Achieve Charter School of Paradise Inc., Paradise CA

Original Research by School Decision on Achieve Charter School of Paradise Inc.

Achieve Charter School of Paradise Inc. operates as a small elementary and middle campus serving kindergarten through eighth grade in Paradise, California, in Butte County's foothill region. The school is part of a unified county-wide charter authorized by the Butte County Office of Education, a reorganization that took effect in the 2025-2026 school year and consolidated the Paradise and Chico campuses under one governance structure. Transitional kindergarten was added to both sites as part of this consolidation, and the charter holds approval to eventually expand to twelfth grade once a new facility is built in Paradise.

The school serves a small enrollment concentrated in the primary grades. Its student body is predominantly white, with a smaller share of Hispanic and multiracial students and minimal representation of other groups. Just under half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting modest economic hardship among enrolled families.

State testing results in English language arts and mathematics show persistent weakness across tested grade levels. In the most recent school year, proficiency in ELA ranged from very low in grades three and four to moderate in grade five, then dropped sharply in grade six. Math proficiency similarly varied by grade, with particularly low performance in grades four and six but stronger results in grade five. When averaged across tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency sits above the midpoint among districts in Butte County, though the variation by grade level suggests inconsistency in student achievement. Science proficiency in grade five was moderate. Data for grades seven and eight was suppressed, typically indicating small class sizes at those levels.

The school has only one year of state testing data available, so trends cannot yet be assessed. A parent may want to look into the school's specific approaches to grades where proficiency has been notably low, such as fourth and sixth grade mathematics and third and fourth grade English language arts, to understand what support systems are in place and what factors may be driving the variation.

Paradise itself is a small foothill town in active recovery and rebuilding following the Camp Fire, which destroyed most of the community. The town is experiencing strong population growth and housing development, with new affordable apartments and rental homes opening, and the town has pursued a downtown revitalization plan along its main Skyway corridor. Health care, historically the largest employer, continues through outpatient clinics operated by Adventist Health. Housing values in the area are below the California state average. Public transit connects Paradise to Chico and other Butte County communities via B-Line regional transit.

The school's enrollment context has recently shifted with the consolidation. The unified charter will eventually allow grade expansion in Paradise, but families currently cannot complete their K-12 education through the Achieve system in Paradise itself; the high school building was destroyed in the Camp Fire and remains non-operational, meaning students advancing beyond eighth grade must plan to enroll elsewhere.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 332%

School 32% · district not reported

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

Grade 417%

School 17% · district not reported

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

Grade 548%

School 48% · district not reported

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 613%

School 13% · district not reported

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

English language arts

Grade 311%

School 11% · district not reported

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

Grade 48%

School 8% · district not reported

▼ 34 pts below state median · ▼ 36 pts below county median

Grade 557%

School 57% · district not reported

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 619%

School 19% · district not reported

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

Science

Grade 557%

School 57% · district not reported

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

This schoolDistrict average, 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 8Lower-income31%Higher-income62%31 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 8Lower-income23%Higher-income46%23 pp gap