The top reported proficiency rate is 25% in English language arts. The lowest is 11% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Alila
Alila is a small elementary school serving kindergarten through fifth grade in Earlimart, a rural unincorporated community in southern Tulare County surrounded by farmland and vineyards. The school sits in the civic hub of the town, alongside its sister school, a park, churches, and the fire station, within an older residential district that anchors Earlimart's civic life east of Highway 99.
The enrollment is small and highly concentrated. The school serves roughly equal numbers across its grades, with a student body that is overwhelmingly Hispanic, reflecting Earlimart's agricultural economy and predominantly Mexican and farmworker population. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating deep economic need. Data on the share of English learners and students with disabilities was not available.
State test results in recent years show low proficiency. In English language arts, results range from the low twenties to just over thirty percent across grades three through five. Mathematics proficiency is substantially lower, in the low to mid-teens across those same grades. Science proficiency at grade five is in the low teens. Across tested subjects, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile relative to districts in Tulare County. This is the data a parent would see; one may want to look further into what instructional supports and intervention strategies the school is pursuing.
Housing in the zip code is modestly valued, and affordability is relatively strong by California standards. The mortgage cost is lower than rent, and monthly payments on a typical home remain below what residents pay in rent in many similar communities. The local economy is entirely agricultural, with employment centered on farm labor, packing, and food processing. The community has faced infrastructure constraints that have limited new housing development, though a proposed housing project near the district's middle school has been pursued as a way to stabilize enrollment. The town itself is sparse and car-dependent, with limited commercial activity and public transit, and residents note gaps in sidewalks and street maintenance.
The Earlimart Elementary School District, which operates this school along with a second elementary and one middle school, placed a general obligation bond measure on the November 2024 ballot aimed at major facility upgrades. Bond proceeds would fund replacement of portable classrooms with permanent structures, repairs to plumbing and electrical systems, water system improvements, technology upgrades, playground equipment, ADA accessibility work, shade structures, and EV charging stations. If approved, the bond would create an ongoing tax on assessed property value while it is outstanding. This reflects the district's need to modernize aging facilities and address infrastructure gaps that have long constrained the schools' physical environment.
A parent considering Alila should understand the school as embedded in a community with very limited economic resources, where proficiency in core academics is substantially below county norms, where the built environment has historically been tight and aging, and where recent efforts to secure voter approval for facility investment signal both need and institutional commitment to change. The school's context is one of genuine challenge, not acute crisis, but the academic foundation here is substantially below what families would find in stronger-performing parts of the county.
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