Alice Birney Elementary, Eureka CA

Original Research by School Decision on Alice Birney Elementary

Alice Birney Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Eureka, a working port city and county seat on California's North Coast. The school enrolls a small student body with substantial racial and ethnic diversity. Hispanic, white, Asian, and multiracial students each represent notable shares of the population, alongside smaller numbers of American Indian, Black, and Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander students. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting economic need in the community.

The school's 2024-25 test results in math and English language arts show proficiency rates well below the statewide median. In English language arts, proficiency across tested grades averages in the low teens. Math proficiency is comparable, ranging from single digits in third and fifth grades to low twenties in fourth grade. Fifth-grade science proficiency also sits in single digits. Across the county's districts, Alice Birney ranks in the bottom quartile for overall proficiency. These outcomes point to significant academic challenges that a parent may want to look into further with the school and district.

Eureka City Schools is undertaking a substantial pedagogical shift toward personalized, competency-based learning. In this model, students are positioned as learners and teachers as learning guides, with movement away from traditional grades toward mastery-based progression. The district held community workshops in January 2026 to explain the framework to families. This is a foundational change in how instruction and assessment work day to day, and families considering Alice Birney should understand what that transition entails for their child's learning experience.

The school sits in Eureka proper, a compact, historically built downtown with Victorian and Craftsman neighborhoods. Median home values in the local zip code hover around the mid-range for coastal California, though they have declined slightly year over year. Rental rates are moderate by state standards. Housing tenure in Eureka skews toward renters. The city has a walkable downtown and Old Town shopping district centered on preserved 19th and early 20th-century commercial buildings, though street safety advocates have flagged certain downtown intersections as difficult to cross. Major employers include St. Joseph Hospital, county government, and the regional health clinic network. Schools and residential neighborhoods lie a short distance from the walkable core, and public transit operates several fixed routes within Eureka and to surrounding towns.

The district refinanced a portion of its voter-approved bonds in late 2025, reducing property taxes for homeowners and shortening the repayment period, a direct benefit to local property owners.

No data on chronic absenteeism, special education enrollment, English learner enrollment, or discipline was available for Alice Birney. The school does not serve high school grades, so no graduation rate applies.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 311%

School 11% · District 29% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 32 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

Grade 422%

School 22% · District 28% · ▼ 6 pts below district

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

Grade 511%

School 11% · District 24% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 39%

School 9% · District 28% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 31 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

Grade 423%

School 23% · District 29% · ▼ 6 pts below district

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

Grade 514%

School 14% · District 30% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 31 pts below state median · ▼ 30 pts below county median

Science

Grade 510%

School 10% · District 22% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

This schoolEureka City Schools, 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.