Sutter Creek Elementary, Sutter Creek CA

Original Research by School Decision on Sutter Creek Elementary

Sutter Creek Elementary serves kindergarten through sixth grade in a small Gold Rush–era town in the Sierra Nevada foothills. The school sits a few blocks from the historic Main Street downtown in a car-dependent community known for antique shops, galleries, and wine-tasting rooms. It is part of Amador County Unified.

The school enrollment is modest, with students distributed across seven grades. About one-third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Demographically, the school is mostly white, with a meaningful share of Hispanic students and a small multiracial population; counts of English learners and special education students were not available.

Academic performance data from the most recent state assessments show proficiency rates below the midpoint statewide. In mathematics across grades three through six, proficiency ranges from roughly one-sixth to about half, with third and fourth grades performing better than fifth and sixth. English language arts proficiency is in the similar range, with fourth grade at about one-half and fifth and sixth grades lower. A science assessment in fifth grade shows proficiency well below one-quarter. When averaged across all tested subjects and grades, overall proficiency sits in the top quartile among the county's districts, a position that reflects the relative performance of other schools in Amador County rather than a state-level benchmark. Only one year of data is available, so it is not possible to assess whether performance is stable or shifting.

The profile of soft results runs across mathematics starting around fifth grade, where proficiency drops substantially, and into sixth grade across both language arts and math. A parent may want to look into what instructional approaches and supports are in place for upper elementary grades, particularly in mathematics. The school does not report data on chronic absenteeism or graduation rate, which are metrics that apply to secondary grades or districts rather than this school.

Sutter Creek itself is a tourist and retiree destination built on preserved 19th-century mining architecture. Housing values in the area are moderate relative to California and the nation, and the local economy is anchored by health care, county government, and Main Street tourism. The town has grown very slowly historically; a major development proposal that could reshape growth has been under discussion for years but has not moved forward as originally planned. Residents are overwhelmingly car-dependent, though downtown Main Street is pedestrian-scaled and walkable. The school is well-positioned within the town, a few blocks from civic anchors including the library and the transit center.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 350%

School 50% · District 32% · ▲ 18 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median

Grade 453%

School 53% · District 33% · ▲ 21 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median

Grade 517%

School 17% · District 24% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median

Grade 628%

School 28% · District 23% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▼ 2 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 345%

School 45% · District 33% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median

Grade 452%

School 52% · District 37% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median

Grade 548%

School 48% · District 36% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median

Grade 632%

School 32% · District 30% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 12 pts below state median

Science

Grade 524%

School 24% · District 29% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median

This schoolAmador County 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-income16%Higher-income59%43 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income44%Higher-income57%13 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income26%Higher-income63%37 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income20%Higher-income36%16 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income21%Higher-income64%43 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income40%Higher-income62%22 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income16%Higher-income19%3 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income20%Higher-income31%11 pp gap