George Washington Elementary, Madera CA

Original Research by School Decision on George Washington Elementary

George Washington Elementary sits in central Madera, in a neighborhood built on a tight urban grid with strong Spanish-language presence. The school is a regular public elementary serving kindergarten through sixth grade with an enrollment distributed across all grades. The school's enrollment is entirely Title I eligible; practically all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic circumstances of the surrounding community.

The school's 2024-25 state test results show proficiency well below the county median across both English language arts and math. In ELA, proficiency across tested grades averages in the mid-range, with third grade at its lowest and sixth grade its strongest, reaching about four in ten students. Math proficiency is lower and more uniform across grades, hovering around one in five students. In fifth-grade science, measured on California's science assessment, just over one in ten students showed proficiency. These gaps are substantial: the school's overall proficiency index places it at the bottom quartile among the districts in Madera County. A parent may want to look into further with the school what targeted reading and mathematics supports are available, what professional development staff have received in these areas, and what benchmarks guide the school's own improvement trajectory.

The school's peer composition is notably homogeneous. Nearly all students identify as Hispanic; all other racial and ethnic groups combined represent a very small share. Spanish is the predominant home language across the neighborhood, and families are embedded in Madera's long-rooted agricultural and manufacturing economy. The student body reflects the working-poor and immigrant-rooted character of downtown Madera.

Madera as a city is in the midst of rapid growth, with major residential developments under way on its edges and strong demand for both housing and services. The downtown where George Washington sits is walkable, anchored by parks, city transit, and locally owned commerce along Yosemite Avenue. The median home value in the area is moderate and has appreciated steadily. The broader community economy remains tied to agriculture, food manufacturing, and health care, with Valley Children's Hospital the region's largest private employer. A new intermediate school, King Husein, is opening in August 2026 on the southwest side of town, adding capacity to Madera Unified as enrollment grows.

The district itself has implemented a high school graduation requirement new with the class of 2025: all seniors must complete a capstone portfolio and oral defense of their work to earn a diploma, on top of standard credits. This reshapes instruction K-12 around six graduate skills. For elementary families, the change signals the pathway ahead and the skills the district now emphasizes from the start.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 318%

School 18% · District 33% · ▼ 15 pts below district

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

Grade 417%

School 17% · District 24% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

Grade 517%

School 17% · District 19% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

Grade 620%

School 20% · District 23% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 314%

School 14% · District 29% · ▼ 16 pts below district

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

Grade 419%

School 19% · District 29% · ▼ 10 pts below district

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

Grade 531%

School 31% · District 32% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

Grade 643%

School 43% · District 34% · ▲ 9 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 511%

School 11% · District 17% · ▼ 6 pts below district

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

This schoolMadera 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.