Paso Verde, Sacramento CA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Paso Verde

Paso Verde is a kindergarten-through-eighth-grade public school serving a school community of roughly nine hundred students in Sacramento. Its enrollment spans evenly across grades, with slightly higher numbers in the early grades. About half of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch. The school population is diverse: students identify across multiple racial and ethnic groups, with substantial shares who are Hispanic, Asian, and Black, along with students who are white or identify with two or more races.

The school's academic performance shows a consistent pattern across both English language arts and mathematics. In ELA, proficiency varies by grade, with stronger results in the middle grades (around forty percent to forty-seven percent) and lower proficiency in the earliest tested grade and in eighth grade (around thirty to forty-six percent). Math proficiency is notably lower across all grades, ranging from around fourteen percent in eighth grade to thirty-seven percent in fifth grade. Science results, tested only in fifth and eighth grades, show similar trends: fifth-grade proficiency is around thirty-four percent, while eighth-grade science proficiency drops to around sixteen percent. Across tested subjects and grades, Paso Verde's overall proficiency index sits below the midpoint when compared to other districts in Sacramento County.

The pattern in these results warrants attention. ELA performance, while uneven by grade, reflects roughly mid-range or slightly below-mid-range proficiency across the school's upper elementary and middle grades. Mathematics proficiency is substantially lower than ELA and declines markedly as students reach the upper middle grades, a trend that also appears in science. A parent evaluating this school should recognize that proficiency rates are low relative to state standards and to peer districts in the county. The data available does not show prior-year comparisons, so it is unclear whether performance is stable, declining, or changing.

The parent district, Natomas Unified, has made notable moves in recent years. It has added ethnic studies and African American Studies coursework aligned to California's newer graduation requirements, embedded culturally responsive pedagogy across the curriculum, and used a voter-approved facilities bond to build new schools to accommodate the district's growth, including a dual-immersion elementary school that opened in the 2023-2024 school year. At the same time, publicly reported data shows that the district's share of students not meeting state literacy standards has risen in recent years, a trend that prompted the district to launch a literacy intervention push. This context suggests active, evolving academic support but also a current area of identified weakness that families would want to understand.

The school sits in Sacramento's zip code 95835. Local housing data shows median home values in the mid-five hundred thousands and median rents around twenty-seven hundred dollars monthly. The affordability picture is tight: housing costs run roughly eight times median household income, and rent consumes approximately one-third of household earnings. Unemployment in the region hovers around four percent, with median household income at or slightly above the national benchmark.

Paso Verde is a regular public school with no specialized designation. It is part of the Natomas Unified district and draws its community from the Sacramento area. Families considering this school should weigh its below-midpoint county performance, particularly in mathematics, against the district's demonstrated investment in curriculum expansion and the school's diverse student composition. The school may be a good fit for families committed to a neighborhood public school in a diverse, growing district, and who see value in the district's curricular direction. A parent concerned primarily about immediate academic attainment relative to state standards may want to explore whether the school has targeted interventions in place, especially in mathematics and in the upper middle grades, and what supports exist for students below proficiency.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 328%

School 28% · District 34% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 426%

School 26% · District 34% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 537%

School 37% · District 31% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 621%

School 21% · District 29% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 726%

School 26% · District 30% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 814%

School 14% · District 26% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 330%

School 30% · District 34% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 435%

School 35% · District 40% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 547%

School 47% · District 41% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 641%

School 41% · District 36% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 747%

School 47% · District 44% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 846%

School 46% · District 41% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Science

Grade 534%

School 34% · District 27% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 817%

School 17% · District 25% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

This schoolNatomas Unified, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income20%Higher-income41%21 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income28%Higher-income47%20 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income39%Higher-income59%21 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income23%Higher-income62%39 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income38%Higher-income58%20 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income31%Higher-income68%36 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income10%Higher-income49%39 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income24%Higher-income29%6 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income35%Higher-income41%6 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income8%Higher-income38%30 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income19%Higher-income33%14 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income8%Higher-income24%16 pp gap