Jefferson Elementary, Riverside CA

Original Research by School Decision on Jefferson Elementary

Jefferson Elementary serves kindergarten through sixth grade in Riverside, a mid-sized California city. The school enrolls a community of working families: a substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student body is predominantly Hispanic, with smaller numbers of Black and white students and very few Asian students. The school is a regular public school within the Riverside Unified School District.

Academic performance across the school is below the state baseline. In English language arts, students show variable results by grade, with fifth grade performing strongest and fourth grade weakest. Math proficiency is particularly low across all tested grades, with fourth grade showing especially weak results. Fifth-grade science proficiency is also below the state standard. These results indicate that many students are working below grade-level expectations in core subjects. A parent may want to discuss with the school what specific support structures exist for students who are not meeting proficiency benchmarks, and what intervention or tutoring pathways are available.

Among the county's districts, Jefferson's overall proficiency index is above the midpoint, meaning the school's results are not the lowest in Riverside County, though they still reflect substantial academic gaps. The school has one year of current testing data available, so trend information is not yet available to show whether performance is improving or declining.

The school sits in a zip code where housing values have declined slightly year over year, and rental costs have risen modestly. Median household income in the broader region is in the mid-range for California. The affordability picture is mixed: renting is more accessible than buying, though both require a significant portion of household income.

Riverside Unified, the parent district, has recently made three parent-relevant moves. The district adopted an ethnic studies graduation requirement before California mandated it statewide, and in late 2025 the board voted to keep that requirement despite considering eliminating it due to funding constraints. Additionally, voter-approved bond measures are funding facilities upgrades and new construction, including a STEM Education Center, though a state auditor report found the district delivered fewer projects than planned due to rising costs and flagged transparency gaps in how bond funds were allocated. The district has also rolled out a new instructional coaching model designed to identify struggling students faster and remove learning barriers, with early gains reported in English and math. This coaching initiative is federally funded and scheduled to sunset in 2028, so families should be aware that the intensity of this support may not be permanent.

Jefferson Elementary does not have reported enrollment data on English learners or students with IEPs, so parent questions about language support and special education services should be directed to the school directly.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 339%

School 39% · District 42% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 415%

School 15% · District 36% · ▼ 22 pts below district

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

Grade 521%

School 21% · District 33% · ▼ 12 pts below district

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

Grade 619%

School 19% · District 32% · ▼ 13 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 334%

School 34% · District 41% · ▼ 6 pts below district

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

Grade 430%

School 30% · District 42% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 543%

School 43% · District 46% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 640%

School 40% · District 48% · ▼ 8 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 522%

School 22% · District 31% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

This schoolRiverside 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-income34%Higher-income36%1 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income27%Higher-income57%30 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income40%Higher-income62%21 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income34%Higher-income93%59 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income39%Higher-income36%3 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income12%Higher-income36%24 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income21%Higher-income23%2 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income14%Higher-income64%51 pp gap