Is Monte Vista Elementary a good school?

Monte Vista Elementary ranks in the bottom 5.5% of California elementary schools.

How many students attend Monte Vista Elementary?

In the 2023-24 school year, 792 students attended Monte Vista Elementary.

What is the racial makeup of Monte Vista Elementary?

Students at Monte Vista Elementary are 37% White, 28% African American, 20% Hispanic, 9% Two or more races, 3% Asian, 2% American Indian, 1% Pacific Islander.

What schools do graduates of Monte Vista Elementary attend?

Students who attend Monte Vista Elementary usually go on to attend: Middle : Amargosa Creek Middle High : Lancaster High

Monte Vista Elementary

Summary:

Monte Vista Elementary is a public elementary school in Lancaster, California, serving 819 students in grades K-5. The school is part of the Lancaster Elementary District, which is ranked 1436 out of 1568 districts in the state and has a 0-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Monte Vista Elementary faces significant challenges, including high chronic absenteeism rates that have risen from 10.6% in 2018-2019 to 49.1% in 2022-2023, well above nearby schools like El Dorado Elementary (53.9%) and Sunnydale Elementary (46.2%). Academically, the school's performance on Smarter Balanced Assessments and CAST Science tests is consistently lower than the district and state averages, with only 18.45% of students proficient or better in English Language Arts/Literacy and 12.38% in Mathematics, compared to 22.8% and 13.7% in the district, and 47.04% and 35.54% statewide.

Monte Vista Elementary's student subgroups, such as African American, Hispanic, and English Language Learner students, also struggle, ranking in the bottom 10-20% of their respective statewide subgroups. Additionally, the school has a very high percentage of students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds, with 90.72% qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, significantly higher than the state average and nearby schools. These challenges suggest the need for targeted interventions and support to address the school's chronic absenteeism, academic performance, and equity issues, which are critical to improving educational opportunities and outcomes for its students.

Detail:

Public K-5

1235 West Kettering St.
Lancaster, CA 93534-2226

(661) 942-1477

District: Lancaster Elementary

SchoolDigger Rank:
5537^th of 5,862 California Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $8,372

Students who attend Monte Vista Elementary usually attend:

Middle:	Amargosa Creek Middle
High:	Lancaster High

Student/teacher ratio: 25.5

Number of students: 792

Racial breakdown:

White:

36.7%

African American:

27.7%

Hispanic:

19.9%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 88.5%

See top rated California elementary schools

Compare Monte Vista Elementary to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Monte Vista Elementary ranks worse than 94.5% of elementary schools in California. It also ranks 12^th among 15 ranked elementary schools in the Lancaster Elementary School District. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 12.19. (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 Monte Vista Elementary has the largest elementary school student body size in the Lancaster Elementary School District. Student population at Monte Vista Elementary is diverse. Racial makeup is: White (36.7%), African American (27.7%), Hispanic (19.9%). (See more...)

Compare Details 88.5% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Compare Details (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Monte Vista Elementary is 25.5, which is the 4^th best among 15 elementary schools in the Lancaster Elementary School District. (See more...)

Compare Monte Vista Elementary employs 31 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Monte Vista Elementary is $8,372. 13 elementary schools in the Lancaster Elementary School District spend more per student.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Monte Vista Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks Monte Vista Elementary 5537^th of 5862 California public elementary schools. (See Monte Vista Elementary in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

Multi-racial students:

English Language Learner students:

Special Education students:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Homeless students:

Female students:

Male students:

African American students:

Hispanic students:

White students:

Lancaster Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks Lancaster Elementary 1436^th of 1568 California school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Your rating for Monte Vista Elementary?

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Rank History for Monte Vista Elementary

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Rank History for all students at Monte Vista Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2004	31.88	3141^st	4809	34.7%
2005	23.45	3731^st	4822	22.6%
2006	23.23	3784^th	4818	21.5%
2007	20.77	4232^nd	5113	17.2%
2008	15.45	4632^nd	5113	9.4%
2009	12.28	4892^nd	5193	5.8%
2010	24.49	4261^st	5314	19.8%
2011	28.60	4084^th	5377	24.0%
2012	23.10	4447^th	5390	17.5%
2013	21.33	4636^th	5530	16.2%
2015	21.85	4440^th	5611	20.9%
2016	25.00	4176^th	5614	25.6%
2017	18.86	4800^th	5692	15.7%
2018	28.06	3990^th	5662	29.5%
2019	24.46	4411^th	5789	23.8%
2022	14.28	5424^th	5883	7.8%
2023	13.02	5486^th	5874	6.6%
2024	12.19	5537^th	5862	5.5%

See the entire list of California Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at Monte Vista Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2024	1.11	664^th	669	0.7%

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

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Monte Vista Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	28.48	2489^th	3246	23.3%
2022	37.61	1995^th	3311	39.7%
2023	40.65	1759^th	3250	45.9%
2024	24.50	2866^th	3160	9.3%

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

Rank History for Special Education students at Monte Vista Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2024	31.88	1709^th	2634	35.1%

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

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Monte Vista Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	37.10	3234^th	5084	36.4%
2019	32.71	3666^th	5173	29.1%
2022	15.68	4929^th	5264	6.4%
2023	14.53	5082^nd	5374	5.4%
2024	13.11	5260^th	5511	4.6%

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

Rank History for Homeless students at Monte Vista Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2024	17.20	339^th	364	6.9%

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

Rank History for Female students at Monte Vista Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	27.82	3937^th	5413	27.3%
2019	28.27	3959^th	5492	27.9%
2022	15.68	5129^th	5635	9.0%
2023	14.34	5206^th	5617	7.3%
2024	12.02	5353^rd	5605	4.5%

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

Rank History for Disabled students at Monte Vista Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	34.98	1219^th	2128	42.7%
2019	36.00	1482^nd	2585	42.7%
2022	36.07	1233^rd	2227	44.6%

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

Rank History for Male students at Monte Vista Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	28.67	3795^th	5431	30.1%
2019	21.36	4530^th	5510	17.8%
2022	14.41	5264^th	5663	7.0%
2023	13.01	5319^th	5650	5.9%
2024	13.61	5270^th	5636	6.5%

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

Rank History for African American students at Monte Vista Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	43.15	358^th	700	48.9%
2019	39.19	431^st	747	42.3%
2022	23.44	571^st	663	13.9%
2023	31.80	440^th	662	33.5%
2024	21.93	512^th	593	13.7%

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

Rank History for Hispanic students at Monte Vista Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	44.88	2557^th	4830	47.1%
2019	45.32	2586^th	4963	47.9%
2022	19.45	4549^th	5084	10.5%
2023	18.33	4592^nd	5098	9.9%
2024	14.60	4781^st	5102	6.3%

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

Rank History for White students at Monte Vista Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	24.89	2210^th	2737	19.3%
2019	12.33	2570^th	2834	9.3%
2022	13.65	2425^th	2726	11.0%
2023	4.30	2604^th	2662	2.2%
2024	4.94	2573^rd	2647	2.8%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for White 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 Monte Vista Elementary

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	789	54	42	93	6	n/a	n/a	0	984
1989	851	49	33	123	9	n/a	n/a	0	1065
1990	790	45	23	89	3	n/a	n/a	0	950
1991	727	43	22	92	13	n/a	n/a	0	897
1992	788	48	17	122	6	n/a	n/a	0	981
1993	781	96	24	137	6	n/a	n/a	0	1044
1994	740	108	19	150	8	n/a	n/a	0	1025
1995	724	121	24	190	4	n/a	n/a	0	1063
1996	724	121	24	190	4	n/a	n/a	0	1063
1997	697	138	20	214	5	n/a	n/a	0	1074
1998	658	122	22	216	3	n/a	n/a	0	1021
1999	590	112	26	241	3	n/a	n/a	0	972
2000	520	166	22	248	3	n/a	n/a	0	959
2001	481	189	30	266	7	n/a	n/a	0	973
2002	364	153	33	272	1	n/a	n/a	0	823
2003	364	153	33	272	1	n/a	n/a	0	823
2004	344	187	43	282	4	n/a	n/a	0	860
2005	304	218	37	300	3	n/a	n/a	0	862
2006	285	198	23	361	7	n/a	n/a	0	874
2007	246	220	19	375	6	n/a	n/a	1	867
2008	218	218	13	408	3	n/a	n/a	0	860
2009	207	241	25	368	4	2	4	0	851
2010	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2011	161	183	39	353	2	6	4	0	748
2012	178	208	35	334	6	5	23	0	789
2013	161	207	44	386	2	4	29	0	833
2014	161	219	31	369	4	0	26	0	810
2015	166	248	26	412	2	0	39	0	893
2016	127	209	20	361	2	0	31	0	750
2017	123	221	19	382	0	0	27	0	772
2018	122	249	16	349	1	2	38	0	777
2019	122	225	20	359	3	1	34	0	764
2020	115	239	19	355	5	0	38	0	771
2021	105	202	14	368	6	1	38	0	734
2022	79	163	10	409	4	1	44	0	710
2023	66	217	13	463	4	1	55	0	819
2024	291	219	24	158	17	8	75	0	792

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 Monte Vista Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	984	34.0	28.9	n/a
1989	1065	38.0	28.0	n/a
1990	950	34.0	27.9	n/a
1991	897	31.0	28.9	n/a
1992	981	31.5	31.1	30.2
1993	1044	36.0	29.0	31.5
1994	1025	38.0	27.0	35.3
1995	1063	34.5	30.8	41.3
1996	1063	34.5	30.8	41.3
1997	1074	38.5	27.9	42.2
1998	1021	45.5	22.4	43.7
1999	972	46.0	21.1	39.1
2000	959	45.0	21.3	44.7
2001	973	43.0	22.6	62.1
2002	823	40.0	20.6	49.3
2003	823	40.0	20.6	49.3
2004	860	40.0	21.5	52.6
2005	862	41.5	20.8	58.8
2006	874	37.0	23.6	52.6
2007	867	42.0	20.6	55.4
2008	860	44.0	19.5	55.9
2009	851	37.0	22.4	67.1
2010	0	23.0	0.0	n/a
2011	748	n/a	n/a	68.6
2012	789	23.3	33.7	n/a
2013	833	28.8	28.8	80.8
2014	810	28.8	28.0	76.2
2015	893	32.0	27.9	82.4
2016	750	30.0	25.0	80.7
2017	772	27.0	28.5	83.4
2018	777	30.0	25.9	86.7
2019	764	29.0	26.3	90.3
2020	771	n/a	n/a	89.4
2021	734	29.0	25.3	91.3
2022	710	25.1	28.2	89.4
2023	819	30.0	27.3	90.7
2024	792	31.0	25.5	88.5

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 Monte Vista Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	984	34.0	28.9	n/a
1989	1065	38.0	28.0	n/a
1990	950	34.0	27.9	n/a
1991	897	31.0	28.9	n/a
1992	981	31.5	31.1	30.2
1993	1044	36.0	29.0	31.5
1994	1025	38.0	27.0	35.3
1995	1063	34.5	30.8	41.3
1996	1063	34.5	30.8	41.3
1997	1074	38.5	27.9	42.2
1998	1021	45.5	22.4	43.7
1999	972	46.0	21.1	39.1
2000	959	45.0	21.3	44.7
2001	973	43.0	22.6	62.1
2002	823	40.0	20.6	49.3
2003	823	40.0	20.6	49.3
2004	860	40.0	21.5	52.6
2005	862	41.5	20.8	58.8
2006	874	37.0	23.6	52.6
2007	867	42.0	20.6	55.4
2008	860	44.0	19.5	55.9
2009	851	37.0	22.4	67.1
2010	0	23.0	0.0	n/a
2011	748	n/a	n/a	68.6
2012	789	23.3	33.7	n/a
2013	833	28.8	28.8	80.8
2014	810	28.8	28.0	76.2
2015	893	32.0	27.9	82.4
2016	750	30.0	25.0	80.7
2017	772	27.0	28.5	83.4
2018	777	30.0	25.9	86.7
2019	764	29.0	26.3	90.3
2020	771	n/a	n/a	89.4
2021	734	29.0	25.3	91.3
2022	710	25.1	28.2	89.4
2023	819	30.0	27.3	90.7
2024	792	31.0	25.5	88.5

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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