Mokelumne Hill Elementary, Mokelumne Hill CA

Original Research by School Decision on Mokelumne Hill Elementary

Mokelumne Hill Elementary serves kindergarten through sixth grade in a small unincorporated census-designated place in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Calaveras County, commonly called Moke Hill. The town itself is an aging Gold Rush settlement with a historic, preserved downtown and a median age well above county and state averages. The school's enrollment is small, at roughly the size typical for a rural K-6 building serving its immediate area. Most students are white, with a modest share identifying as Hispanic or multiracial. About half of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating moderate economic strain within the families the school serves.

On state assessment data from the most recent testing cycle, the school's performance is plainly below the state standard across all measured areas. In English language arts across tested grades, overall proficiency sits in the low range; performance varies by grade, with third and sixth graders showing somewhat stronger results than fourth and fifth graders. In mathematics, proficiency is also low, and again drops notably at the upper elementary levels, with fourth through sixth grade showing particularly weak results. Science testing, administered only to fifth grade, also reports low proficiency. When set against the five school districts in Calaveras County, Mokelumne Hill's overall proficiency index sits in the top quartile of the county comparison set, which reflects the relative performance of elementary schools across the county rather than a broad-based strength statewide.

The pattern in the data suggests that upper-elementary instruction, particularly in grades four and five, may warrant close attention. A parent considering this school may want to ask directly how the school is addressing that performance cliff and what literacy and numeracy supports are available within the building. Historical trend data was not available to show whether this is a persistent pattern or a recent shift.

The district serving this school is Calaveras Unified, which covers a wide geographic area of the county and operates schools in multiple towns. The district has faced two consecutive failed bond measures over the past several years, meaning that aging facility needs and proposed career and vocational education improvements remain unfunded through local property-tax levies. This context is worth understanding if facility condition or program breadth is a consideration in your decision about where your child attends school.

The school is located on Highway 26, away from the compact historic downtown where the community library and civic life center. Older students feed from here into Toyon Middle School in Valley Springs and Calaveras High School in San Andreas, both within the district.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 352%

School 52% · District 28% · ▲ 23 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 430%

School 30% · District 20% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 532%

School 32% · District 12% · ▲ 20 pts above district

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

Grade 629%

School 29% · District 16% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▼ 1 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 341%

School 41% · District 29% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 422%

School 22% · District 29% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

Grade 547%

School 47% · District 28% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 653%

School 53% · District 31% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median

Science

Grade 537%

School 37% · District 20% · ▲ 17 pts above district

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

This schoolCalaveras 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 4Lower-income8%Higher-income36%28 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income17%Higher-income46%29 pp gap