Plaza Elementary, Orland CA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Plaza Elementary

Plaza Elementary serves kindergarten through grade eight in Orland, a small agricultural town in the northern Sacramento Valley and the most populous city in Glenn County. The school is a regular public K-8 with a total enrollment of roughly two hundred students distributed across all nine grade levels. It sits in a community described as quiet, slow-paced, and family-oriented, centered on farmland producing olives, almonds, and walnuts, with residents owning cars at a high rate and commuting by car for most trips.

The school's academic profile is mixed across grade levels. In elementary grades, third and fourth graders show stronger performance: third grade reaches solid proficiency in math and roughly two-thirds proficiency in English language arts, while fourth graders achieve similar or slightly lower rates. The picture shifts notably in the middle grades. Fifth graders see a substantial drop in both subjects, with math proficiency falling to roughly two-fifths and English language arts to near that level. Sixth grade holds at similar low points in both subjects. By seventh grade, proficiency rebounds to the low-to-mid seventies in both math and English language arts. Eighth grade shows mid-range performance across tested areas. In science, where tested, fifth and eighth graders each show proficiency just above one-half. These grade-level swings suggest potential transitions or shifts in instructional focus that a parent may want to look into further with the school.

Overall, Plaza Elementary sits in the top quartile among Glenn County school districts on a composite proficiency index across tested subjects and grades, a meaningful position for a small rural school. The school's student body is roughly evenly split between white and Hispanic students, with a small number of students of mixed race or Native American descent. Roughly a substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating economic need in the enrollment.

The district completed a major facilities modernization recently, adding a new gymnasium and modular instructional buildings after construction that took roughly a year, with ribbon-cutting ceremonies held in fall of 2024. For a single-school district of this size, this represents a lasting upgrade to physical plant and athletic space that expands resources the school previously lacked.

Families should note that no data on chronic absenteeism or graduation rates appeared in the school's records, likely because the school's grade band does not include high school and comprehensive absence tracking data was not provided. The school offers at least one athletic program; a parent seeking fuller program information would want to consult the school website directly.

Housing in the Orland area, the school's catchment, sits modestly below the California state benchmark and carries a price-to-income ratio that suggests a degree of affordability compared to the state overall. The town has seen population growth and active new residential development aimed at first-time homebuyers, indicating stability and family-oriented community investment.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 387%

School 87% · District 87%

▲ 44 pts above state median

Grade 482%

School 82% · District 82%

▲ 44 pts above state median

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 39%

▲ 9 pts above state median

Grade 639%

School 39% · District 39%

▲ 9 pts above state median

Grade 771%

School 71% · District 71%

▲ 41 pts above state median

Grade 853%

School 53% · District 53%

▲ 25 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 370%

School 70% · District 70%

▲ 29 pts above state median

Grade 477%

School 77% · District 77%

▲ 35 pts above state median

Grade 570%

School 70% · District 70%

▲ 24 pts above state median

Grade 630%

School 30% · District 30%

▼ 13 pts below state median

Grade 771%

School 71% · District 71%

▲ 26 pts above state median

Grade 870%

School 70% · District 70%

▲ 26 pts above state median

Science

Grade 557%

School 57% · District 57%

▲ 28 pts above state median

Grade 853%

School 53% · District 53%

▲ 27 pts above state median

Social studies

Grade 864%

School 64% · District 64%

▲ 15 pts above state median

This schoolPlaza 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.