Camellia Elementary, Sacramento CA

Original Research by School Decision on Camellia Elementary

Camellia Elementary is a regular public school serving kindergarten through sixth grade in Sacramento. The school enrollment is small, distributed across all grade levels, with a substantial majority of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is predominantly Asian, with a meaningful share of Hispanic students and smaller populations of other backgrounds. Data on English learner status and students with IEPs were not available.

California state assessments from the school year show proficiency rates that decline noticeably across the grade levels. In third and fourth grades, students show solid performance in both mathematics and English language arts, with math proficiency notably higher than ELA. By fifth and sixth grade, proficiency drops considerably in both subjects. Fifth grade math falls below the midpoint, and the pattern holds in ELA. Science proficiency in fifth grade, the only grade tested, also shows moderate performance. Across all tested grades and subjects, Camellia's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile among schools in Sacramento County, a meaningful position that reflects strength relative to district peers despite the grade-level decline.

The district context matters significantly for families considering this school. Sacramento City Unified approved a school facilities bond in November 2024 that will add a lasting property tax to fund modernization and upgrades across the district. More pressing is the district's severe budget crisis. As of spring 2026, the district faced a substantial deficit and was at risk of state or county takeover. Cost-cutting measures have included layoff notices to hundreds of employees, furloughs, and delays in purchasing updated curriculum materials and technology. State oversight warned that cash could run out by mid-2026 without major interventions. These reductions directly affect classroom staffing, supplies, and program availability. Additionally, the district's recovery from a teacher strike in 2022 has meant earlier school start dates and extended years to make up instructional time.

The school is located in a neighborhood where housing values are moderate for the region, and rental housing is less expensive than purchasing. Families considering a move would weigh both the facilities investment from Measure D and the ongoing instability in the district's operating budget.

The strong county-level proficiency position is genuine, but it sits against a pattern of declining performance in upper elementary and a district in fiscal distress. A parent may want to look into further detail with the school about how budget cuts are affecting Camellia specifically, what support exists for the proficiency decline in the older grades, and how stable staffing and resource availability will be over the next one to two years.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 377%

School 77% · District 39% · ▲ 38 pts above district

▲ 34 pts above state median · ▲ 38 pts above county median

Grade 474%

School 74% · District 35% · ▲ 39 pts above district

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

Grade 558%

School 58% · District 28% · ▲ 30 pts above district

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 31 pts above county median

Grade 655%

School 55% · District 36% · ▲ 19 pts above district

▲ 25 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 370%

School 70% · District 37% · ▲ 33 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 34 pts above county median

Grade 460%

School 60% · District 39% · ▲ 21 pts above district

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

Grade 565%

School 65% · District 39% · ▲ 26 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Grade 671%

School 71% · District 44% · ▲ 27 pts above district

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 28 pts above county median

Science

Grade 555%

School 55% · District 28% · ▲ 27 pts above district

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 30 pts above county median

This schoolSacramento City 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.