Is Nichols Elementary a good school?

Nichols Elementary ranks 3588 th of 5862 California elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.

How many students attend Nichols Elementary?

In the 2023-24 school year, 526 students attended Nichols Elementary.

What is the racial makeup of Nichols Elementary?

Students at Nichols Elementary are 56% Hispanic, 17% White, 12% Two or more races, 9% Asian, 5% African American, 2% Pacific Islander.

What schools do graduates of Nichols Elementary attend?

Students who attend Nichols Elementary usually go on to attend: Middle : Martin Luther King Junior Middle High : El Camino High

Nichols Elementary

Summary:

Nichols Elementary is a public elementary school located in Oceanside, California, serving 511 students in grades K-5. The school is part of the Oceanside Unified School District, which is ranked 863 out of 1,568 districts in the state and has a 2-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Nichols Elementary faces several challenges, including high chronic absenteeism rates that have risen from 10.3% in 2018-2019 to 32.6% in 2022-2023, significantly higher than the district and state averages. Academically, the school's performance on the Smarter Balanced Assessments is generally lower than the Oceanside Unified School District and the state of California, with only 33.75% of students proficient or better in English Language Arts/Literacy and 32.5% in Mathematics, compared to the district and state averages. The school's performance also varies across different student subgroups, with relatively strong results for English Language Learners and Special Education students, but struggling with White and Low Socioeconomic Status students.

While Nichols Elementary's performance is lower than nearby schools like Christa McAuliffe Elementary and Ivey Ranch Elementary, it outperforms some other nearby schools, such as Pablo Tac School of the Arts and Louise Foussat Elementary. The high rates of chronic absenteeism and free/reduced lunch eligibility at Nichols Elementary may be contributing to the school's lower academic performance, and targeted interventions and support could help address these challenges and improve student outcomes.

Detail:

Public K-5

4250 Old Grove Rd.
Oceanside, CA 92057-6539

(760) 435-7400

District: Oceanside Unified

SchoolDigger Rank:
3588^th of 5,862 California Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $12,947

Students who attend Nichols Elementary usually attend:

Middle:	Martin Luther King Junior Middle
High:	El Camino High

Student/teacher ratio: 23.3

Number of students: 526

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

56.5%

White:

16.5%

Two or more races:

12.2%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 69.6%

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Performance Trends

Compare Details Nichols Elementary ranks worse than 61.2% of elementary schools in California. It also ranks 9^th among 14 ranked elementary schools in the Oceanside Unified School District. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 34.19. (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 Student population at Nichols Elementary is diverse. Racial makeup is: Hispanic (56.5%), White (16.5%), two or more races (12.2%). (See more...)

Compare Details 69.6% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Compare Details (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Nichols Elementary is 23.3, which is the 5^th best among 14 elementary schools in the Oceanside Unified School District. (See more...)

Compare Nichols Elementary employs 22.5 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Nichols Elementary is $12,947, which is the highest among 14 elementary schools in the Oceanside Unified School District!

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Nichols Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks Nichols Elementary 3588^th of 5862 California public elementary schools. (See Nichols 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:

Hispanic students:

Oceanside Unified:

SchoolDigger ranks Oceanside Unified 863^rd of 1568 California school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Rank History for Nichols Elementary

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Rank History for all students at Nichols Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2004	65.21	1484^th	4809	69.1%
2005	61.74	1669^th	4822	65.4%
2006	55.04	1961^st	4818	59.3%
2007	47.11	2486^th	5113	51.4%
2008	40.65	2907^th	5113	43.1%
2009	41.03	2991^st	5193	42.4%
2010	33.45	3579^th	5314	32.6%
2011	35.02	3618^th	5377	32.7%
2012	46.65	2835^th	5390	47.4%
2013	47.12	2857^th	5530	48.3%
2015	55.64	2147^th	5611	61.7%
2016	42.41	2934^th	5614	47.7%
2017	37.12	3303^rd	5692	42.0%
2018	47.73	2672^nd	5662	52.8%
2019	34.45	3576^th	5789	38.2%
2022	40.44	3061^st	5883	48.0%
2023	26.96	4179^th	5874	28.9%
2024	34.19	3588^th	5862	38.8%

See the entire list of California Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Nichols Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	33.84	2137^th	3246	34.2%
2019	14.44	3272^nd	3275	0.1%
2022	46.04	1413^th	3311	57.3%
2023	28.32	2648^th	3250	18.5%
2024	50.35	1155^th	3160	63.4%

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

Rank History for Special Education students at Nichols Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	37.16	1322^nd	2420	45.4%
2024	38.20	1418^th	2634	46.2%

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

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Nichols Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	50.99	2297^th	5084	54.8%
2019	34.98	3510^th	5173	32.1%
2022	44.54	2645^th	5264	49.8%
2023	26.47	4203^rd	5374	21.8%
2024	35.98	3450^th	5511	37.4%

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

Rank History for Female students at Nichols Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	38.06	3209^th	5413	40.7%
2019	31.72	3695^th	5492	32.7%
2022	30.34	3702^nd	5635	34.3%
2023	26.54	4087^th	5617	27.2%
2024	39.43	3102^nd	5605	44.7%

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

Rank History for Disabled students at Nichols Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	38.42	1084^th	2128	49.1%
2019	47.93	1040^th	2585	59.8%
2022	22.93	1868^th	2227	16.1%

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

Rank History for Male students at Nichols Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	56.83	2075^th	5431	61.8%
2019	37.59	3224^th	5510	41.5%
2022	50.15	2439^th	5663	56.9%
2023	28.49	3924^th	5650	30.5%
2024	29.89	3818^th	5636	32.3%

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

Rank History for Hispanic students at Nichols Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	55.10	1892^nd	4830	60.8%
2019	39.19	3011^th	4963	39.3%
2022	42.78	2682^nd	5084	47.2%
2023	32.88	3478^th	5098	31.8%
2024	37.51	3153^rd	5102	38.2%

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

Rank History for White students at Nichols Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	35.11	1951^st	2737	28.7%
2019	31.23	2113^th	2834	25.4%
2022	25.46	2134^th	2726	21.7%
2023	22.30	2165^th	2662	18.7%

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 Nichols Elementary

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
2002	207	72	59	335	7	n/a	n/a	0	680
2003	207	72	59	335	7	n/a	n/a	0	680
2004	239	81	70	364	6	n/a	n/a	0	760
2005	223	79	81	361	5	n/a	n/a	6	755
2006	221	66	83	402	3	n/a	n/a	18	793
2007	205	68	86	438	4	n/a	n/a	26	827
2008	180	63	83	412	2	n/a	n/a	0	740
2009	190	59	76	403	5	16	18	0	767
2010	190	50	77	420	0	20	28	0	785
2011	196	67	78	422	0	18	13	0	794
2012	187	57	91	412	5	24	10	0	786
2013	166	44	76	419	4	21	3	0	733
2014	183	47	71	420	5	22	5	0	753
2015	169	42	58	414	5	16	18	0	722
2016	157	35	47	412	3	17	33	0	704
2017	134	33	44	415	2	15	45	0	688
2018	127	25	42	383	1	15	54	0	647
2019	114	24	45	357	1	14	61	0	616
2020	126	28	45	350	1	11	70	0	631
2021	91	25	42	334	1	7	70	0	570
2022	84	20	44	313	3	8	54	0	526
2023	80	22	44	301	1	8	55	0	511
2024	87	24	45	297	1	8	64	0	526

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 Nichols Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
2002	680	34.5	19.7	44.3
2003	680	34.5	19.7	44.3
2004	760	38.5	19.7	46.4
2005	755	38.0	19.9	45.9
2006	793	38.7	20.5	43.1
2007	827	36.0	23.0	46.8
2008	740	44.0	16.8	45.7
2009	767	39.0	17.5	48.8
2010	785	36.0	21.8	51.3
2011	794	n/a	n/a	49
2012	786	31.5	24.9	n/a
2013	733	27.9	26.2	55.9
2014	753	27.5	27.3	58.3
2015	722	29.0	24.8	58.9
2016	704	32.0	22.0	56.8
2017	688	30.9	22.2	60.6
2018	647	30.1	21.4	63.7
2019	616	27.7	22.2	62.8
2020	631	n/a	n/a	63.7
2021	570	22.4	25.4	63.5
2022	526	21.9	24.0	67.9
2023	511	19.5	26.2	73.2
2024	526	22.5	23.3	69.6

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 Nichols Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
2002	680	34.5	19.7	44.3
2003	680	34.5	19.7	44.3
2004	760	38.5	19.7	46.4
2005	755	38.0	19.9	45.9
2006	793	38.7	20.5	43.1
2007	827	36.0	23.0	46.8
2008	740	44.0	16.8	45.7
2009	767	39.0	17.5	48.8
2010	785	36.0	21.8	51.3
2011	794	n/a	n/a	49
2012	786	31.5	24.9	n/a
2013	733	27.9	26.2	55.9
2014	753	27.5	27.3	58.3
2015	722	29.0	24.8	58.9
2016	704	32.0	22.0	56.8
2017	688	30.9	22.2	60.6
2018	647	30.1	21.4	63.7
2019	616	27.7	22.2	62.8
2020	631	n/a	n/a	63.7
2021	570	22.4	25.4	63.5
2022	526	21.9	24.0	67.9
2023	511	19.5	26.2	73.2
2024	526	22.5	23.3	69.6

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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