Cahuilla Elementary, Palm Springs CA

Original Research by School Decision on Cahuilla Elementary

Cahuilla Elementary is a regular public school serving kindergarten through fifth grade in Palm Springs, located in a mid-sized desert resort city where leisure and hospitality, healthcare, retail, and education anchor the local economy. The school sits on a campus-based location on East Mesquite Avenue, separate from Palm Springs' compact downtown core, and draws students from the broader Palm Springs Unified School District service area.

The school's student body is predominantly Hispanic and economically disadvantaged. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Enrollment is small to moderate for an elementary school of this grade band, distributed fairly evenly across the six grades. The student population reflects the composition of Palm Springs and the wider Coachella Valley.

Academic performance at Cahuilla is low across both tested subjects and grade levels. In English language arts, proficiency ranges from just over a quarter of students in fifth grade to under a third in the intermediate grades. Math proficiency is notably weaker, dipping below a quarter overall, with fifth-grade performance particularly depressed. Science proficiency in fifth grade is also very low. When positioned against the elementary schools serving districts across Riverside County, Cahuilla's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile. These results reflect what appears to be a school facing substantial academic headwinds.

Data on specific student populations such as English learners or students with disabilities, as well as information on chronic absenteeism, attendance, or discipline, was not available. Whether those circumstances contribute to the proficiency picture or whether other factors are at play cannot be determined from the information provided. A parent may want to look into those details directly with the school and district.

Palm Springs Unified approved a major school facilities bond in November 2024, directing resources toward modernization of aging facilities across the district over coming years. This represents a long-term commitment to infrastructure that would affect the school environment over time. The district's property-tax rate structure, set through that bond measure, is expected to hold steady for owners in the district during the bond's life.

The broader housing market in Palm Springs shows modest recovery after 2025 price softening, with new construction activity underway in multiple neighborhoods alongside restoration of midcentury homes. The city's mix of walkable downtown amenities, hospitality-driven character, and dispersed residential neighborhoods creates a particular kind of community for families. Transportation in the area relies on car travel outside the downtown core, though the region is expanding public transit and multiuse paths.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 328%

School 28% · District 32% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

Grade 432%

School 32% · District 25% · ▲ 7 pts above district

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

Grade 58%

School 8% · District 21% · ▼ 13 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 329%

School 29% · District 34% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

Grade 432%

School 32% · District 29% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

Grade 525%

School 25% · District 36% · ▼ 11 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 59%

School 9% · District 21% · ▼ 12 pts below district

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

This schoolPalm Springs 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.