Alianza Charter, Watsonville CA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Alianza Charter

Alianza Charter is a charter school in Watsonville serving kindergarten through eighth grade, housed on a campus on Casserly Road in a city that blends agricultural roots with active downtown revitalization in the Pajaro Valley. The school enrolls a small population for its grade span, with enrollment distributed fairly evenly across grades. It is a charter governed under Pajaro Valley Unified, the district that covers the area.

The student body is heavily Hispanic and economically disadvantaged. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Enrollment data on English learners and special education were not available. The demographic makeup reflects Watsonville itself, which has a heavily foreign-born population rooted in agriculture and farm work.

Academically, Alianza's state test results show consistent proficiency gaps across tested grades and subjects. In English language arts, proficiency is uneven by grade: third and fourth grade lag measurably behind, fifth and sixth grade perform notably better, seventh grade reaches near-median performance, and eighth grade drops sharply. In mathematics, proficiency is lower overall and declines as grades progress, with eighth grade showing particularly low results. Science proficiency, assessed in grades five and eight, shows a steep decline from fifth to eighth grade. These patterns suggest that while some cohorts and earlier grades perform at or near middle-ground levels in ELA, the school struggles across the board in mathematics, and both subjects show notable weakness in the upper grades. A parent may want to ask the school directly about math supports and why eighth-grade performance narrows so significantly.

Relative to other districts in Santa Cruz County, Alianza's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile among county schools with comparable data available. The school does not have a graduation rate, as it does not serve high school grades.

Watsonville itself is a small agricultural city with a compact, walkable downtown anchored by civic institutions like the library, farmers market, and civic plaza. The city is on a managed-growth trajectory with active housing development, much of it targeted toward affordability and farmworker families. Downtown revitalization is explicit city policy, and transit service via Santa Cruz METRO and Monterey-Salinas Transit connects the community to Salinas and Santa Cruz. Housing in the zip code is moderately valued; rent as a proportion of median income runs higher than the national benchmark, reflecting the higher cost of the region.

The Pajaro Valley Unified district recently passed a major bond measure in November 2024, the largest in the district's history, to repair and upgrade its schools, expand technology, and fund potential workforce housing and a performing arts center. This represents a long-term infrastructure commitment. The district also requires ethnic studies for high school graduation, a mandate that applies only at the high school level and therefore does not affect Alianza directly, but reflects broader curriculum direction in the district.

Alianza is a neighborhood school serving a community with deep agricultural ties and economic constraints. Its test results indicate academic challenges, particularly in math and in upper grades, that parents should understand fully in conversation with the school before enrollment.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 330%

School 30% · District 22% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

Grade 433%

School 33% · District 17% · ▲ 16 pts above district

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

Grade 530%

School 30% · District 17% · ▲ 13 pts above district

even with state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 624%

School 24% · District 16% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

Grade 731%

School 31% · District 18% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 819%

School 19% · District 14% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 335%

School 35% · District 20% · ▲ 15 pts above district

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

Grade 439%

School 39% · District 22% · ▲ 18 pts above district

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

Grade 549%

School 49% · District 27% · ▲ 23 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 652%

School 52% · District 25% · ▲ 27 pts above district

▲ 9 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 750%

School 50% · District 29% · ▲ 21 pts above district

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

Grade 831%

School 31% · District 23% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Science

Grade 531%

School 31% · District 16% · ▲ 15 pts above district

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

Grade 817%

School 17% · District 14% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 824%

School 24% · District 38% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

This schoolPajaro Valley 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-income35%Higher-income33%2 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income32%Higher-income64%32 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income47%Higher-income57%10 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income50%Higher-income62%12 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income43%Higher-income69%26 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income17%Higher-income65%48 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income27%Higher-income42%14 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income28%Higher-income50%22 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income26%Higher-income43%17 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income20%Higher-income39%19 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income29%Higher-income38%9 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income12%Higher-income35%23 pp gap