 49.9% in 2021-2022, which is notably higher than nearby schools like Barbara Comstock Morse Elementary (34.2%) and Union House Elementary (34.9%). Additionally, Prairie Elementary's test scores are consistently lower than the Elk Grove Unified School District and the state of California across all grade levels and subject areas, with only 24.2% of students proficient or better in English Language Arts and just 15.59% proficient in Mathematics.

The school also struggles to effectively serve certain student subgroups, ranking in the bottom 10% of California elementary schools for Asian students and in the bottom 20% for African American and Hispanic students in both English Language Arts and Mathematics. Prairie Elementary's high percentage of students from low-income families, with up to 85.89% receiving free or reduced-price lunch, suggests that the school may be facing significant socioeconomic challenges that are impacting student performance. These issues have contributed to the school's steady decline in performance over the past decade, with its statewide ranking dropping from 3,720 out of 5,611 California elementary schools in 2014-2015 to 5,081 out of 5,862 in 2023-2024.

Detail:

Public K-6

5251 Valley Hi Dr.
Sacramento, CA 95823-5143

(916) 422-1843

District: Elk Grove Unified

SchoolDigger Rank:
5081^st of 5,862 California Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $6,966

Students who attend Prairie Elementary usually attend:

Middle:	Samuel Jackman Middle
High:	Valley High

Student/teacher ratio: 25.2

Number of students: 857

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

49.6%

Asian:

23.6%

African American:

12.8%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 80.3%

See top rated California elementary schools

Compare Prairie Elementary to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Prairie Elementary ranks worse than 86.7% of elementary schools in California. It also ranks 40^th among 42 ranked elementary schools in the Elk Grove Unified School District. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 17.3. (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 Student population at Prairie Elementary is diverse. Racial makeup is: Hispanic (49.6%), Asian (23.6%), African American (12.8%). (See more...)

Compare Details 80.3% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Compare Details (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Prairie Elementary is 25.2. 33 elementary schools in the Elk Grove Unified School District have better student/teacher ratios. (See more...)

Compare Prairie Elementary employs 34 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Prairie Elementary is $6,966, which is the 20^th highest among 42 elementary schools in the Elk Grove Unified School District.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Prairie Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks Prairie Elementary 5081^st of 5862 California public elementary schools. (See Prairie Elementary in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

English Language Learner students:

Special Education students:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Male students:

Asian students:

African American students:

Hispanic students:

Elk Grove Unified:

SchoolDigger ranks Elk Grove Unified 594^th of 1568 California school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Rank History for Prairie Elementary

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Rank History for all students at Prairie Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2004	29.64	3265^th	4809	32.1%
2005	28.79	3361^st	4822	30.3%
2006	24.49	3690^th	4818	23.4%
2007	25.18	3926^th	5113	23.2%
2008	33.75	3346^th	5113	34.6%
2009	27.27	3899^th	5193	24.9%
2010	39.26	3216^th	5314	39.5%
2011	37.54	3426^th	5377	36.3%
2012	25.46	4279^th	5390	20.6%
2013	27.47	4244^th	5530	23.3%
2015	29.77	3720^th	5611	33.7%
2016	26.17	4082^nd	5614	27.3%
2017	23.32	4400^th	5692	22.7%
2018	27.70	4022^nd	5662	29.0%
2019	29.10	4005^th	5789	30.8%
2021	20.02	1159^th	1417	18.2%
2022	17.99	5054^th	5883	14.1%
2023	15.61	5268^th	5874	10.3%
2024	17.30	5081^st	5862	13.3%

See the entire list of California Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at Prairie Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2018	10.74	317^th	339	6.5%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Multi-racial Students!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Prairie Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	57.34	962^nd	3246	70.4%
2019	35.18	2115^th	3275	35.4%
2021	43.20	266^th	602	55.8%
2022	32.77	2384^th	3311	28.0%
2023	37.24	2000^th	3250	38.5%
2024	41.13	1738^th	3160	45.0%

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

Rank History for Special Education students at Prairie Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	16.35	2386^th	2420	1.4%
2024	20.11	2391^st	2634	9.2%

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

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Prairie Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	41.11	2943^rd	5084	42.1%
2019	47.71	2563^rd	5173	50.5%
2021	31.92	784^th	1110	29.4%
2022	24.42	4292^nd	5264	18.5%
2023	15.87	4981^st	5374	7.3%
2024	19.31	4830^th	5511	12.4%

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

Rank History for Female students at Prairie Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	26.09	4079^th	5413	24.6%
2019	28.40	3950^th	5492	28.1%
2021	21.54	1011^th	1267	20.2%
2022	17.19	4972^nd	5635	11.8%
2023	16.04	5049^th	5617	10.1%
2024	16.15	5023^rd	5605	10.4%

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

Rank History for Disabled students at Prairie Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	23.83	1778^th	2128	16.4%
2019	21.04	2290^th	2585	11.4%
2021	26.22	216^th	293	26.3%
2022	20.00	2017^th	2227	9.4%

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

Rank History for Male students at Prairie Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	31.08	3623^rd	5431	33.3%
2019	30.18	3790^th	5510	31.2%
2021	20.04	1038^th	1272	18.4%
2022	20.04	4713^th	5663	16.8%
2023	16.58	5032^nd	5650	10.9%
2024	19.82	4741^st	5636	15.9%

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

Rank History for Asian students at Prairie Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	6.23	997^th	1071	6.9%
2019	6.94	1067^th	1149	7.1%
2022	8.41	1046^th	1154	9.4%
2023	2.94	1142^nd	1190	4.0%
2024	2.88	1153^rd	1203	4.2%

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

Rank History for African American students at Prairie Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	49.76	299^th	700	57.3%
2019	37.65	454^th	747	39.2%
2022	20.23	609^th	663	8.1%
2023	19.49	597^th	662	9.8%
2024	27.95	442^nd	593	25.5%

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

Rank History for Hispanic students at Prairie Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	33.78	3287^th	4830	31.9%
2019	38.28	3074^th	4963	38.1%
2022	18.19	4633^rd	5084	8.9%
2023	19.82	4512^th	5098	11.5%
2024	19.05	4521^st	5102	11.4%

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 Prairie Elementary

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	587	247	128	102	10	n/a	n/a	0	1074
1989	559	240	162	103	17	n/a	n/a	0	1081
1990	383	236	139	105	13	n/a	n/a	0	876
1991	383	263	154	128	20	n/a	n/a	0	948
1992	338	317	192	147	19	n/a	n/a	0	1013
1993	262	330	210	182	17	n/a	n/a	0	1001
1994	210	353	224	198	14	n/a	n/a	0	999
1995	161	358	276	208	14	n/a	n/a	0	1017
1996	161	358	276	208	14	n/a	n/a	0	1017
1997	149	365	279	246	25	n/a	n/a	0	1064
1998	130	374	277	272	14	n/a	n/a	0	1067
1999	112	389	291	281	21	n/a	n/a	0	1094
2000	107	424	302	317	24	n/a	n/a	0	1174
2001	84	408	292	314	18	n/a	n/a	0	1116
2002	84	331	292	374	11	n/a	n/a	0	1092
2003	84	331	292	374	11	n/a	n/a	0	1092
2004	81	318	276	401	6	n/a	n/a	2	1084
2005	68	336	253	418	5	n/a	n/a	9	1089
2006	60	318	244	421	6	n/a	n/a	11	1060
2007	43	299	230	431	1	n/a	n/a	29	1033
2008	35	282	206	456	3	n/a	n/a	0	982
2009	33	257	205	435	1	31	69	0	1031
2010	25	265	209	489	2	28	37	0	1055
2011	21	272	197	499	3	27	41	0	1060
2012	23	268	195	522	1	31	38	0	1078
2013	28	248	174	514	3	31	35	0	1033
2014	26	239	192	525	6	26	48	0	1062
2015	29	221	191	493	4	23	66	0	1027
2016	36	209	192	463	1	33	71	0	1005
2017	34	180	189	451	3	24	66	0	947
2018	38	138	204	439	4	20	69	0	912
2019	40	126	189	449	3	24	69	0	900
2020	44	133	187	414	3	26	69	0	876
2021	42	125	196	409	4	31	74	0	881
2022	41	115	191	406	2	32	49	0	836
2023	35	114	183	378	2	36	45	0	793
2024	35	110	202	425	2	37	46	0	857

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 Prairie Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	1074	40.0	26.8	n/a
1989	1081	41.8	25.8	n/a
1990	876	37.0	23.6	n/a
1991	948	37.0	25.6	n/a
1992	1013	37.6	26.9	38.7
1993	1001	38.3	26.1	40.3
1994	999	41.5	24.1	57.2
1995	1017	44.5	22.9	70.5
1996	1017	44.5	22.9	70.5
1997	1064	48.9	21.8	82
1998	1067	53.1	20.1	77.2
1999	1094	54.8	20.0	83.3
2000	1174	57.0	20.6	83.5
2001	1116	56.0	19.9	82.4
2002	1092	56.8	19.2	76.6
2003	1092	56.8	19.2	76.6
2004	1084	58.9	18.4	86.1
2005	1089	56.6	19.2	78
2006	1060	54.6	19.4	88
2007	1033	54.4	19.0	88.6
2008	982	58.6	16.8	92
2009	1031	51.8	18.8	91.4
2010	1055	53.4	19.7	84.4
2011	1060	n/a	n/a	91.4
2012	1078	43.9	24.5	n/a
2013	1033	42.0	24.5	99.7
2014	1062	48.0	22.1	73.6
2015	1027	51.0	20.1	86.6
2016	1005	47.0	21.3	91.4
2017	947	36.1	26.2	88.1
2018	912	34.4	26.5	89.4
2019	900	34.2	26.3	91
2020	876	n/a	n/a	84.7
2021	881	35.0	25.1	75.6
2022	836	34.0	24.5	85.9
2023	793	31.0	25.5	63.6
2024	857	34.0	25.2	80.3

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 Prairie Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	1074	40.0	26.8	n/a
1989	1081	41.8	25.8	n/a
1990	876	37.0	23.6	n/a
1991	948	37.0	25.6	n/a
1992	1013	37.6	26.9	38.7
1993	1001	38.3	26.1	40.3
1994	999	41.5	24.1	57.2
1995	1017	44.5	22.9	70.5
1996	1017	44.5	22.9	70.5
1997	1064	48.9	21.8	82
1998	1067	53.1	20.1	77.2
1999	1094	54.8	20.0	83.3
2000	1174	57.0	20.6	83.5
2001	1116	56.0	19.9	82.4
2002	1092	56.8	19.2	76.6
2003	1092	56.8	19.2	76.6
2004	1084	58.9	18.4	86.1
2005	1089	56.6	19.2	78
2006	1060	54.6	19.4	88
2007	1033	54.4	19.0	88.6
2008	982	58.6	16.8	92
2009	1031	51.8	18.8	91.4
2010	1055	53.4	19.7	84.4
2011	1060	n/a	n/a	91.4
2012	1078	43.9	24.5	n/a
2013	1033	42.0	24.5	99.7
2014	1062	48.0	22.1	73.6
2015	1027	51.0	20.1	86.6
2016	1005	47.0	21.3	91.4
2017	947	36.1	26.2	88.1
2018	912	34.4	26.5	89.4
2019	900	34.2	26.3	91
2020	876	n/a	n/a	84.7
2021	881	35.0	25.1	75.6
2022	836	34.0	24.5	85.9
2023	793	31.0	25.5	63.6
2024	857	34.0	25.2	80.3

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.

Kindergarten Immunization Rates