Is William Howard Taft Elementary a good school?

William Howard Taft Elementary ranks 2805 th of 5862 California elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 3 stars out of 5.

How many students attend William Howard Taft Elementary?

In the 2022-23 school year, 592 students attended William Howard Taft Elementary.

What is the racial makeup of William Howard Taft Elementary?

Students at William Howard Taft Elementary are 66% Hispanic, 19% White, 6% African American, 5% Two or more races, 2% Pacific Islander, 2% Asian.

What schools do graduates of William Howard Taft Elementary attend?

Students who attend William Howard Taft Elementary usually go on to attend: Middle : Amelia Earhart Middle High : Martin Luther King Junior High High : Riverside STEM Academy

William Howard Taft Elementary

Summary:

William Howard Taft Elementary is a public elementary school in Riverside, California, serving 592 students in grades K-6. The school is part of the Riverside Unified School District, which is ranked 774 out of 1,568 districts in the state.

While William Howard Taft Elementary has a high percentage of students from low-income backgrounds, with 67-70% receiving free or reduced-price lunch, its academic performance lags behind nearby schools. The school's proficiency rates in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science are lower than the district and state averages. Additionally, the school has experienced a significant increase in chronic absenteeism, from 10.4% in 2018-2019 to 36.7% in 2021-2022, which is notably higher than the district's average of 25.6%.

In comparison, nearby schools such as Benjamin Franklin Elementary, Tomas Rivera Elementary, and John F. Kennedy Elementary generally outperform William Howard Taft Elementary in terms of test scores, chronic absenteeism, and the percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch. These findings suggest that William Howard Taft Elementary may face unique challenges that require targeted interventions and support to improve student outcomes.

Detail:

Public K-6

959 Mission Grove Pkwy. North
Riverside, CA 92506-6226

(951) 776-3018

District: Riverside Unified

SchoolDigger Rank:
2805^th of 5,862 California Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $7,712

Students who attend William Howard Taft Elementary usually attend:

Middle:	Amelia Earhart Middle
High:	Martin Luther King Junior High
	Riverside STEM Academy

Student/teacher ratio: 23.5

Number of students: 592

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

65.7%

White:

19.3%

African American:

6.1%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 69.8%

See top rated California elementary schools

Compare William Howard Taft Elementary to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details William Howard Taft Elementary ranks better than 52.1% of elementary schools in California. It also ranks 12^th among 29 ranked elementary schools in the Riverside Unified School District. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 45.74. (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 William Howard Taft Elementary has the largest elementary school student body size in the Riverside Unified School District. (See more...)

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Teachers

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Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at William Howard Taft Elementary is $7,712. 15 elementary schools in the Riverside Unified School District spend more per student.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

William Howard Taft Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks William Howard Taft Elementary 2805^th of 5862 California public elementary schools. (See William Howard Taft 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:

White students:

Riverside Unified:

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

Average Parent Rating:

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Rank History for William Howard Taft Elementary

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Rank History for all students at William Howard Taft Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2004	44.76	2426^th	4809	49.6%
2005	49.39	2226^th	4822	53.8%
2006	49.54	2216^th	4818	54.0%
2007	59.37	1856^th	5113	63.7%
2008	57.99	1951^st	5113	61.8%
2009	59.75	1928^th	5193	62.9%
2010	60.39	1962^nd	5314	63.1%
2011	45.60	2856^th	5377	46.9%
2012	37.17	3447^th	5390	36.0%
2013	45.39	2980^th	5530	46.1%
2015	37.31	3182^nd	5611	43.3%
2016	42.31	2939^th	5614	47.6%
2017	38.60	3197^th	5692	43.8%
2018	41.30	3066^th	5662	45.8%
2019	33.62	3649^th	5789	37.0%
2022	44.19	2840^th	5883	51.7%
2023	39.42	3176^th	5874	45.9%
2024	45.74	2805^th	5862	52.1%

See the entire list of California Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at William Howard Taft Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	34.58	2084^th	3246	35.8%
2019	29.07	2564^th	3275	21.7%
2022	36.71	2071^st	3311	37.5%
2023	43.13	1613^th	3250	50.4%
2024	61.48	670^th	3160	78.8%

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

Rank History for Special Education students at William Howard Taft Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	28.29	1730^th	2420	28.5%
2024	45.96	1094^th	2634	58.5%

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

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at William Howard Taft Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	40.34	2988^th	5084	41.2%
2019	31.18	3777^th	5173	27.0%
2022	46.07	2528^th	5264	52.0%
2023	44.76	2715^th	5374	49.5%
2024	42.27	2961^st	5511	46.3%

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

Rank History for Female students at William Howard Taft Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	38.10	3205^th	5413	40.8%
2019	34.43	3459^th	5492	37.0%
2022	43.71	2767^th	5635	50.9%
2023	39.44	3050^th	5617	45.7%
2024	41.45	2948^th	5605	47.4%

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

Rank History for Disabled students at William Howard Taft Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	41.88	988^th	2128	53.6%
2019	36.61	1447^th	2585	44.0%
2022	46.49	897^th	2227	59.7%

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

Rank History for Male students at William Howard Taft Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	44.26	2772^nd	5431	49.0%
2019	33.34	3513^th	5510	36.2%
2022	44.66	2731^st	5663	51.8%
2023	39.63	3084^th	5650	45.4%
2024	49.02	2515^th	5636	55.4%

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

Rank History for Hispanic students at William Howard Taft Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	46.31	2459^th	4830	49.1%
2019	37.13	3156^th	4963	36.4%
2022	48.71	2291^st	5084	54.9%
2023	45.53	2523^rd	5098	50.5%
2024	45.86	2552^nd	5102	50.0%

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

Rank History for White students at William Howard Taft Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	37.60	1878^th	2737	31.4%
2019	42.59	1773^rd	2834	37.4%
2022	40.88	1712^th	2726	37.2%
2023	27.40	2045^th	2662	23.2%
2024	52.13	1345^th	2647	49.2%

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

Review counts

All ratings (Avg rating: 5)

100%

Reviews:

by a parent
Thursday, June 7, 2018

Great School!! My child is doing great here amazing staff and parent involvement. Close Quote

Enrollment information for William Howard Taft Elementary

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1990	304	102	47	246	2	n/a	n/a	0	701
1991	382	106	67	348	9	n/a	n/a	0	912
1992	393	120	80	382	6	n/a	n/a	0	981
1993	410	93	69	397	10	n/a	n/a	0	979
1994	403	114	84	373	7	n/a	n/a	0	981
1995	369	102	77	402	6	n/a	n/a	0	956
1996	369	102	77	402	6	n/a	n/a	0	956
1997	388	83	80	428	7	n/a	n/a	0	986
1998	389	92	87	472	4	n/a	n/a	0	1044
1999	390	92	86	487	2	n/a	n/a	0	1057
2000	375	76	67	507	3	n/a	n/a	0	1028
2001	361	97	59	517	5	n/a	n/a	0	1039
2002	301	71	60	455	6	n/a	n/a	0	893
2003	301	71	60	455	6	n/a	n/a	0	893
2004	284	77	51	467	6	n/a	n/a	0	885
2005	258	77	47	472	3	n/a	n/a	0	857
2006	245	61	43	490	2	n/a	n/a	0	841
2007	211	66	43	455	3	n/a	n/a	2	780
2008	211	69	37	465	3	n/a	n/a	0	785
2009	194	56	34	460	2	3	10	0	759
2010	189	56	27	449	1	4	20	0	746
2011	175	54	28	424	1	4	31	0	717
2012	169	50	16	463	0	8	26	0	732
2013	144	50	16	433	0	9	27	0	679
2014	127	46	16	463	0	9	34	0	695
2015	135	46	19	462	0	7	33	0	702
2016	139	53	16	480	0	8	34	0	730
2017	137	48	9	425	0	7	35	0	661
2018	143	42	9	440	1	4	28	0	667
2019	128	46	6	442	1	6	28	0	657
2020	130	33	13	408	1	4	30	0	619
2021	110	32	7	361	1	3	27	0	541
2022	115	28	8	362	1	8	27	0	549
2023	114	36	10	389	1	11	31	0	592

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 William Howard Taft Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1990	701	25.8	27.1	n/a
1991	912	37.8	24.1	n/a
1992	981	38.4	25.5	46.6
1993	979	38.5	25.4	47.7
1994	981	38.0	25.8	56.8
1995	956	36.6	26.1	45.2
1996	956	36.6	26.1	45.2
1997	986	37.8	26.1	49.2
1998	1044	42.5	24.6	46.5
1999	1057	48.1	22.0	45.9
2000	1028	45.5	22.6	49.7
2001	1039	45.1	23.0	50.7
2002	893	37.3	23.9	55.8
2003	893	37.3	23.9	55.8
2004	885	37.0	23.9	53
2005	857	37.0	23.2	60.9
2006	841	37.0	22.7	56.8
2007	780	36.5	21.4	59
2008	785	37.0	21.2	45.2
2009	759	36.0	19.5	60.2
2010	746	32.0	23.3	62.1
2011	717	n/a	n/a	57.6
2012	732	26.1	27.9	n/a
2013	679	24.7	27.4	73.5
2014	695	25.1	27.6	74
2015	702	27.0	26.0	73.4
2016	730	28.0	26.0	74.8
2017	661	27.0	24.4	67.2
2018	667	27.0	24.7	71.5
2019	657	27.0	24.3	70.5
2020	619	n/a	n/a	66.6
2021	541	20.8	25.9	67.3
2022	549	22.7	24.1	68.9
2023	592	25.1	23.5	69.8

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 William Howard Taft Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1990	701	25.8	27.1	n/a
1991	912	37.8	24.1	n/a
1992	981	38.4	25.5	46.6
1993	979	38.5	25.4	47.7
1994	981	38.0	25.8	56.8
1995	956	36.6	26.1	45.2
1996	956	36.6	26.1	45.2
1997	986	37.8	26.1	49.2
1998	1044	42.5	24.6	46.5
1999	1057	48.1	22.0	45.9
2000	1028	45.5	22.6	49.7
2001	1039	45.1	23.0	50.7
2002	893	37.3	23.9	55.8
2003	893	37.3	23.9	55.8
2004	885	37.0	23.9	53
2005	857	37.0	23.2	60.9
2006	841	37.0	22.7	56.8
2007	780	36.5	21.4	59
2008	785	37.0	21.2	45.2
2009	759	36.0	19.5	60.2
2010	746	32.0	23.3	62.1
2011	717	n/a	n/a	57.6
2012	732	26.1	27.9	n/a
2013	679	24.7	27.4	73.5
2014	695	25.1	27.6	74
2015	702	27.0	26.0	73.4
2016	730	28.0	26.0	74.8
2017	661	27.0	24.4	67.2
2018	667	27.0	24.7	71.5
2019	657	27.0	24.3	70.5
2020	619	n/a	n/a	66.6
2021	541	20.8	25.9	67.3
2022	549	22.7	24.1	68.9
2023	592	25.1	23.5	69.8

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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