Monson-sultana Elementary, Sultana CA

Original Research by School Decision on Monson-sultana Elementary

Monson-Sultana Elementary is a small rural K-8 school serving the agricultural community of Sultana in the San Joaquin Valley. The school enrolls students across all grade levels from kindergarten through eighth grade, with roughly equal cohorts in each year. The student body is overwhelmingly Hispanic, and a substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic circumstances of the farming families in the area.

The school's recent academic performance shows uneven results across grade levels and subjects. In mathematics, proficiency ranges widely: third and fourth graders show roughly mid-range performance, fifth grade shows very low proficiency, and seventh grade performs substantially above the typical pattern, while eighth grade lands in the middle range. English language arts proficiency is generally lower, with most grades in the low-to-mid range, though seventh and eighth grades show stronger results. Science proficiency, tested in fifth and eighth grade, is quite low. Overall proficiency across all tested grades and subjects sits above the median for Tulare County districts, though that position reflects the variability rather than consistent strength.

The volatile grade-by-grade pattern, particularly the sharp drop in fifth-grade mathematics and English language arts, deserves a parent's close attention. A family might ask the school directly what accounts for this fluctuation and what instructional approaches are in place for fifth graders. The substantially higher performance in seventh and eighth grade mathematics and eighth grade English language arts suggests the older grades may be finding traction, or that cohort differences exist, but trend data across years would clarify whether improvement is real or a statistical artifact of different groups.

The school is situated in a dispersed rural setting on a county road grid, with high car dependence and limited walkable infrastructure. Sultana itself is unincorporated, small, and slow-growing, with a young, working-class population where most residents rent. The major economic driver is agricultural work in the surrounding farmland. Civic life centers on the school and the Sultana Community Services District. Secondary-age students feed into Dinuba Unified schools. The nearby Dinuba area serves as the commercial and administrative hub.

The district recently completed a facilities expansion adding modular classrooms and a Student Education and Activity Center at the K-8 campus, along with a modernization that replaced primary play equipment. For a rural single-school setting, these upgrades represent a tangible commitment to the physical learning environment.

Special populations data on English learners and special education enrollment were not reported, making it impossible to characterize the school's support for those students or their outcomes. A parent seeking to understand how the school serves English learners or students with identified disabilities would need to contact the school directly.

The school is the anchor institution in the Sultana community, operating as a K-8 rather than separating elementary and middle grades. A family choosing this school is selecting a small, rural, predominantly Hispanic community school with modest proficiency overall, highly variable performance by grade, and recent physical improvements.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 346%

School 46% · District 46%

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

Grade 447%

School 47% · District 47%

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

Grade 512%

School 12% · District 12%

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

Grade 629%

School 29% · District 29%

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

Grade 774%

School 74% · District 74%

▲ 44 pts above state median · ▲ 50 pts above county median

Grade 852%

School 52% · District 52%

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 28 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 327%

School 27% · District 27%

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

Grade 435%

School 35% · District 35%

▼ 7 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 520%

School 20% · District 20%

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

Grade 629%

School 29% · District 29%

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 750%

School 50% · District 50%

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

Grade 866%

School 66% · District 66%

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

Science

Grade 514%

School 14% · District 14%

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

Grade 820%

School 20% · District 20%

▼ 6 pts below state median · even with county median

Social studies

Grade 836%

School 36% · District 36%

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

This schoolMonson-Sultana Joint Union 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.