Sisson, Mount Shasta CA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Sisson

Sisson is a middle school serving grades four through eight in Mount Shasta, a small mountain town at the base of the mountain itself. The school sits on East Alma Street in a community with a compact downtown of locally owned shops and restaurants, quiet residential neighborhoods, and an economy built around tourism, outdoor recreation, and water-based industries. Sisson's student body is predominantly white, with a modest Hispanic enrollment and small numbers of other racial and ethnic groups. Roughly four in ten students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting economic circumstances in the area.

The school's state testing results show consistent challenge across both English language arts and mathematics. In the most recent year, proficiency rates ranged across grade levels from lows of around one-quarter of students in grades five, six, and seven, to highs of around two-fifths in grade four math and grade five ELA. Grade eight showed modestly stronger results, with around three-fifths proficient or above on the social studies assessment from an earlier testing year. Science results for the grades tested were comparable, hovering near or just below one-third in grade five and rising to roughly one-third in grade eight. Across the school's tested subjects and grades, overall proficiency sits above the midpoint among Siskiyou County's districts, though the absolute performance levels remain low statewide.

The enrollment is modest, with roughly a few hundred students distributed fairly evenly across the five grade levels the school serves. This smaller size allows for a school environment in which students know one another and staff can track individual progress, though it also means fewer elective and specialized offerings than larger schools might provide.

Mount Shasta itself is experiencing population decline and aging demographics, and housing has become a policy priority for the city. The median home value is below the state benchmark, and housing affordability in the area favors buyers relative to California overall. The town economy depends heavily on tourism and recreation, with employers including health care, the water bottling industry, and outdoor-recreation businesses. Public transportation is limited; families rely on cars for most commuting. A walkable downtown exists, but the broader community is car-dependent.

The district has recently launched California's Universal Transitional Kindergarten program at its elementary school, offering four-year-olds a year of public early learning. This is a new pathway for local families with younger children.

A parent considering Sisson should understand that the school serves a small, rural, largely white community with real academic proficiency gaps. The school's position above the county midpoint reflects strong performance relative to other districts in a sparsely populated region, not strong performance by state standards. The testing data suggests students in this school face substantial academic support needs, particularly in math and ELA. A parent may want to look into the school's instructional approach, intervention systems, and any specialized support for struggling learners to understand how these gaps are being addressed. The school's size and setting suit families who value a small, close-knit environment and a mountain-based lifestyle, and who are comfortable with the rural character of the place.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 442%

School 42% · District 42%

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

Grade 528%

School 28% · District 28%

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

Grade 628%

School 28% · District 28%

▼ 3 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 729%

School 29% · District 29%

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

Grade 840%

School 40% · District 40%

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 440%

School 40% · District 40%

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 545%

School 45% · District 45%

even with state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 635%

School 35% · District 35%

▼ 9 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 728%

School 28% · District 28%

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

Grade 835%

School 35% · District 35%

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Science

Grade 528%

School 28% · District 28%

even with state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 837%

School 37% · District 37%

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 858%

School 58% · District 58%

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

This schoolMt. Shasta 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 4Lower-income33%Higher-income48%14 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income29%Higher-income51%23 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income35%Higher-income35%0 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income16%Higher-income38%22 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income26%Higher-income39%13 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income29%Higher-income57%28 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income21%Higher-income31%9 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income17%Higher-income33%17 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income22%Higher-income33%11 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income16%Higher-income50%34 pp gap