Luther Burbank Elementary, Merced CA

Original Research by School Decision on Luther Burbank Elementary

Luther Burbank Elementary serves kindergarten through sixth grade in Merced, a small city in California's northern Central Valley. The school enrolls a small student body for its grade span, drawn from a neighborhood that is economically and ethnically diverse. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student population is predominantly Hispanic, with meaningful enrollment of white, Asian, and mixed-race students and smaller numbers of Black and Native American students.

On California's state assessments in English language arts and mathematics, Luther Burbank's results fall below proficiency for the student body as a whole. In the most recent testing year, the school's overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades places it above the midpoint among districts in Merced County, but the raw numbers reflect real academic challenges. In English language arts, proficiency ranges from the low thirties to the mid-fifties across tested grades, with fifth grade performing strongest. Mathematics proficiency is lower, ranging in the high twenties to low forties. In the one grade where science is tested, fifth grade, proficiency is in the upper thirties. A parent may want to look into the school's current instructional priorities and any targeted support strategies with the school directly, since a single year of data limits what trends can be observed.

Luther Burbank is a regular public elementary school in the Merced City School District. The district approved major boundary changes beginning in the 2025-2026 school year to address overcrowding and grade configuration shifts. Starting in the 2026-2027 school year, sixth graders will move from elementary schools to middle schools, changing the structure of schools like Luther Burbank. Voters recently approved a substantial school facilities bond to modernize and upgrade safety features across the district's schools over roughly the next decade, which will add a recurring property tax cost for the broader community.

The neighborhood and wider Merced context shapes a family's experience here. The city itself sits in a growth moment tied to UC Merced's expansion and the coming California High-Speed Rail station, with new residential development concentrating in North Merced and near the campus. Downtown Merced has a compact walkable core with locally owned shops, restaurants, and cultural venues, though most daily life relies on cars. Housing values in the area are moderate relative to state benchmarks, and rents have moved slightly upward in the past year. The local economy blends higher education, healthcare, government, and agriculture, with UC Merced and nearby food processing plants among the major employers. Public transit is provided by Merced County Transit, with Amtrak service downtown and bus routes to Yosemite.

Luther Burbank's academic profile reflects typical dynamics in a school serving lower-income families with limited English proficiency among a portion of the student body. The proficiency measures show work ahead in both literacy and numeracy, but the fact that the school sits above the county midpoint suggests some strength relative to similarly situated peers. A family considering this school would benefit from conversations with administrators about current reading and math initiatives, teacher experience with multilingual learners if that applies, and how the incoming grade-configuration change will affect programming and continuity.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 339%

School 39% · District 32% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▼ 3 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 427%

School 27% · District 24% · ▲ 4 pts above district

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

Grade 528%

School 28% · District 19% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 630%

School 30% · District 18% · ▲ 12 pts above district

even with state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 333%

School 33% · District 30% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 7 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 442%

School 42% · District 32% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 555%

School 55% · District 37% · ▲ 18 pts above district

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

Grade 643%

School 43% · District 36% · ▲ 8 pts above district

even with state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Science

Grade 538%

School 38% · District 22% · ▲ 16 pts above district

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

This schoolMerced City 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income24%Higher-income63%39 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income28%Higher-income86%59 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income44%Higher-income81%37 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income32%Higher-income68%35 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income32%Higher-income63%31 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income16%Higher-income64%47 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income15%Higher-income56%40 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income16%Higher-income59%43 pp gap