Grant Elementary, Petaluma CA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Grant Elementary

Grant Elementary serves kindergarten through sixth grade in Petaluma, a historic city on the Sonoma County coast that blends a walkable downtown core with suburban neighborhoods and commercial corridors. The school sits within the Petaluma City Elementary School District, which faces significant fiscal pressure that will affect all its schools, including Grant.

Academically, Grant's performance is split. Math proficiency shows a pronounced decline by grade level. Third grade performs well on state assessments, while fourth grade dips noticeably, and proficiency continues to soften through fifth and sixth grades. English language arts is more stable; third and fifth grades perform at roughly comparable rates, while fourth and sixth grades are somewhat lower. A parent may want to ask the school directly about the math trajectory and what instructional strategies are in place to address the widening gap as students advance. Science results are available only for fifth grade, where proficiency is moderate. Across all tested subjects and grades, Grant ranks in the top quartile of schools within its county, a meaningful strength that reflects solid overall attainment despite the grade-level variance.

The school enrolls a small student body spread across seven grades, with a slight concentration in kindergarten and second grade. The student population is predominantly white, with smaller shares of multiracial and Hispanic students. About one in five students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on the counts of students with IEPs and English learners are not available in the public record.

The immediate context for Grant involves two major district decisions made public in early 2026. The district passed a roughly six-million-dollar budget reduction for the 2026-27 school year, eliminating the equivalent of many certificated and classified positions. Cut roles directly relevant to elementary students include an elementary school nurse, a reading specialist, a music teacher, a bilingual coordinator, two elementary assistant principals, and counseling staff. These staffing losses will reduce support services and specialized instruction available to students at Grant and across the district. For a family considering Grant, this is a concrete factor to weigh: fewer support personnel means longer wait times for services and less specialized intervention.

The district had sought voter approval for a parcel tax measure (Measure I) in late 2025 to offset some of this pressure, but the measure failed. The district does have funding from two prior voter-approved measures passed in 2024: a recurring parcel tax (Measure E) and a general obligation bond (Measure Z) dedicated to facilities upgrades. Those investments provide some stability on infrastructure and staffing retention, but they cannot fully cover the structural gap. A parent choosing Grant should understand that the school operates within a district under genuine fiscal stress, which constrains program breadth and service availability.

Petaluma itself is a moderate-sized city with a strong sense of place. The downtown is notably walkable and cultural, anchored by a historic riverfront and vintage iron-front buildings now home to galleries, restaurants, and music venues. Newer neighborhood development continues on the city's edges. Housing costs in the 94952 zip code serving Grant are substantial relative to state and national benchmarks; monthly mortgage estimates and rent-to-income ratios reflect a market that leans toward upper-middle-income households, though families of varied means do live in the area. The community includes employers ranging from health care and retail to notable regional companies such as Lagunitas Brewing and Amy's Kitchen. Daily civic life centers on the downtown and several parks, as well as a new public rail station that opened in early 2025, signaling ongoing neighborhood investment.

Grant is a neighborhood school serving its immediate area. It offers the breadth of a regular public elementary, without specialized focus or advanced magnet programming. A parent seeking Grant should view it as a solid foundational school with strong relative academic results but aware that district-wide staffing cuts will reduce on-site support services starting in the 2026-27 school year.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 386%

School 86% · District 51% · ▲ 35 pts above district

▲ 43 pts above state median · ▲ 43 pts above county median

Grade 464%

School 64% · District 44% · ▲ 19 pts above district

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

Grade 569%

School 69% · District 39% · ▲ 30 pts above district

▲ 39 pts above state median · ▲ 39 pts above county median

Grade 651%

School 51% · District 42% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 377%

School 77% · District 44% · ▲ 33 pts above district

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 35 pts above county median

Grade 465%

School 65% · District 43% · ▲ 23 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

Grade 573%

School 73% · District 47% · ▲ 25 pts above district

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

Grade 664%

School 64% · District 49% · ▲ 16 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 569%

School 69% · District 34% · ▲ 35 pts above district

▲ 41 pts above state median · ▲ 37 pts above county median

This schoolPetaluma City 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 3Lower-income55%Higher-income81%26 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income67%Higher-income74%8 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income60%Higher-income67%7 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income55%Higher-income91%37 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income42%Higher-income77%35 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income40%Higher-income57%17 pp gap