Rio Del Sol, Oxnard CA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Rio Del Sol

Rio del Sol is the first K-8 STEAM campus in Rio Elementary School District and the first such school in Ventura County. It serves students from kindergarten through eighth grade in Oxnard, a coastal city in Ventura County that blends agricultural heritage with suburban development and commercial activity.

The school itself is mid-sized for its grade band, with enrollment distributed fairly evenly across the nine grades. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial Asian population and smaller numbers of White and multiracial students. About four in ten students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a working-class community profile.

Academically, the school shows a split picture across subjects and grades. In English language arts, performance is stronger in the middle grades (fourth through seventh), where proficiency sits solidly above half. Third grade and eighth grade ELA are noticeably weaker. Mathematics is the softer area across all grades, with proficiency ranging from the high thirties to just under half; only third and fourth grades approach or touch the halfway mark. Science testing shows a significant drop from fifth to eighth grade, falling to under a quarter proficient by eighth grade. When averaged across all tested grades and subjects, the school lands above the midpoint among Ventura County districts, a positioning that reflects uneven strength rather than across-the-board consistency.

The school's instructional model centers on hands-on, inquiry-based STEAM learning—science, technology, engineering, arts, and math—as an integrated framework. Classrooms are built around STEAM centers that connect academic content to applied problem-solving. This is a deliberate pedagogical choice and a relatively new one for the district, which has been shifting from a traditional six elementary and two middle school structure toward K-8 academies. Parents choosing Rio del Sol are electing into a campus-style, integrated-subject model rather than a conventional departmentalized middle school experience in the upper grades.

The school's facilities are new, part of a bond-funded capital investment. The district passed Measure H in 2022, a general obligation bond that families in the area will see reflected in property tax bills. Those funds are supporting classroom renovations, safety and security upgrades, and new or renovated facilities across the district. This is a long-term financial commitment visible on residential property taxes throughout the district's boundaries.

Oxnard itself is Ventura County's largest city and primary commercial center, with a historic walkable downtown anchored by civic buildings, parks, and a transit hub, alongside newer suburban residential neighborhoods and industrial areas. The city is experiencing substantial housing growth, with new residential developments scattered across the city, including around the northeast area where Rio del Sol sits on former farmland. The area has a working mixed-income character, with major employers in agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare, and maritime trade. Housing values in the zip code are moderately high by California standards, and rents track above the state average, placing affordability pressure on families.

A parent considering Rio del Sol should ask the school directly about the English learner and special education enrollment rates, which were not available in the data. The mathematics proficiency trend and the sharp decline in science proficiency at the eighth-grade level may warrant a deeper conversation with the school about instructional support in those areas and how the school responds when students fall below proficiency benchmarks. The integrated STEAM model appeals to families drawn to project-based, cross-disciplinary learning, though parents accustomed to traditional subject-based instruction may want to understand how that plays out in practice across the grades.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 351%

School 51% · District 31% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 450%

School 50% · District 30% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 537%

School 37% · District 23% · ▲ 15 pts above district

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

Grade 644%

School 44% · District 22% · ▲ 22 pts above district

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

Grade 738%

School 38% · District 19% · ▲ 19 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 837%

School 37% · District 23% · ▲ 14 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 337%

School 37% · District 26% · ▲ 11 pts above district

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

Grade 460%

School 60% · District 32% · ▲ 28 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 568%

School 68% · District 41% · ▲ 27 pts above district

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

Grade 662%

School 62% · District 36% · ▲ 26 pts above district

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

Grade 762%

School 62% · District 39% · ▲ 23 pts above district

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

Grade 849%

School 49% · District 37% · ▲ 12 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 541%

School 41% · District 21% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 822%

School 22% · District 18% · ▲ 4 pts above district

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

This schoolRio 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-income26%Higher-income48%22 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income53%Higher-income70%17 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income66%Higher-income73%7 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income52%Higher-income77%25 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income62%Higher-income61%1 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income43%Higher-income63%20 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income30%Higher-income70%39 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income40%Higher-income63%23 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income33%Higher-income46%13 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income33%Higher-income61%28 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income29%Higher-income52%23 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income30%Higher-income54%25 pp gap