Is Friendly Hills Elementary a good school?

Friendly Hills Elementary ranks 1782 nd of 5862 California elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 3 stars out of 5.

How many students attend Friendly Hills Elementary?

In the 2023-24 school year, 262 students attended Friendly Hills Elementary.

What is the racial makeup of Friendly Hills Elementary?

Students at Friendly Hills Elementary are 53% White, 37% Hispanic, 5% Two or more races, 2% Pacific Islander, 1% African American, 1% Asian.

What schools do graduates of Friendly Hills Elementary attend?

Students who attend Friendly Hills Elementary usually go on to attend: Middle : La Contenta Middle High : Yucca Valley High

Friendly Hills Elementary

Summary:

Friendly Hills Elementary is a public elementary school located in Joshua Tree, California, serving grades K-6 with a total enrollment of 267 students. The school is part of the Morongo Unified School District, which is ranked 1036 out of 1568 districts in California and has a 2-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Friendly Hills Elementary consistently outperforms the Morongo Unified School District and the state of California in standardized test scores across various grade levels and subjects. In the 2023-2024 school year, 56.34% of Friendly Hills Elementary students were proficient or better in English Language Arts/Literacy, compared to 35.78% for the district and 47.04% for California. In mathematics, 44.37% of Friendly Hills Elementary students were proficient or better, compared to 21.77% for the district and 35.54% for California. The school's performance in science, as measured by the CAST assessment, is also higher than the district and state averages. Friendly Hills Elementary has a strong performance across different student subgroups, including female students, male students, Hispanic students, and students from low socioeconomic backgrounds.

While Friendly Hills Elementary's chronic absenteeism rate is higher than the state average, it is still lower than some of the nearby schools in the Morongo Unified School District, such as Morongo Valley Elementary, Landers Elementary, and Yucca Valley Elementary. The nearby schools in the Palm Springs Unified School District, such as Bubbling Wells Elementary, Julius Corsini Elementary, Bella Vista Elementary, and Cabot Yerxa Elementary, have lower academic performance compared to Friendly Hills Elementary.

Detail:

Public K-6

7252 Sunny Vista Rd.
Joshua Tree, CA 92252-2741

(760) 366-3812

District: Morongo Unified

SchoolDigger Rank:
1782^nd of 5,862 California Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $7,703

Students who attend Friendly Hills Elementary usually attend:

Middle:	La Contenta Middle
High:	Yucca Valley High

Student/teacher ratio: 22.0

Number of students: 262

Racial breakdown:

White:

53.4%

Hispanic:

37.4%

Two or more races:

5.3%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 66%

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Performance Trends

Compare Details Friendly Hills Elementary ranks better than 69.6% of elementary schools in California. It also ranks first among 11 ranked elementary schools in the Morongo Unified School District! (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 65.7. (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: White (53.4%), Hispanic (37.4%), two or more races (5.3%). (See more...)

Compare Details 66% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Compare Details (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Friendly Hills Elementary is 22, which is the 5^th best among 11 elementary schools in the Morongo Unified School District. (See more...)

Compare Friendly Hills Elementary employs 11.8 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Friendly Hills Elementary is $7,703, which is the 4^th highest among 11 elementary schools in the Morongo Unified School District.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Friendly Hills Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks Friendly Hills Elementary 1782^nd of 5862 California public elementary schools. (See Friendly Hills Elementary in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Male students:

Hispanic students:

White students:

Morongo Unified:

SchoolDigger ranks Morongo Unified 1036^th of 1568 California school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Rank History for Friendly Hills Elementary

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Rank History for all students at Friendly Hills Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2004	47.89	2265^th	4809	52.9%
2005	58.76	1809^th	4822	62.5%
2006	48.18	2265^th	4818	53.0%
2007	39.41	2939^th	5113	42.5%
2008	36.32	3180^th	5113	37.8%
2009	59.72	1931^st	5193	62.8%
2010	72.07	1365^th	5314	74.3%
2011	60.63	1985^th	5377	63.1%
2012	63.74	1847^th	5390	65.7%
2013	75.54	1291^st	5530	76.7%
2015	71.14	1452^nd	5611	74.1%
2016	53.89	2300^th	5614	59.0%
2017	49.10	2598^th	5692	54.4%
2018	40.52	3117^th	5662	44.9%
2019	39.45	3226^th	5789	44.3%
2022	53.68	2363^rd	5883	59.8%
2023	49.65	2552^nd	5874	56.6%
2024	65.70	1782^nd	5862	69.6%

See the entire list of California Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Friendly Hills Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	38.83	3111^th	5084	38.8%
2019	48.55	2502^nd	5173	51.6%
2022	56.67	1886^th	5264	64.2%
2023	53.87	2108^th	5374	60.8%
2024	61.23	1713^th	5511	68.9%

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

Rank History for Female students at Friendly Hills Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	40.61	3048^th	5413	43.7%
2019	42.41	2954^th	5492	46.2%
2022	52.24	2305^th	5635	59.1%
2023	42.91	2819^th	5617	49.8%
2024	58.43	2018^th	5605	64.0%

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

Rank History for Disabled students at Friendly Hills Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2019	29.39	1832^nd	2585	29.1%

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

Rank History for Male students at Friendly Hills Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	41.14	2969^th	5431	45.3%
2019	37.71	3216^th	5510	41.6%
2022	55.56	2161^st	5663	61.8%
2023	56.65	2102^nd	5650	62.8%
2024	70.74	1467^th	5636	74.0%

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

Rank History for Hispanic students at Friendly Hills Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	46.66	2423^rd	4830	49.8%
2019	51.50	2191^st	4963	55.9%
2023	61.56	1576^th	5098	69.1%
2024	52.71	2084^th	5102	59.2%

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

Rank History for White students at Friendly Hills Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	20.16	2317^th	2737	15.3%
2019	19.25	2402^nd	2834	15.2%
2022	31.03	1985^th	2726	27.2%
2023	24.56	2110^th	2662	20.7%
2024	55.45	1251^st	2647	52.7%

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 Friendly Hills Elementary

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	316	3	5	16	0	n/a	n/a	0	340
1989	483	6	12	36	7	n/a	n/a	0	544
1990	515	7	13	58	15	n/a	n/a	0	608
1991	486	7	11	61	2	n/a	n/a	0	567
1992	511	3	8	71	1	n/a	n/a	0	594
1993	492	4	9	63	11	n/a	n/a	0	579
1994	505	11	13	71	12	n/a	n/a	0	612
1995	385	10	8	55	1	n/a	n/a	0	459
1996	385	10	8	55	1	n/a	n/a	0	459
1997	374	11	9	59	3	n/a	n/a	0	456
1998	356	6	7	48	7	n/a	n/a	0	424
1999	349	7	11	63	4	n/a	n/a	0	434
2000	355	4	8	54	4	n/a	n/a	1	426
2001	339	4	9	54	9	n/a	n/a	0	415
2002	366	12	8	51	8	n/a	n/a	0	445
2003	366	12	8	51	8	n/a	n/a	0	445
2004	385	8	8	47	9	n/a	n/a	6	463
2005	356	7	10	55	10	n/a	n/a	9	447
2006	375	9	13	57	9	n/a	n/a	21	484
2007	338	14	14	72	5	n/a	n/a	24	467
2008	343	15	13	71	2	n/a	n/a	0	444
2009	339	11	7	79	2	2	38	0	478
2010	310	20	7	74	2	5	12	0	430
2011	315	15	2	79	1	3	19	0	434
2012	289	16	0	76	0	2	22	0	405
2013	275	9	1	76	0	1	23	0	385
2014	279	14	4	105	0	1	24	0	427
2015	256	17	2	101	0	3	23	0	402
2016	254	17	5	104	1	3	21	0	405
2017	255	22	6	107	0	1	16	0	407
2018	246	22	4	102	6	2	11	0	393
2019	218	18	5	97	4	2	4	0	348
2020	218	19	8	98	3	3	4	0	353
2021	183	17	4	101	2	3	1	0	311
2022	156	8	4	90	1	3	5	0	267
2023	155	10	3	86	2	6	5	0	267
2024	140	3	3	98	0	4	14	0	262

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 Friendly Hills Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	340	14.0	24.2	n/a
1989	544	21.0	25.9	n/a
1990	608	24.0	25.3	n/a
1991	567	22.0	25.7	n/a
1992	594	22.4	26.5	28.1
1993	579	24.0	24.1	34.2
1994	612	24.0	25.5	35.3
1995	459	22.0	20.9	41.2
1996	459	22.0	20.9	41.2
1997	456	22.0	20.7	41.9
1998	424	23.0	18.4	41.5
1999	434	23.0	18.9	42.9
2000	426	23.0	18.5	40.5
2001	415	25.0	16.6	39.3
2002	445	24.0	18.5	26.7
2003	445	24.0	18.5	26.7
2004	463	21.0	22.0	24.9
2005	447	22.0	20.3	53.9
2006	484	22.0	22.0	53.8
2007	467	20.0	23.4	56.2
2008	444	25.0	17.8	58.1
2009	478	28.0	16.5	52.5
2010	430	22.0	19.5	57.7
2011	434	n/a	n/a	56.2
2012	405	20.1	20.0	n/a
2013	385	18.6	20.6	66.2
2014	427	18.8	22.7	62.8
2015	402	20.0	20.1	55
2016	405	18.0	22.5	54.6
2017	407	18.6	21.8	52.3
2018	393	16.4	23.8	59
2019	348	17.1	20.2	67.8
2020	353	n/a	n/a	62.6
2021	311	15.6	19.8	64.3
2022	267	14.0	19.0	55.1
2023	267	11.8	22.6	56.9
2024	262	11.8	22.0	66

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 Friendly Hills Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	340	14.0	24.2	n/a
1989	544	21.0	25.9	n/a
1990	608	24.0	25.3	n/a
1991	567	22.0	25.7	n/a
1992	594	22.4	26.5	28.1
1993	579	24.0	24.1	34.2
1994	612	24.0	25.5	35.3
1995	459	22.0	20.9	41.2
1996	459	22.0	20.9	41.2
1997	456	22.0	20.7	41.9
1998	424	23.0	18.4	41.5
1999	434	23.0	18.9	42.9
2000	426	23.0	18.5	40.5
2001	415	25.0	16.6	39.3
2002	445	24.0	18.5	26.7
2003	445	24.0	18.5	26.7
2004	463	21.0	22.0	24.9
2005	447	22.0	20.3	53.9
2006	484	22.0	22.0	53.8
2007	467	20.0	23.4	56.2
2008	444	25.0	17.8	58.1
2009	478	28.0	16.5	52.5
2010	430	22.0	19.5	57.7
2011	434	n/a	n/a	56.2
2012	405	20.1	20.0	n/a
2013	385	18.6	20.6	66.2
2014	427	18.8	22.7	62.8
2015	402	20.0	20.1	55
2016	405	18.0	22.5	54.6
2017	407	18.6	21.8	52.3
2018	393	16.4	23.8	59
2019	348	17.1	20.2	67.8
2020	353	n/a	n/a	62.6
2021	311	15.6	19.8	64.3
2022	267	14.0	19.0	55.1
2023	267	11.8	22.6	56.9
2024	262	11.8	22.0	66

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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