Palmer Way, National City CA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Palmer Way

Palmer Way is a kindergarten through sixth-grade public school in National City, a dense, working-class older city on San Diego Bay with a predominantly Hispanic and Asian population. The school serves an area where auto retail, healthcare, food distribution, and the nearby Naval Base San Diego shape the local economy. National City itself is relatively walkable with access to the San Diego Trolley Blue Line, connecting residents to downtown San Diego and the border at San Ysidro.

The school's current enrollment is small, with students distributed fairly evenly across the grade levels. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which reflects the economic circumstances of the neighborhoods the school serves. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a meaningful presence of Asian students and smaller groups of other backgrounds.

In academic performance, Palmer Way shows uneven results across grades and subjects. Third and fourth graders in English language arts perform at a notably higher rate than their peers in fifth and sixth grades, while math proficiency drops sharply in grade five before recovering somewhat in grade six. Overall proficiency in English language arts across tested grades sits at a lower-middle rate for the county district comparison group, and math proficiency is below the median. Science testing data are available only for fifth grade, where proficiency was low. The pattern across grades suggests that students in the upper elementary years face particular challenges in sustaining progress, particularly in mathematics, which a parent may want to discuss directly with the school.

Only one year of data is currently available, so trends over time cannot be assessed. State-level assessment data for grades three through six are the primary academic measure available; data on school attendance, chronic absenteeism, discipline, and the count of students receiving special education or English learner services were not provided or not available in the source.

The school is part of the National Elementary district. No significant recent district changes or bond measures were found in the available information, so the current operational and strategic context of the district could not be characterized from the materials at hand.

Housing in the zip code where Palmer Way is located reflects older inventory mixed with newer dense affordable units. The area has experienced modest appreciation. Rents and home values sit below the state and county benchmarks, and the cost of renting relative to local income is less strained than mortgage costs, meaning renters in the area have somewhat more financial flexibility than prospective homebuyers. Walkability is good by regional standards, and transit access is a real asset for families without a car or seeking alternatives to driving.

Palmer Way is a neighborhood school serving a community in transition, with new affordable housing and senior facilities being added nearby. For families in National City seeking elementary education, the school's strengths and weaknesses in different subjects and grade levels are worth exploring in depth with the school itself, especially if your child will enter or is approaching grade five.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 352%

School 52% · District 34% · ▲ 19 pts above district

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

Grade 448%

School 48% · District 26% · ▲ 22 pts above district

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

Grade 513%

School 13% · District 26% · ▼ 12 pts below district

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

Grade 632%

School 32% · District 27% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 346%

School 46% · District 28% · ▲ 18 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 469%

School 69% · District 29% · ▲ 39 pts above district

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

Grade 515%

School 15% · District 36% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 37 pts below county median

Grade 644%

School 44% · District 41% · ▲ 4 pts above district

even with state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Science

Grade 519%

School 19% · District 21% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

This schoolNational 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-income71%Higher-income58%13 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income46%Higher-income58%13 pp gap