Public Safety Academy, Fairfield CA

Original Research by School Decision on Public Safety Academy

Public Safety Academy sits on Atlantic Avenue in Fairfield, a city between San Francisco and Sacramento that serves as the Solano County seat. The school is classified as an alternative school within Fairfield-Suisun Unified and runs from fifth grade through twelfth, a span that is uncommon and worth understanding before applying. Because it is an alternative school, some conventional comparison points apply differently here, and parents should ask the school directly about its admission criteria, program focus, and the population it is designed to serve.

On state assessments, the school's overall proficiency picture is genuinely strong, particularly in English language arts. Across the tested grades available for 2024-25, ELA proficiency is solid at each grade level, with most sitting well above the midpoint. Math proficiency varies more by grade, with fifth grade coming in noticeably lower than the middle school grades, which perform better. Science results, where reported for fifth and eighth grade, are in the moderate range. Taken together, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile relative to districts in Solano County, which is a real strength given that county-wide performance serves as the relevant comparison pool here. Only one year of data is available for the current assessment, so trend direction cannot be established. Social studies data from a much earlier testing era shows a high proficiency rate for eighth grade at that time, but that assessment is no longer in use and should not be read as a current signal.

A graduation rate is not reported, and chronic absenteeism data are also absent. For an alternative school spanning into high school grades, both gaps are worth asking about directly.

Enrollment spans fifth through twelfth grade. The student body is racially and ethnically diverse: Hispanic students make up the largest share, followed by white students, Asian students, Black students, and multiracial students, with smaller numbers from other groups. Close to half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting a mix of economic backgrounds. Data on English learner enrollment and special education rates were not available in the data provided.

No information on course offerings, AP or dual-enrollment pathways, extracurriculars, or staffing ratios was available. For an alternative school, those program details are often central to whether it is the right fit, and a direct conversation with the school is the clearest way to understand what the academic pathway looks like beyond the tested grades.

Fairfield itself is a working city with a real economic spine. Travis Air Force Base, NorthBay Healthcare, the Anheuser-Busch brewery, Jelly Belly, and the school district itself all publicly reported as major employers. The downtown along Texas Street is undergoing an active pedestrian-focused redesign, and several large housing master plans are in various stages of approval and construction, pointing to continued population growth in coming years. Transit connects the city to Sacramento and to BART in the East Bay, though the city has historically been auto-oriented outside the downtown core.

On housing, the local market sits well below the California state median but remains meaningfully above the national median. Home values have dipped slightly year over year, and rents are also essentially flat. The rent-to-income ratio is elevated relative to national norms, which families weighing a move to the area will want to factor in. Property owners in the district are also carrying a new tax levy tied to a bond anticipation note the district issued to fund school construction ahead of selling its voter-approved Measure S bonds, with that levy running for several years.

The district-level bond program, approved by voters in 2022, is directing funds toward classroom modernization, science labs, technology, and safety upgrades across school sites, continuing work begun under an earlier bond. Whether Public Safety Academy's campus is among the sites benefiting from that work is worth confirming with the district.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

>=90%Cohort of 55 students · Class of 2021

The federal source publishes a banded range instead of an exact rate when the graduating cohort is small enough that an exact number could risk identifying individual students.

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

2,394 schools plotted. 142 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 542%

School 42% · District 30% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 665%

School 65% · District 26% · ▲ 38 pts above district

▲ 34 pts above state median · ▲ 40 pts above county median

Grade 754%

School 54% · District 26% · ▲ 27 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 29 pts above county median

Grade 859%

School 59% · District 30% · ▲ 29 pts above district

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 36 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 572%

School 72% · District 43% · ▲ 29 pts above district

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 32 pts above county median

Grade 679%

School 79% · District 41% · ▲ 38 pts above district

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 41 pts above county median

Grade 778%

School 78% · District 42% · ▲ 35 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 38 pts above county median

Grade 875%

School 75% · District 43% · ▲ 32 pts above district

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 42 pts above county median

Science

Grade 552%

School 52% · District 28% · ▲ 24 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 28 pts above county median

Grade 845%

School 45% · District 28% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 883%

School 83% · District 51% · ▲ 32 pts above district

▲ 34 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

This schoolFairfield-Suisun 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 5Lower-income79%Higher-income66%13 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income72%Higher-income86%14 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income78%Higher-income76%2 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income70%Higher-income81%11 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income37%Higher-income46%9 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income63%Higher-income67%4 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income58%Higher-income47%11 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income48%Higher-income72%24 pp gap