Sun Empire Elementary, Kerman CA

Original Research by School Decision on Sun Empire Elementary

Sun Empire Elementary sits on North Modoc Avenue in Kerman, a small agricultural city in Fresno County roughly fifteen miles west of Fresno. The school serves kindergarten through sixth grade within Kerman Unified, a district that has been actively expanding its elementary capacity, including the opening of a new school in August 2024 that prompted a redraw of attendance boundaries across the city. Families buying or renting in Kerman should confirm which elementary school their address falls under, since those lines have recently shifted.

Kerman itself is a place shaped by the San Joaquin Valley's agricultural economy. Orchards, vineyards, and packing operations surround the city, and the main business corridor runs along Madera Avenue through a compact downtown that the city has been revitalizing. Housing here runs well below California's statewide median, and publicly reported information describes a steady stream of new single-family subdivisions under way or recently approved, with developers marketing the area as affordable for first-time buyers and families relocating from costlier parts of the state. Transit to Fresno exists through a county rural transit route, and a free shuttle connects the community center to Fresno City College.

Sun Empire draws a predominantly Hispanic student body, which reflects the demographic character of Kerman broadly. A large share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing this school squarely in a high-need context. Data on English learner rates and special education were not available in what was provided.

State assessment results come from California's CAASPP Smarter Balanced exams, administered in grades three through six. The picture is uneven. Fourth grade stands out in both English language arts and math, with proficiency rates that are meaningfully higher than the other tested grades. Third, fifth, and sixth grades show substantially lower proficiency in both subjects, and fifth-grade science results on the California Science Test are low. Across all tested grades combined, the school's overall proficiency index places it above the midpoint among districts in Fresno County, which is a meaningful position given that this is a high-poverty school in a county with a wide spread of outcomes. That said, the majority of students in most grade levels are not yet meeting state standards, which is a real gap a parent should ask the school about directly, particularly around what supports exist for students who are behind and whether any grade-level patterns reflect staffing, curriculum, or other addressable factors.

Multi-year trend data was not available; only a single year of results appears here, so there is no basis to characterize whether performance is improving, declining, or holding steady. A parent who wants a trajectory picture would need to ask the school or district for prior-year results.

Because Sun Empire stops at sixth grade, graduation rates do not apply, and there is no high school course access or career pathway information to report. Civil rights data was not provided. Chronic absenteeism data was also absent, which is worth asking about given the economic context, since high absenteeism in elementary school tends to compound later academic gaps.

The school's setting in a growing community adds some longer-term context. Kerman is adding residential development at a pace that will likely increase enrollment across the district, and the attendance boundary changes that accompanied Harvest Elementary's opening in 2024 are a signal that the district is actively managing capacity. For a family weighing a home purchase in Kerman, it is worth understanding not just which school serves your address today but how stable that assignment is as new subdivisions come online.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 334%

School 34% · District 39% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 460%

School 60% · District 38% · ▲ 23 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

Grade 524%

School 24% · District 25% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 628%

School 28% · District 25% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 325%

School 25% · District 42% · ▼ 16 pts below district

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

Grade 454%

School 54% · District 44% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

Grade 542%

School 42% · District 41% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 3 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 637%

School 37% · District 44% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Science

Grade 516%

School 16% · District 25% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

This schoolKerman 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.