Palmer Way

Summary:

Palmer Way is an elementary school located in National City, California, serving 409 students in grades K-6. It is part of the National Elementary School District, which has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Palmer Way faces several challenges, including high chronic absenteeism, which has risen from 14.5% in 2018-2019 to 34.7% in 2022-2023, notably higher than the district and state averages. The school's test scores are generally below the district and state averages across all grade levels and subjects, with proficiency rates in English Language Arts and Mathematics around 10-20 percentage points lower than the state averages. Additionally, 75.31% of Palmer Way's students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a high percentage of students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds. While the school's student-teacher ratio has fluctuated between 22.7 and 25.3, it is slightly higher than the district average.

When compared to other schools in the National Elementary School District, Palmer Way generally performs better than Lincoln Acres and Las Palmas, which have lower test scores and higher chronic absenteeism rates. However, Ira Harbison, located just 0.47 miles away, outperforms Palmer Way across several metrics, including test scores and chronic absenteeism. Comparing Palmer Way to schools in the neighboring San Diego Unified School District, such as Paradise Hills Elementary and Perry Elementary, reveals a significant gap in performance, with these schools having substantially higher test scores and lower chronic absenteeism rates despite serving similar demographics. One bright spot for Palmer Way is its performance with English Language Learner (ELL) students, as the school's ELL students rank in the top 20% of California elementary schools.


Detail:

Public K-6

 2900 Palmer St.
       National City, CA  91950-5251


(619) 336-8900

District: National Elementary

SchoolDigger Rank:
3053rd of 5,862 California Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures:  $5,244 Help


Students who attend Palmer Way usually attend:

Middle:    Granger Junior High
High:    Sweetwater High

Student/teacher ratio:  24.4 Help
Number of students:  415

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
68.0%
Asian:
22.7%
Two or more races:
6.7%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  75.4% Help


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Performance Trends
Help
Compare Details Palmer Way ranks worse than 52.1% of elementary schools in California. It also ranks first among 10 ranked elementary schools in the National Elementary School District! (See more...)
Help
Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 42.15. (See more...)
Help
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
Help
Compare Details Racial makeup is: Hispanic (68%), Asian (22.7%), two or more races (6.7%). (See more...)
Help
Compare Details 75.4% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)
Teachers
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Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Palmer Way is 24.4. 8 elementary schools in the National Elementary School District have better student/teacher ratios. (See more...)
Help
Compare Palmer Way employs 17 full-time teachers.
Finance
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Compare Details The average total spent per student at Palmer Way is $5,244. 5 elementary schools in the National Elementary School District spend more per student.
Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Palmer Way:

SchoolDigger ranks Palmer Way 3053rd of 5862 California public elementary schools. (See Palmer Way 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:


National Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks National Elementary 1139th of 1568 California school districts. (See district ranking list.)


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Rank History for Palmer Way

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Rank History for all students at Palmer Way

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2004 50.84 2112th 4809 56.1%
2005 50.21 2186th 4822 54.7%
2006 57.24 1862nd 4818 61.4%
2007 52.96 2160th 5113 57.8%
2008 54.38 2142nd 5113 58.1%
2009 51.82 2374th 5193 54.3%
2010 37.32 3330th 5314 37.3%
2011 48.50 2691st 5377 50.0%
2012 68.08 1627th 5390 69.8%
2013 66.11 1768th 5530 68.0%
2015 54.56 2214th 5611 60.5%
2016 51.24 2432nd 5614 56.7%
2017 55.95 2223rd 5692 60.9%
2018 58.89 2083rd 5662 63.2%
2019 50.87 2551st 5789 55.9%
2022 39.74 3112th 5883 47.1%
2023 41.37 3049th 5874 48.1%
2024 42.15 3053rd 5862 47.9%
See the entire list of California Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Palmer Way

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 79.03 358th 3246 89.0%
2019 52.98 1090th 3275 66.7%
2022 38.78 1889th 3311 42.9%
2023 57.48 879th 3250 73.0%
2024 62.26 641st 3160 79.7%
See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Palmer Way

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 70.58 1151st 5084 77.4%
2019 63.27 1551st 5173 70.0%
2022 48.62 2355th 5264 55.3%
2023 53.77 2111th 5374 60.7%
2024 51.37 2299th 5511 58.3%
See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Palmer Way

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 48.12 2590th 5413 52.2%
2019 44.83 2815th 5492 48.7%
2022 35.02 3324th 5635 41.0%
2023 31.79 3597th 5617 36.0%
2024 41.19 2966th 5605 47.1%
See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Male students at Palmer Way

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 66.63 1633rd 5431 69.9%
2019 54.45 2226th 5510 59.6%
2022 45.23 2695th 5663 52.4%
2023 50.67 2417th 5650 57.2%
2024 42.79 2892nd 5636 48.7%
See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Palmer Way

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 60.03 1627th 4830 66.3%
2019 48.42 2393rd 4963 51.8%
2022 28.43 3845th 5084 24.4%
2023 30.73 3651st 5098 28.4%
2024 38.21 3097th 5102 39.3%
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.

Palmer Way Test Scores
Tests: 
  
Grades: 
  
Years: 
  
Group by: 
District Scores:
State Scores:    
  
Subgroup: 







Data source: California Department of Education

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Enrollment information for Palmer Way

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Compare
Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
1988 100 101 173 304 7 n/a n/a 0 685
1989 86 105 178 310 5 n/a n/a 0 684
1990 65 104 176 321 3 n/a n/a 0 669
1991 69 104 174 349 5 n/a n/a 0 701
1992 61 104 186 344 3 n/a n/a 0 698
1993 58 83 168 377 5 n/a n/a 0 691
1994 55 81 149 351 6 n/a n/a 0 642
1995 54 67 147 394 7 n/a n/a 0 669
1996 54 67 147 394 7 n/a n/a 0 669
1997 44 72 139 382 9 n/a n/a 0 646
1998 40 70 156 407 5 n/a n/a 0 678
1999 31 82 172 394 4 n/a n/a 0 683
2000 32 66 180 392 6 n/a n/a 0 676
2001 36 52 179 388 8 n/a n/a 0 663
2002 21 46 180 421 7 n/a n/a 0 675
2003 21 46 180 421 7 n/a n/a 0 675
2004 21 37 179 428 5 n/a n/a 0 670
2005 21 28 152 426 7 n/a n/a 0 634
2006 21 29 154 388 4 n/a n/a 0 596
2007 18 27 168 392 2 n/a n/a 0 607
2008 18 32 166 401 2 n/a n/a 0 619
2009 14 26 150 376 1 4 0 0 571
2010 8 3 10 409 0 0 185 0 615
2011 14 20 72 406 0 12 86 0 610
2012 22 21 129 389 0 12 12 0 585
2013 22 19 128 395 0 8 17 0 589
2014 16 21 135 408 0 10 24 0 614
2015 14 19 145 390 0 5 17 0 590
2016 11 15 132 405 0 6 21 0 590
2017 13 13 118 404 0 5 21 0 574
2018 10 9 114 393 0 5 23 0 554
2019 13 6 111 367 0 3 22 0 522
2020 15 9 106 363 0 3 20 0 516
2021 17 8 109 339 0 3 18 0 494
2022 17 10 103 302 0 4 21 0 457
2023 11 7 99 272 0 0 20 0 409
2024 3 8 94 282 0 0 28 0 415

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 Palmer Way

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 685 28.0 24.4 n/a
1989 684 28.0 24.4 n/a
1990 669 29.0 23.0 n/a
1991 701 27.0 25.9 n/a
1992 698 27.4 25.4 n/a
1993 691 27.0 25.6 94.9
1994 642 23.0 27.9 94.9
1995 669 25.0 26.8 94.9
1996 669 25.0 26.8 94.9
1997 646 28.0 23.1 94.9
1998 678 28.0 24.2 95
1999 683 30.5 22.4 94.9
2000 676 32.0 21.1 99.6
2001 663 33.1 20.0 99.5
2002 675 31.0 21.8 99.6
2003 675 31.0 21.8 99.6
2004 670 31.0 21.6 99.6
2005 634 29.0 21.9 99.5
2006 596 28.0 21.3 87.2
2007 607 31.0 19.6 86.5
2008 619 37.0 16.7 85.3
2009 571 30.0 15.4 99.5
2010 615 27.0 22.7 71.2
2011 610 n/a n/a 73.3
2012 585 27.0 21.6 n/a
2013 589 27.5 21.4 n/a
2014 614 24.5 25.0 72.3
2015 590 24.0 24.5 70.3
2016 590 24.0 24.5 71.9
2017 574 23.0 24.9 74.9
2018 554 23.0 24.0 78.3
2019 522 22.0 23.7 74.9
2020 516 n/a n/a 79.1
2021 494 20.0 24.7 67.4
2022 457 18.0 25.3 74.8
2023 409 18.0 22.7 75.3
2024 415 17.0 24.4 75.4

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 Palmer Way

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 685 28.0 24.4 n/a
1989 684 28.0 24.4 n/a
1990 669 29.0 23.0 n/a
1991 701 27.0 25.9 n/a
1992 698 27.4 25.4 n/a
1993 691 27.0 25.6 94.9
1994 642 23.0 27.9 94.9
1995 669 25.0 26.8 94.9
1996 669 25.0 26.8 94.9
1997 646 28.0 23.1 94.9
1998 678 28.0 24.2 95
1999 683 30.5 22.4 94.9
2000 676 32.0 21.1 99.6
2001 663 33.1 20.0 99.5
2002 675 31.0 21.8 99.6
2003 675 31.0 21.8 99.6
2004 670 31.0 21.6 99.6
2005 634 29.0 21.9 99.5
2006 596 28.0 21.3 87.2
2007 607 31.0 19.6 86.5
2008 619 37.0 16.7 85.3
2009 571 30.0 15.4 99.5
2010 615 27.0 22.7 71.2
2011 610 n/a n/a 73.3
2012 585 27.0 21.6 n/a
2013 589 27.5 21.4 n/a
2014 614 24.5 25.0 72.3
2015 590 24.0 24.5 70.3
2016 590 24.0 24.5 71.9
2017 574 23.0 24.9 74.9
2018 554 23.0 24.0 78.3
2019 522 22.0 23.7 74.9
2020 516 n/a n/a 79.1
2021 494 20.0 24.7 67.4
2022 457 18.0 25.3 74.8
2023 409 18.0 22.7 75.3
2024 415 17.0 24.4 75.4

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.

Kindergarten Immunization Rates

Palmer Way

Help
Compare
YearCompletely ImmunizedReligious ExemptionMedical ExemptionConditionalPolioHepatitis BVaricellaDTPMMR
201298.0%0.0%0.0%2.0%98.0%98.0%98.0%98.0%98.0%
2013100.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%
201487.0%0.0%0.0%13.0%87.0%93.0%93.0%87.0%88.0%
2015100.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%
201699.0%0.0%0.0%1.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%99.0%
2017≥98.0%≤2.0%≤2.0%≤2.0%≥98.0%≥98.0%≥98.0%≥98.0%≥98.0%
2018≥98.0%≤2.0%≤2.0%≤2.0%≥98.0%≥98.0%≥98.0%≥98.0%≥98.0%
2019≥98.0%≤2.0%≤2.0%≥98.0%≥98.0%≥98.0%≥98.0%≥98.0%
202294.8%0.0%5.2%96.6%

Data source: California Department of Public Health
Finances

Per Pupil Expenditures for Palmer Way

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YearTotal Expenditures Per Pupil
2018 $5,244

Data source: California Department of Education
Pre and Post Pandemic Data

Impact of COVID-19 on Palmer Way

The coronavirus has had a profound impact on education in America. Learning shifted online overnight, attendance numbers dwindled, and enrollment decreased. SchoolDigger.com is making it easier for you to better assess how COVID-19 has impacted your school. Through the collection of pre-pandemic (2019) and current data, SchoolDigger.com is sharing test scores, enrollment numbers and school demographics from schools across the country – and we make it easy to see how impacted schools compare locally and statewide.

Rankings

Rank
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Rank
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Ranks 2551st of 5789 Elementary schoolsRanks 3049th of 5874 Elementary schools
 7.8%

Test Scores

% proficient
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
% proficient
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
3rd Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Palmer Way)55.728
 27.7%
   3rd Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (National Elementary)41.128.8
 12.3%
   3rd Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (California)48.543
 5.6%
3rd Grade Mathematics (Palmer Way)6230
 32%
   3rd Grade Mathematics (National Elementary)43.232.5
 10.7%
   3rd Grade Mathematics (California)50.245.1
 5.1%
4th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Palmer Way)61.454.2
 7.2%
   4th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (National Elementary)42.726.8
 15.9%
   4th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (California)49.543.7
 5.7%
4th Grade Mathematics (Palmer Way)47.442.4
 5%
   4th Grade Mathematics (National Elementary)35.224.3
 11%
   4th Grade Mathematics (California)44.940.8
 4.1%
5th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Palmer Way)37.836.2
 1.7%
   5th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (National Elementary)39.832.4
 7.4%
   5th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (California)51.746.7
 5%
5th Grade Mathematics (Palmer Way)15.829.8
 14%
   5th Grade Mathematics (National Elementary)2020.5
 0.4%
   5th Grade Mathematics (California)3833.4
 4.6%
5th Grade Science (Palmer Way)13.223.4
 10.2%
   5th Grade Science (National Elementary)19.218.4
 0.7%
   5th Grade Science (California)31.731.9
 0.1%
6th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Palmer Way)63.535.2
 28.3%
   6th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (National Elementary)46.135.3
 10.9%
   6th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (California)48.544.2
 4.3%
6th Grade Mathematics (Palmer Way)33.326.4
 6.9%
   6th Grade Mathematics (National Elementary)29.424.8
 4.6%
   6th Grade Mathematics (California)38.533.2
 5.3%

Student Body

Number of students
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Number of students
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Total Students522409
 21.6%
African American67
 16.7%
American Indian00
Asian11199
 10.8%
Hispanic367272
 25.9%
Pacific Islander30
 100%
White1311
 15.4%
Two or More Races2220
 9.1%
% Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients74.9%75.3%
 0.4%


Schools Near Palmer Way









Frequently Asked Questions about Palmer Way

Students who attend Palmer Way usually go on to attend:

Middle : Granger Junior High
High : Sweetwater High

In the 2023-24 school year, 415 students attended Palmer Way.

Palmer Way ranks 3053rd of 5862 California elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.

Students at Palmer Way are 68% Hispanic, 23% Asian, 7% Two or more races, 2% African American.


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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.





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