Carmen Dragon Elementary, Antioch CA

Original Research by School Decision on Carmen Dragon Elementary

Carmen Dragon Elementary serves kindergarten through sixth grade in Antioch, a large Contra Costa County city that has grown substantially over recent decades as residents priced out of the Bay Area moved east. The school sits in a residential community characterized by mixed income levels and considerable ethnic and racial diversity. It is a regular public school, not a charter or magnet program.

The student body reflects Antioch's demographic composition: roughly equal shares of Hispanic and Black students, with a meaningful Asian population as well as smaller representations of other groups. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that many families live at or below the poverty line. English learner status data was not available in the source materials, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about that population.

Academic performance at Carmen Dragon presents a significant challenge. State testing results from the most recent school year show low proficiency across both mathematics and English language arts. In mathematics, proficiency rates across grades three through six cluster in the low teens, with modest variation by grade. In English language arts, performance is somewhat higher, ranging from low teens in third grade to the mid-thirties in fifth and sixth grades. Science testing at grade five yielded low proficiency as well. When positioned against other schools across Contra Costa County districts, Carmen Dragon sits in the bottom quartile for overall proficiency. These results suggest most students are not meeting grade-level standards. A parent may want to look into this further with the school: what support systems are in place for students working below grade level, and what interventions the school is pursuing to improve outcomes.

The school is small to mid-sized for its grade band, with stable enrollment across kindergarten and the upper elementary grades. The neighborhood around Vista Grande Drive is residential and mixed in character. Housing values in the Antioch zip code reflect a working- and middle-class market, and rental prices are moderate for the Bay Area. The cost of housing relative to local income is high by national standards, a pressure felt throughout the city.

Antioch Unified School District is navigating serious financial headwinds that families ought to know about. In 2024, voters approved a property-tax bond to repair aging schools and modernize facilities; that translates into a ongoing tax increase for homeowners. More urgently, the district faced a large structural budget deficit in 2026 driven by expiring COVID relief funds, rising special education costs, and declining enrollment. The county downgraded the district's budget certification to "negative" status, a threshold that signals likely inability to meet financial obligations without material changes. The board authorized layoffs affecting teachers, paraeducators who support special education, custodians, and other staff. A parent moving into the area should be aware that the district is in fiscal stress and that service levels, class sizes, and support staffing may contract.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 314%

School 14% · District 21% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

Grade 414%

School 14% · District 19% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

Grade 516%

School 16% · District 14% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 613%

School 13% · District 12% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 315%

School 15% · District 22% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

Grade 421%

School 21% · District 24% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 538%

School 38% · District 30% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

Grade 634%

School 34% · District 23% · ▲ 11 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 522%

School 22% · District 16% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

This schoolAntioch 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-income15%Higher-income16%1 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income19%Higher-income29%10 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income25%Higher-income58%33 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income23%Higher-income69%46 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income17%Higher-income5%11 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income16%Higher-income7%8 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income10%Higher-income25%15 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income4%Higher-income43%39 pp gap