Cyril Spinelli Elementary, Antelope CA

Original Research by School Decision on Cyril Spinelli Elementary

Cyril Spinelli Elementary is a small public school in Antelope serving kindergarten through sixth grade, with an enrollment drawn largely from families who qualify for free or reduced-price meals. Roughly two-thirds of students meet that threshold, and the student body is diverse, with substantial shares identifying as Hispanic, White, Asian, or multiracial. The school's location in a rapidly growing suburb of Sacramento places it in a community experiencing significant residential construction and population influx, where most families own homes and rely on cars for daily travel.

The school's academic performance is weak across tested subjects and grades. In English language arts, proficiency ranges from about one-fifth of students in fourth and fifth grades to just under half in third grade; sixth grade sits in between. Math results are lower, with fewer than one-quarter of students overall meeting proficiency, and performance drops sharply by grade level, from roughly one-third in third grade to around one-seventh in fourth grade. Science proficiency in fifth grade, the only grade tested, is also low. Overall proficiency across all tested subjects and grades places the school below the midpoint relative to the other districts in Sacramento County. A parent may want to look into the school's instructional approaches and what supports are in place to address these numbers, particularly in math.

The school serves a community where housing costs are moderate relative to incomes, and most residents own their homes. Antelope lacks a downtown center; daily life revolves instead around parks, the public library, and commercial corridors. The broader region is growing rapidly, and Antelope itself is in the midst of a construction boom with hundreds of new homes and multiple master-planned communities adding units nearby. This growth context means the school may face enrollment pressure and changing neighborhood composition in coming years.

At the district level, Center Joint Unified, which oversees Cyril Spinelli and schools in Elverta and Roseville, is transitioning to a by-trustee-area election system. Beginning in November 2026, parents will vote only for the board member representing their geographic area rather than voting for all five board seats. This is a meaningful shift in how local school governance and representation function.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 334%

School 34% · District 35%

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

Grade 414%

School 14% · District 24% · ▼ 10 pts below district

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

Grade 520%

School 20% · District 17% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

Grade 619%

School 19% · District 22% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 347%

School 47% · District 40% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 419%

School 19% · District 32% · ▼ 14 pts below district

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

Grade 522%

School 22% · District 31% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Grade 629%

School 29% · District 37% · ▼ 8 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 528%

School 28% · District 24% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

This schoolCenter Joint 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-income13%Higher-income31%18 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income3%Higher-income39%35 pp gap