Gold Oak Elementary, Placerville CA

Original Research by School Decision on Gold Oak Elementary

Gold Oak Elementary is a small public school in Placerville serving kindergarten through fifth grade. The school sits in a foothill county-seat town with a preserved historic downtown anchored by Main Street, where healthcare and county government drive the local economy. The school's enrollment is modest, with roughly balanced grade populations from kindergarten through fifth grade, and about a third of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.

The school's academic performance, as measured by California's standardized assessments for the 2024-25 school year, falls below the midpoint among districts in El Dorado County. In English language arts, proficiency rates range from about one-third in third grade to roughly mid-range in fifth grade, with an overall rate just above one-third across tested grades. Mathematics proficiency is lower, tracking in the mid-to-low twenties across the school, with fifth-grade performance dipping to around one-fifth. In science, measured at fifth grade only, proficiency is around two-fifths. These numbers indicate that a majority of students in most grades are not meeting grade-level standards in both reading and math.

The racial and ethnic makeup of the school is predominantly white, with a smaller Hispanic population and very few students from other backgrounds. Data on English learner populations and special education enrollment were not available. The school draws from a community where home values are moderate for the region and rents have climbed modestly in recent years, placing it in a mixed housing market where buying remains expensive relative to income.

The district has been navigating a contested period around school library policies and material selection, changes that drew an American Civil Liberties Union letter raising First Amendment concerns and prompted a community recall effort against board trustees in 2024. That effort did not reach a vote, but the underlying tensions around curriculum direction and community values remain live issues for families considering the school. The district has also faced concerns about teacher turnover and declining enrollment. A parent considering Gold Oak Elementary may want to look further into the school's current staffing stability and to understand the district's ongoing approach to curriculum and materials selection, as these have been sources of division in the community.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 326%

School 26% · District 26%

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

Grade 429%

School 29% · District 29%

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

Grade 521%

School 21% · District 21%

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

English language arts

Grade 333%

School 33% · District 33%

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 434%

School 34% · District 34%

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

Grade 545%

School 45% · District 45%

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

Science

Grade 540%

School 40% · District 40%

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

This schoolGold Oak Union Elementary, 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-income17%Higher-income46%29 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income39%Higher-income32%6 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income35%Higher-income52%17 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income14%Higher-income36%22 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income23%Higher-income32%9 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income6%Higher-income33%27 pp gap