Warren A. Allison Elementary, North Highlands CA

Original Research by School Decision on Warren A. Allison Elementary

Warren A. Allison Elementary serves kindergarten through sixth grade in North Highlands, a working-class unincorporated suburb roughly a dozen miles northeast of downtown Sacramento. The school sits within Twin Rivers Unified, a district that enrolled teachers in their first-ever strike in March 2026 after contract negotiations stalled over staffing, pay, and health benefits. That strike lasted about two weeks and disrupted classroom instruction across the district. Families considering this school should be aware that Twin Rivers remains engaged in school modernization funded by two property-tax-backed bond measures voters approved in 2022, which will reshape facilities over time but also represent a long-term tax obligation for homeowners in the district.

The school's population is predominantly low-income. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is racially and ethnically mixed, with roughly equal representation of Hispanic, white, and other students of color, including a meaningful population of Black students. The school itself is small to mid-sized for its grade band, with enrollment spread fairly evenly across kindergarten through sixth grade.

State assessment results point to low proficiency across tested subjects. In English language arts, overall proficiency across the school sits in the bottom quartile relative to other schools in Sacramento County. Reading results show some variation by grade: fourth graders performed somewhat better than the school average, while fifth graders performed notably below it. Math proficiency is even lower than ELA, also in the bottom quartile countywide. Third-graders showed the weakest performance on the spring 2025 math assessment, while fourth-graders fared comparatively better, though still well below the statewide expectation for proficiency. Fifth-grade math was among the lowest results across the school. Science data was only available for fifth grade and showed low proficiency as well. These results reflect broader patterns: the school's overall proficiency index places it at the bottom tier among Sacramento County schools.

The comparison shows only one year of state testing data, so trend information is not yet available.

North Highlands itself is a predominantly residential, car-dependent community organized around commercial and industrial corridors, chiefly Watt Avenue. The area is undergoing planned infill growth; Sacramento County has initiated a North Watt Avenue Specific Plan targeting thousands of new residential units along the main corridor, with several mixed-use and affordable housing projects already proposed or approved. Housing costs sit roughly near the national median, though monthly rents have moved up slightly year over year. The community is anchored by McClellan Park, the repurposed former Air Force base, which employs a substantial workforce across industrial, office, and service tenants.

Parks, light rail access via the Blue Line at Watt Avenue, and regional transit serve the community. Schools in Twin Rivers sit on dispersed suburban campuses rather than in a clustered downtown.

A parent evaluating Warren A. Allison should understand that the school's state assessment results are markedly below the statewide standard and below most schools in its county. The school serves a high-poverty, diverse student population and sits in a district navigating significant recent labor tension and long-term facilities investment. Whether additional context around program offerings, staffing, support services, or teacher qualifications would inform a family's decision is data that was not available.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 316%

School 16% · District 38% · ▼ 22 pts below district

▼ 27 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 429%

School 29% · District 32% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

Grade 512%

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

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

Grade 621%

School 21% · District 28% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 316%

School 16% · District 35% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 437%

School 37% · District 35% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Grade 524%

School 24% · District 36% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Grade 635%

School 35% · District 39% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 516%

School 16% · District 17% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

This schoolTwin Rivers 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.