Spruce Elementary

Summary:

Spruce Elementary is a public elementary school in South San Francisco, California, serving 408 students from kindergarten to 5th grade. However, the school consistently underperforms compared to the South San Francisco Unified School District and the state of California in academic achievement, with low proficiency rates in English Language Arts and Mathematics.

Spruce Elementary faces significant challenges, including a high chronic absenteeism rate of 33.3%, well above the district and state averages, and a high percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch at 61.27%. Additionally, the school has a higher student-teacher ratio of 22.6, compared to the district's ratio of 21.7. When compared to nearby schools like Buri Buri Elementary and Monte Verde Elementary, Spruce Elementary is one of the lower-performing schools in the district, with significantly lower proficiency rates in core subjects.

The school's performance is particularly concerning for certain student subgroups, such as Hispanic students and English Language Learners, whose rankings have declined in recent years, with the school ranking in the bottom 25% of California elementary schools for these subgroups. The school's chronic absenteeism rate has also fluctuated significantly, suggesting challenges in addressing attendance issues, which could be impacting student learning and academic achievement.


Detail:

Public K-5

 501 Spruce Ave.
       South San Francisco, CA  94080-2749


(650) 877-8780

District: South San Francisco Unified

SchoolDigger Rank:
4998th of 5,862 California Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures:  $5,603 Help


Students who attend Spruce Elementary usually attend:

Middle:    Parkway Heights Middle
High:    South San Francisco High

Student/teacher ratio:  22.6 Help
Number of students:  408

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
81.6%
Asian:
9.3%
White:
3.4%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  61.3% Help


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Performance Trends
Help
Compare Details Spruce Elementary ranks worse than 85.3% of elementary schools in California. It also ranks last among 9 ranked elementary schools in the South San Francisco Unified School District. (See more...)
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Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 18.24. (See more...)
Help
Chronic absenteeism in a high 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 (81.6%), Asian (9.3%), White (3.4%). (See more...)
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Compare Details 61.3% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. This is the highest percentage in the South San Francisco Unified School District. (See more...)
Teachers
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Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Spruce Elementary is 22.6. 6 elementary schools in the South San Francisco Unified School District have better student/teacher ratios. (See more...)
Help
Compare Spruce Elementary employs 18 full-time teachers.
Finance
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Compare Details The average total spent per student at Spruce Elementary is $5,603, which is the 3rd highest among 9 elementary schools in the South San Francisco Unified School District.
Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Spruce Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks Spruce Elementary 4998th of 5862 California public elementary schools. (See Spruce Elementary 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:


South San Francisco Unified:

SchoolDigger ranks South San Francisco Unified 650th of 1568 California school districts. (See district ranking list.)


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Rank History for Spruce Elementary

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Rank History for all students at Spruce Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2004 45.70 2372nd 4809 50.7%
2005 42.64 2565th 4822 46.8%
2006 38.93 2765th 4818 42.6%
2007 41.42 2816th 5113 44.9%
2008 47.62 2510th 5113 50.9%
2009 51.00 2424th 5193 53.3%
2010 47.83 2701st 5314 49.2%
2011 48.34 2697th 5377 49.8%
2012 50.12 2606th 5390 51.7%
2013 45.02 3002nd 5530 45.7%
2015 18.72 4765th 5611 15.1%
2016 27.95 3936th 5614 29.9%
2017 29.37 3886th 5692 31.7%
2018 23.06 4419th 5662 22.0%
2019 31.37 3825th 5789 33.9%
2021 26.33 1024th 1417 27.7%
2022 34.32 3510th 5883 40.3%
2023 25.22 4347th 5874 26.0%
2024 18.24 4998th 5862 14.7%
See the entire list of California Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Spruce Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 36.66 1962nd 3246 39.6%
2019 49.01 1304th 3275 60.2%
2021 30.95 463rd 602 23.1%
2022 46.07 1411th 3311 57.4%
2023 32.65 2347th 3250 27.8%
2024 34.51 2213th 3160 30.0%
See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Spruce Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2023 32.37 1542nd 2420 36.3%
See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Spruce Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 33.39 3521st 5084 30.7%
2019 39.09 3190th 5173 38.3%
2021 37.78 682nd 1110 38.6%
2022 46.26 2521st 5264 52.1%
2023 29.78 3915th 5374 27.1%
2024 15.99 5078th 5511 7.9%
See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Spruce Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 23.06 4310th 5413 20.4%
2019 31.61 3702nd 5492 32.6%
2021 32.56 810th 1267 36.1%
2022 30.25 3714th 5635 34.1%
2023 26.30 4111th 5617 26.8%
2024 15.61 5070th 5605 9.5%
See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Disabled students at Spruce Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 39.46 1054th 2128 50.5%
2019 46.22 1092nd 2585 57.8%
2021 26.58 211th 293 28.0%
2022 21.50 1944th 2227 12.7%
See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Disabled Students!

Rank History for Male students at Spruce Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 25.15 4094th 5431 24.6%
2019 32.25 3598th 5510 34.7%
2021 22.68 995th 1272 21.8%
2022 38.20 3121st 5663 44.9%
2023 25.46 4205th 5650 25.6%
2024 22.51 4484th 5636 20.4%
See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Spruce Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 29.71 3570th 4830 26.1%
2019 39.22 3007th 4963 39.4%
2022 48.01 2328th 5084 54.2%
2023 30.41 3670th 5098 28.0%
2024 20.01 4453rd 5102 12.7%
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.

Spruce Elementary 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 Spruce Elementary

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Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
1988 101 20 32 248 4 n/a n/a 0 405
1989 114 18 33 298 1 n/a n/a 0 464
1990 101 15 39 314 0 n/a n/a 0 469
1991 93 15 48 360 0 n/a n/a 0 516
1992 92 13 51 419 1 n/a n/a 0 576
1993 91 13 46 408 0 n/a n/a 0 558
1994 92 14 41 412 3 n/a n/a 0 562
1995 61 18 39 456 1 n/a n/a 0 575
1996 61 18 39 456 1 n/a n/a 0 575
1997 75 11 44 448 4 n/a n/a 0 582
1998 56 13 45 508 1 n/a n/a 0 623
1999 55 12 55 514 3 n/a n/a 0 639
2000 41 16 65 501 3 n/a n/a 1 627
2001 41 10 80 485 1 n/a n/a 0 617
2002 33 6 69 454 1 n/a n/a 0 563
2003 33 6 69 454 1 n/a n/a 0 563
2004 21 3 53 398 0 n/a n/a 0 475
2005 21 2 42 386 0 n/a n/a 0 451
2006 33 11 61 426 0 n/a n/a 0 531
2007 35 8 51 446 0 n/a n/a 0 540
2008 38 10 58 450 n/a n/a n/a 0 556
2009 32 13 54 477 1 11 2 0 590
2010 13 7 40 513 1 3 27 0 604
2011 20 7 53 540 14 7 18 0 659
2012 12 6 60 586 1 6 12 0 683
2013 10 9 45 561 2 6 12 0 645
2014 13 5 44 576 2 6 8 0 654
2015 5 8 39 589 2 5 4 0 652
2016 9 8 48 550 1 5 5 0 626
2017 7 6 48 518 1 4 6 0 590
2018 8 3 44 481 1 4 10 0 551
2019 7 6 52 440 1 1 9 0 516
2020 8 4 53 422 1 2 10 0 500
2021 6 8 53 384 0 5 10 0 466
2022 11 8 40 356 0 6 9 0 430
2023 14 5 38 333 3 8 7 0 408

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 Spruce Elementary

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 405 19.0 21.3 n/a
1989 464 19.3 24.0 n/a
1990 469 20.4 22.9 n/a
1991 516 21.6 23.8 n/a
1992 576 21.9 26.3 55.9
1993 558 23.1 24.2 47
1994 562 23.6 23.8 52.5
1995 575 24.6 23.4 72
1996 575 24.6 23.4 72
1997 582 26.6 21.9 63.4
1998 623 35.6 17.5 71.3
1999 639 32.6 19.6 34.7
2000 627 34.6 18.1 56.9
2001 617 31.6 19.5 56.2
2002 563 32.4 17.4 69.4
2003 563 32.4 17.4 69.4
2004 475 25.0 19.0 70.5
2005 451 24.0 18.8 57.6
2006 531 28.5 18.6 69.1
2007 540 29.0 18.6 n/a
2008 556 33.0 16.8 75.4
2009 590 31.0 18.4 72.4
2010 604 32.2 18.7 65.9
2011 659 n/a n/a 75
2012 683 30.5 22.3 n/a
2013 645 27.0 23.8 79.5
2014 654 29.0 22.5 60.2
2015 652 29.0 22.4 68.4
2016 626 26.0 24.0 67.1
2017 590 26.4 22.3 62.9
2018 551 24.4 22.5 69
2019 516 22.4 23.0 72.7
2020 500 n/a n/a 65.2
2021 466 21.4 21.7 61.6
2022 430 20.5 20.9 63.7
2023 408 18.0 22.6 61.3

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 Spruce Elementary

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 405 19.0 21.3 n/a
1989 464 19.3 24.0 n/a
1990 469 20.4 22.9 n/a
1991 516 21.6 23.8 n/a
1992 576 21.9 26.3 55.9
1993 558 23.1 24.2 47
1994 562 23.6 23.8 52.5
1995 575 24.6 23.4 72
1996 575 24.6 23.4 72
1997 582 26.6 21.9 63.4
1998 623 35.6 17.5 71.3
1999 639 32.6 19.6 34.7
2000 627 34.6 18.1 56.9
2001 617 31.6 19.5 56.2
2002 563 32.4 17.4 69.4
2003 563 32.4 17.4 69.4
2004 475 25.0 19.0 70.5
2005 451 24.0 18.8 57.6
2006 531 28.5 18.6 69.1
2007 540 29.0 18.6 n/a
2008 556 33.0 16.8 75.4
2009 590 31.0 18.4 72.4
2010 604 32.2 18.7 65.9
2011 659 n/a n/a 75
2012 683 30.5 22.3 n/a
2013 645 27.0 23.8 79.5
2014 654 29.0 22.5 60.2
2015 652 29.0 22.4 68.4
2016 626 26.0 24.0 67.1
2017 590 26.4 22.3 62.9
2018 551 24.4 22.5 69
2019 516 22.4 23.0 72.7
2020 500 n/a n/a 65.2
2021 466 21.4 21.7 61.6
2022 430 20.5 20.9 63.7
2023 408 18.0 22.6 61.3

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

Spruce Elementary

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Compare
YearCompletely ImmunizedReligious ExemptionMedical ExemptionConditionalPolioHepatitis BVaricellaDTPMMR
201299.0%0.0%0.0%1.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%99.0%100.0%
2013100.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%
2014100.0%0.0%0.0%0.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%100.0%
201599.0%0.0%1.0%0.0%99.0%99.0%99.0%99.0%99.0%
201699.0%0.0%0.0%1.0%100.0%99.0%100.0%99.0%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%

Data source: California Department of Public Health
Finances

Per Pupil Expenditures for Spruce Elementary

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YearTotal Expenditures Per Pupil
2018 $5,603

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

Impact of COVID-19 on Spruce Elementary

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 3825th of 5789 Elementary schoolsRanks 4347th of 5874 Elementary schools
 7.9%

Test Scores

% proficient
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
% proficient
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
3rd Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Spruce Elementary)30.327.3
 3.1%
   3rd Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (South San Francisco Unified)52.451.6
 0.8%
   3rd Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (California)48.543
 5.6%
3rd Grade Mathematics (Spruce Elementary)39.329.4
 9.9%
   3rd Grade Mathematics (South San Francisco Unified)54.952.3
 2.6%
   3rd Grade Mathematics (California)50.245.1
 5.1%
4th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Spruce Elementary)34.915.5
 19.4%
   4th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (South San Francisco Unified)49.246
 3.2%
   4th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (California)49.543.7
 5.7%
4th Grade Mathematics (Spruce Elementary)35.721.9
 13.8%
   4th Grade Mathematics (South San Francisco Unified)51.242.7
 8.5%
   4th Grade Mathematics (California)44.940.8
 4.1%
5th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Spruce Elementary)37.235.6
 1.6%
   5th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (South San Francisco Unified)52.154.3
 2.3%
   5th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (California)51.746.7
 5%
5th Grade Mathematics (Spruce Elementary)47.525
 22.5%
   5th Grade Mathematics (South San Francisco Unified)43.345.7
 2.3%
   5th Grade Mathematics (California)3833.4
 4.6%
5th Grade Science (Spruce Elementary)11.118.6
 7.5%
   5th Grade Science (South San Francisco Unified)31.238
 6.8%
   5th Grade Science (California)31.731.9
 0.1%

Student Body

Number of students
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Number of students
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Total Students516408
 20.9%
African American65
 16.7%
American Indian13
 200%
Asian5238
 26.9%
Hispanic440333
 24.3%
Pacific Islander18
 700%
White714
 100%
Two or More Races97
 22.2%
% Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients72.7%61.3%
 11.4%


Schools Near Spruce Elementary









Frequently Asked Questions about Spruce Elementary

Students who attend Spruce Elementary usually go on to attend:

Middle : Parkway Heights Middle
High : South San Francisco High

Students at Spruce Elementary are 82% Hispanic, 9% Asian, 3% White, 2% Pacific Islander, 2% Two or more races, 1% African American.

In the 2022-23 school year, 408 students attended Spruce Elementary.

Spruce Elementary ranks in the bottom 14.7% of California elementary schools.


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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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