Sunnydale Elementary, Lancaster CA

Original Research by School Decision on Sunnydale Elementary

Sunnydale Elementary serves students from kindergarten through sixth grade in Lancaster, a mid-sized charter city in the Antelope Valley region of northern Los Angeles County. The school is a regular public school within the Lancaster Elementary School District.

The school enrolls a small to mid-sized student body. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, reflecting economic need in the school community. The student body is racially and ethnically diverse, with roughly equal shares of White, Black, and Hispanic students, along with smaller populations of Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, American Indian or Alaska Native, and multiracial students.

State assessment results from spring 2025 show proficiency rates well below district and state benchmarks across both English language arts and mathematics. In English language arts across tested grades, proficiency ranged from the low teens to around four in ten students in third grade. Math proficiency was considerably lower, with fourth grade showing particularly weak results and other grades ranging from the low teens to around four in ten in third grade. In fifth-grade science, proficiency was also in the low teens. These results position Sunnydale in the bottom quartile of schools within Los Angeles County when measured by overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades. A parent may want to look into these results further with the school and district to understand what academic support and intervention systems are in place, and what trajectory the school is on.

Lancaster itself is anchored by The BLVD, a walkable downtown cultural district with the public library, performing arts center, and museum within a few blocks, along with public transit access via Metrolink. The broader city is car-oriented, high-desert development. The Antelope Valley economy is anchored by aerospace, defense, healthcare, and education, with major employers including Edwards Air Force Base, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, and Antelope Valley Hospital. The area is positioned for growth, with substantial industrial and residential development in the pipeline and ongoing public investment in rail infrastructure.

Housing in the 93534 zip code where Sunnydale is located is moderately priced for Los Angeles County and has declined slightly in value over the past year. Rent has also declined modestly. The area's affordability profile reflects price-to-income ratios above the national average but lower than the state benchmark, positioning it as somewhat more affordable than much of coastal California.

In November 2024, Lancaster School District voters approved a general obligation bond for school facilities renovation and repair. Many district schools were built decades ago, and the bond will fund upgrades to classrooms, science labs, roofs, plumbing, electrical systems, and instructional technology. The tax rate extends the existing voter-approved rate rather than raising it.

Data on special populations such as students with individualized education plans and English learners was not available in the public reporting for this school.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 337%

School 37% · District 24% · ▲ 14 pts above district

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

Grade 44%

School 4% · District 17% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 34 pts below state median · ▼ 37 pts below county median

Grade 513%

School 13% · District 11% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Grade 615%

School 15% · District 10% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 339%

School 39% · District 24% · ▲ 15 pts above district

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

Grade 422%

School 22% · District 24% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Grade 531%

School 31% · District 25% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

Grade 619%

School 19% · District 24% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

Science

Grade 516%

School 16% · District 15% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

This schoolLancaster 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.