Is Emerson Elementary a good school?

Emerson Elementary ranks 4199 th of 5862 California elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 1 star out of 5.

How many students attend Emerson Elementary?

In the 2023-24 school year, 665 students attended Emerson Elementary.

What is the racial makeup of Emerson Elementary?

Students at Emerson Elementary are 74% Hispanic, 12% African American, 7% White, 4% Asian, 2% Two or more races.

What schools do graduates of Emerson Elementary attend?

Students who attend Emerson Elementary usually go on to attend: Middle : University Heights Middle High : John W. North High High : Riverside STEM Academy

Emerson Elementary

Summary:

Emerson Elementary is a public elementary school located in Riverside, California, serving grades K-6 with a total enrollment of 636 students. The school is part of the Riverside Unified School District, which is ranked 774 out of 1,568 districts in California and has a 3-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Emerson Elementary consistently ranks in the bottom half of California elementary schools, with significantly below-average performance on Smarter Balanced Assessments across all grade levels and subject areas compared to the district and state. The school has also experienced a significant increase in chronic absenteeism, rising from 13.6% in 2018-2019 to 43.9% in 2021-2022, which is notably higher than the district and state averages. Additionally, Emerson Elementary has a high percentage of students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds, with 82.08% of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, significantly higher than the district and state averages.

Interestingly, the nearby schools within the Riverside Unified district, such as Victoria Elementary, Highland Elementary, and Castle View Elementary, generally perform better academically than Emerson Elementary, with higher proficiency rates and lower chronic absenteeism. Emerson Elementary's performance for specific student subgroups, such as English Language Learners and students with disabilities, is particularly concerning, ranking in the bottom 20-30% of California elementary schools. The school's overall performance has been on a declining trend over the past several years, suggesting that it is struggling to keep pace with the academic progress of other elementary schools in California.

Detail:

Public K-6

4660 Ottawa Ave.
Riverside, CA 92507-5823

(951) 788-7462

District: Riverside Unified

SchoolDigger Rank:
4199^th of 5,862 California Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $8,576

Students who attend Emerson Elementary usually attend:

Middle:	University Heights Middle
High:	John W. North High
	Riverside STEM Academy

Student/teacher ratio: 22.0

Number of students: 665

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

74.3%

African American:

12.0%

White:

6.8%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 52.8%

See top rated California elementary schools

Compare Emerson Elementary to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Emerson Elementary ranks worse than 71.6% of elementary schools in California. It also ranks 26^th among 29 ranked elementary schools in the Riverside Unified School District. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 26.99. (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: Hispanic (74.3%), African American (12%), White (6.8%). (See more...)

Compare Details 52.8% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Compare Details (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Emerson Elementary is 22, which is the 5^th best among 29 elementary schools in the Riverside Unified School District. (See more...)

Compare Emerson Elementary employs 30.1 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Emerson Elementary is $8,576, which is the 4^th highest among 29 elementary schools in the Riverside Unified School District.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Emerson Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks Emerson Elementary 4199^th of 5862 California public elementary schools. (See Emerson 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:

Riverside Unified:

SchoolDigger ranks Riverside Unified 774^th of 1568 California school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Rank History for Emerson Elementary

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Rank History for all students at Emerson Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2004	53.35	1995^th	4809	58.5%
2005	65.22	1534^th	4822	68.2%
2006	49.24	2227^th	4818	53.8%
2007	55.41	2049^th	5113	59.9%
2008	42.04	2827^th	5113	44.7%
2009	38.10	3170^th	5193	39.0%
2010	38.34	3278^th	5314	38.3%
2011	40.97	3168^th	5377	41.1%
2012	48.23	2733^rd	5390	49.3%
2013	41.60	3210^th	5530	42.0%
2015	34.03	3398^th	5611	39.4%
2016	30.58	3728^th	5614	33.6%
2017	38.40	3211^th	5692	43.6%
2018	31.49	3706^th	5662	34.5%
2019	32.62	3722^nd	5789	35.7%
2022	25.92	4261^st	5883	27.6%
2023	26.60	4219^th	5874	28.2%
2024	26.99	4199^th	5862	28.4%

See the entire list of California Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Emerson Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	37.79	1887^th	3246	41.9%
2019	41.00	1722^nd	3275	47.4%
2022	34.80	2218^th	3311	33.0%
2023	32.58	2350^th	3250	27.7%
2024	23.90	2899^th	3160	8.3%

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

Rank History for Special Education students at Emerson Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	42.39	1140^th	2420	52.9%
2024	34.81	1565^th	2634	40.6%

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

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Emerson Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	35.48	3359^th	5084	33.9%
2019	37.40	3318^th	5173	35.9%
2022	33.58	3541^st	5264	32.7%
2023	32.35	3698^th	5374	31.2%
2024	34.10	3607^th	5511	34.5%

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

Rank History for Female students at Emerson Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	26.19	4070^th	5413	24.8%
2019	31.74	3694^th	5492	32.7%
2022	27.79	3951^st	5635	29.9%
2023	25.77	4161^st	5617	25.9%
2024	25.42	4200^th	5605	25.1%

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

Rank History for Disabled students at Emerson Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	32.94	1307^th	2128	38.6%
2019	21.74	2254^th	2585	12.8%
2022	20.65	1981^st	2227	11.0%

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

Rank History for Male students at Emerson Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	37.78	3176^th	5431	41.5%
2019	34.27	3443^rd	5510	37.5%
2022	24.84	4255^th	5663	24.9%
2023	28.27	3945^th	5650	30.2%
2024	29.70	3838^th	5636	31.9%

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

Rank History for African American students at Emerson Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	58.88	224^th	700	68.0%
2019	50.67	319^th	747	57.3%
2022	43.69	317^th	663	52.2%

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

Rank History for Hispanic students at Emerson Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	33.01	3341^st	4830	30.8%
2019	38.78	3040^th	4963	38.7%
2022	29.73	3723^rd	5084	26.8%
2023	27.01	3953^rd	5098	22.5%
2024	33.07	3489^th	5102	31.6%

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

Rank History for White students at Emerson Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2018	48.10	1577^th	2737	42.4%
2023	67.78	871^st	2662	67.3%

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 Emerson Elementary

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	302	102	24	53	0	n/a	n/a	0	481
1989	390	101	29	59	0	n/a	n/a	0	579
1990	217	97	26	67	1	n/a	n/a	0	408
1991	212	116	27	79	1	n/a	n/a	0	435
1992	201	125	25	88	2	n/a	n/a	0	441
1993	212	140	29	97	3	n/a	n/a	0	481
1994	202	119	34	113	4	n/a	n/a	0	472
1995	182	139	30	146	3	n/a	n/a	0	500
1996	182	139	30	146	3	n/a	n/a	0	500
1997	171	147	28	162	2	n/a	n/a	0	510
1998	179	126	32	157	5	n/a	n/a	0	499
1999	201	137	34	134	5	n/a	n/a	0	511
2000	203	150	48	150	3	n/a	n/a	0	554
2001	215	136	48	138	7	n/a	n/a	0	544
2002	205	124	57	142	4	n/a	n/a	0	532
2003	205	124	57	142	4	n/a	n/a	0	532
2004	172	115	46	182	6	n/a	n/a	6	527
2005	172	110	47	194	6	n/a	n/a	8	537
2006	165	130	50	187	3	n/a	n/a	4	539
2007	152	115	51	216	3	n/a	n/a	8	545
2008	148	118	38	328	2	n/a	n/a	0	634
2009	146	139	42	361	3	4	16	0	711
2010	142	129	25	412	3	8	25	0	744
2011	103	136	30	405	4	7	26	0	711
2012	100	117	34	403	7	6	35	0	702
2013	113	113	30	507	7	5	26	0	801
2014	107	108	28	532	5	4	21	0	805
2015	103	107	35	527	4	5	17	0	798
2016	87	122	34	520	2	3	24	0	792
2017	96	123	31	551	7	1	23	0	832
2018	88	118	28	519	4	3	22	0	782
2019	80	117	19	501	4	2	17	0	740
2020	75	87	16	465	4	5	18	0	670
2021	53	80	24	455	2	7	23	0	644
2022	55	75	19	444	1	2	15	0	611
2023	43	73	23	479	2	7	9	0	636
2024	45	80	28	494	1	1	16	0	665

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 Emerson Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	481	19.5	24.6	n/a
1989	579	21.5	26.9	n/a
1990	408	17.6	23.1	n/a
1991	435	19.6	22.1	n/a
1992	441	19.9	22.1	40.8
1993	481	20.8	23.1	42.2
1994	472	20.8	22.7	50.6
1995	500	19.6	25.5	55.6
1996	500	19.6	25.5	55.6
1997	510	23.4	21.8	58.2
1998	499	22.7	22.0	59.1
1999	511	25.0	20.4	58.1
2000	554	25.8	21.5	36.3
2001	544	25.0	21.8	46.9
2002	532	23.8	22.4	43.6
2003	532	23.8	22.4	43.6
2004	527	23.8	22.1	45.9
2005	537	25.9	20.7	54.3
2006	539	23.9	22.6	44.5
2007	545	25.6	21.3	51.4
2008	634	31.8	19.9	47.6
2009	711	32.8	20.4	63.6
2010	744	30.0	24.8	72.2
2011	711	n/a	n/a	68.8
2012	702	27.6	25.3	n/a
2013	801	29.5	27.1	81.5
2014	805	31.2	25.8	80.9
2015	798	32.0	24.9	77.7
2016	792	32.0	24.7	80.1
2017	832	33.4	24.9	77
2018	782	32.2	24.2	81.5
2019	740	29.0	25.5	79.1
2020	670	n/a	n/a	80.6
2021	644	31.6	20.3	77.8
2022	611	26.7	22.8	68.4
2023	636	28.1	22.6	82.1
2024	665	30.1	22.0	52.8

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 Emerson Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	481	19.5	24.6	n/a
1989	579	21.5	26.9	n/a
1990	408	17.6	23.1	n/a
1991	435	19.6	22.1	n/a
1992	441	19.9	22.1	40.8
1993	481	20.8	23.1	42.2
1994	472	20.8	22.7	50.6
1995	500	19.6	25.5	55.6
1996	500	19.6	25.5	55.6
1997	510	23.4	21.8	58.2
1998	499	22.7	22.0	59.1
1999	511	25.0	20.4	58.1
2000	554	25.8	21.5	36.3
2001	544	25.0	21.8	46.9
2002	532	23.8	22.4	43.6
2003	532	23.8	22.4	43.6
2004	527	23.8	22.1	45.9
2005	537	25.9	20.7	54.3
2006	539	23.9	22.6	44.5
2007	545	25.6	21.3	51.4
2008	634	31.8	19.9	47.6
2009	711	32.8	20.4	63.6
2010	744	30.0	24.8	72.2
2011	711	n/a	n/a	68.8
2012	702	27.6	25.3	n/a
2013	801	29.5	27.1	81.5
2014	805	31.2	25.8	80.9
2015	798	32.0	24.9	77.7
2016	792	32.0	24.7	80.1
2017	832	33.4	24.9	77
2018	782	32.2	24.2	81.5
2019	740	29.0	25.5	79.1
2020	670	n/a	n/a	80.6
2021	644	31.6	20.3	77.8
2022	611	26.7	22.8	68.4
2023	636	28.1	22.6	82.1
2024	665	30.1	22.0	52.8

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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