Veritas Elementary, Manteca CA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Veritas Elementary

Veritas Elementary is a mid-sized K-8 school in Manteca serving about one thousand students, with a majority Asian student body, a substantial share of Hispanic students, and a significant portion of students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The school sits in a city that is growing rapidly, with active residential development on all four sides and a fast-rising school-age population that has prompted the district to build three new campuses to absorb enrollment growth.

The school's academic performance shows a pattern worth examining closely. In English language arts, results are mixed by grade. Third through fifth grades show proficiency rates ranging from below to just above midpoint thresholds, while eighth grade stands notably higher. In mathematics, the picture is weaker across the board. Early elementary grades show somewhat stronger performance, but results decline sharply from sixth grade onward, with both sixth and eighth graders showing proficiency well below midpoint. Science proficiency data, available for grades five and eight, shows low results in both. These patterns suggest a school facing real academic headwinds, particularly as students advance to middle school years. A parent may want to look into what academic supports the school has in place, how math instruction is structured, and what transition happens as students move from the upper-elementary to middle-school grades.

Veritas's performance sits above the midpoint among San Joaquin County districts when measured across tested subjects and grades. This positioning reflects strengths in early elementary English language arts but does not mask the middle-school decline. The school serves a community in motion: Manteca is one of California's fastest-growing cities, with home building surging and families moving in from outside the region seeking more space and affordability. Housing in the area is valued well below the state benchmark, and monthly rents are moderate, making Manteca a market where families are trading distance from job centers for larger homes and more accessible schools.

Families considering Veritas should be aware that Manteca Unified implemented standards-based report cards in place of traditional letter grades for kindergarten through sixth grade during the 2024-25 school year. Rather than A through F marks, parents receive labels such as "proficient" or "approaching" tied to specific grade-level standards. This shift takes getting used to and changes how families track progress, and it applies through sixth grade; seventh and eighth grades continue traditional grading. The district is also phasing in transitional kindergarten for four-year-olds, adding a new grade level at schools like Veritas that operate kindergarten.

The broader district context includes two property-tax obligations beyond standard rates. Measure A, approved by voters in 2020, is funding a multi-decade campus modernization that raises property taxes for all families, with major rebuild projects underway at high schools. Additionally, some newer neighborhoods in and around Manteca pay Mello-Roos community facility taxes, a separate layer on top of property tax and bond taxes that fund specific schools and carry priority enrollment provisions. Families moving into these areas face both the extra tax and potential assignment to a distant school if they choose a home not in the tax zone. These are concrete financial and logistical factors to weigh.

Veritas Elementary reflects the reality of a school in a rapidly growing suburban district: younger students show adequate foundation skills in reading, but mathematical proficiency is a concern, and the upper grades show steeper academic challenges. The school operates in a community where housing is becoming less affordable due to development demand, and families are managing multiple layers of school-related property taxes. Whether Veritas is the right fit depends on what academic supports your child needs, your tolerance for the standards-based report card format, and your ability to navigate the local tax and enrollment environment.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 354%

School 54% · District 26% · ▲ 28 pts above district

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

Grade 443%

School 43% · District 24% · ▲ 20 pts above district

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

Grade 546%

School 46% · District 20% · ▲ 26 pts above district

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

Grade 629%

School 29% · District 22% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

Grade 734%

School 34% · District 21% · ▲ 13 pts above district

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

Grade 827%

School 27% · District 22% · ▲ 5 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 344%

School 44% · District 26% · ▲ 19 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 444%

School 44% · District 27% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 556%

School 56% · District 35% · ▲ 20 pts above district

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

Grade 629%

School 29% · District 32% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 746%

School 46% · District 39% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 858%

School 58% · District 40% · ▲ 18 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Science

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 20% · ▲ 19 pts above district

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

Grade 825%

School 25% · District 19% · ▲ 5 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grade 854%

School 54% · District 41% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

This schoolManteca 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income41%Higher-income49%8 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income43%Higher-income48%5 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income57%Higher-income54%2 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income24%Higher-income39%15 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income45%Higher-income47%2 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income58%Higher-income59%1 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income54%Higher-income53%1 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income41%Higher-income48%7 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income46%Higher-income45%1 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income24%Higher-income39%15 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income30%Higher-income40%11 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income26%Higher-income29%4 pp gap