Ethel Phillips Elementary, Sacramento CA

Original Research by School Decision on Ethel Phillips Elementary

Ethel Phillips Elementary serves students from kindergarten through sixth grade in Sacramento's 95820 zip code. The school has an enrollment of roughly mid-sized for an elementary school, with every grade from K through 6 represented. A very substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic profile of the neighborhood. The school's student body is predominantly Hispanic, with smaller populations of Asian, Black, White, and multiracial students, and a small number of American Indian and Native Hawaiian students. Data on special education and English learner populations were not available.

The school's academic performance, measured by California's CAASPP assessments in English language arts and math and the CAST in science, shows proficiency rates well below state expectations across tested grades. In English language arts, proficiency ranges from very low in third grade to around one in four students in fifth grade, with mixed performance in fourth and sixth grade. Math proficiency is similarly modest, ranging from one in ten students in fourth grade to around one in four in sixth grade. In science, fifth-grade proficiency was also low. Overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places the school in the bottom quartile among districts in Sacramento County, meaning it is among the lowest-performing schools in its peer comparison group.

The broader context matters. Sacramento City Unified, the district that operates Ethel Phillips, is in acute financial distress. In November 2025 the board approved a Fiscal Solvency Plan to address a deficit that ballooned through the following months, with state oversight warning that the district could run out of cash. The district has issued layoff notices to hundreds of employees, cut administrative staff, and delayed curriculum and technology purchases, including new math textbooks and Chromebooks. These pressures directly affect classroom resources and staffing stability at schools like Ethel Phillips. Additionally, the district faced an eight-day strike in spring 2022 that closed schools and disrupted instructional time for years afterward, with the state requiring added school days to recover the lost instruction. Voters approved a facilities bond (Measure D) in November 2024 to modernize campuses and upgrade technology and HVAC systems, adding a property tax cost that will persist as long as the bonds are outstanding, a consideration for families weighing a move into the area.

Ethel Phillips is a traditional public school with no charter, magnet, or special designation. The neighborhood is in Sacramento proper. Housing values in the 95820 zip code are moderate compared to state benchmarks, with rents running above mortgage costs in affordability terms. A parent considering this school would want to directly discuss with the school and district what academic support, intervention programs, and resources are available to help close proficiency gaps, and how the district's budget crisis is expected to affect classroom staffing and programming.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 321%

School 21% · District 39% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 412%

School 12% · District 35% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Grade 523%

School 23% · District 28% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

Grade 628%

School 28% · District 36% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 310%

School 10% · District 37% · ▼ 27 pts below district

▼ 31 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

Grade 418%

School 18% · District 39% · ▼ 21 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 527%

School 27% · District 39% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 622%

School 22% · District 44% · ▼ 22 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Science

Grade 518%

School 18% · District 28% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below 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.