Hickman Charter, Hickman CA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Hickman Charter

Hickman Charter is a kindergarten-through-eighth-grade charter school sitting at the center of a small, unincorporated agricultural community in Stanislaus County's Central Valley. The school is, in a meaningful sense, the civic heart of Hickman itself. Publicly reported local sources describe a place where almond orchards and dairies define the economy, where a single-school community means staff and families tend to know each other well, and where the school on Fourth Street is the organizing institution for daily life in a way that rarely happens in larger towns.

The school enrolls several hundred students across its nine grade levels, making it a moderately sized K-8 for a rural community. Roughly two-fifths of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a meaningful share that reflects the working-class and agricultural character of the area. The student body is predominantly white, with Hispanic students making up a substantial portion, and smaller shares of Asian, Black, and multiracial students. Data on English learner enrollment and special education rates were not available in the data provided.

On California's state assessments, the picture in English language arts is one of a school that improves as students move through the grades. Proficiency rates in ELA rise noticeably from third grade through eighth grade, with eighth graders reaching rates that are more competitive with state norms. Math results are lower throughout and more uniform across grades, with each grade level sitting well below the statewide median. Science results from the two tested grades fall in between, with eighth grade again outperforming fifth. Placed against other districts in Stanislaus County, the school's overall proficiency index lands above the midpoint of the county's districts, which is a meaningful position given that the county includes many districts serving similar demographic and economic conditions. Still, math proficiency is a soft spot across the board, and a parent who wants to understand the school's specific approach to math development would benefit from asking directly.

Because this is a K-8 school, graduation rate data does not apply. Students completing eighth grade will transition to a high school outside Hickman, as the community has no high school of its own.

The school's charter status means it operates under a charter granted within California's system, though data on specific programs, course offerings, pedagogical approach, or staffing were not available in the data provided. The district brief search found no confirmed recent changes in leadership or policy direction to report.

On housing, the Hickman area carries home values well above the national midpoint but meaningfully below the California state average. The local market has seen year-over-year appreciation. There is no rental index available for a community this small. For a family weighing the area, the housing cost context sits in a middle range for California, supported by the rural character and distance from urban centers. Modesto, southeast of which Hickman sits, provides access to services, and public transit through Stanislaus Regional Transit connects Hickman to Modesto and nearby communities, though daily errands require a car for most residents.

The school's social context is genuinely distinctive. Small-town charter schools of this type attract families who want their children in a tight-knit peer environment where community involvement is natural. The tradeoff is limited extracurricular breadth and the certainty that eighth grade ends the Hickman experience. For a family comfortable with rural agricultural surroundings and a school that functions as the community's main gathering point, the fit can be strong. For a family seeking a broad program menu, high school pathways already visible in middle school, or an urban or suburban setting, the school's profile does not match those priorities.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 323%

School 23% · District 41% · ▼ 18 pts below district

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

Grade 427%

School 27% · District 42% · ▼ 15 pts below district

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

Grade 522%

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

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

Grade 628%

School 28% · District 42% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 722%

School 22% · District 32% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Grade 835%

School 35% · District 38% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 333%

School 33% · District 43% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Grade 435%

School 35% · District 48% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 543%

School 43% · District 47% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 649%

School 49% · District 54% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

Grade 752%

School 52% · District 60% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 863%

School 63% · District 63% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

Science

Grade 532%

School 32% · District 32% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

Grade 849%

School 49% · District 47% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grade 871%

School 71% · District 76% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

This schoolHickman Community Charter, 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-income21%Higher-income41%20 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income31%Higher-income41%10 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income37%Higher-income47%10 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income45%Higher-income52%7 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income54%Higher-income51%2 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income67%Higher-income59%7 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income13%Higher-income29%16 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income31%Higher-income23%8 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income22%Higher-income21%1 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income11%Higher-income41%30 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income25%Higher-income20%5 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income19%Higher-income48%29 pp gap