Carmichael (bessie)/fec, San Francisco CA

Original Research by School Decision on Carmichael (bessie)/fec

Bessie Carmichael/FEC is a kindergarten-through-eighth-grade public school in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood, part of San Francisco Unified. It is a mid-sized school for its grade band, drawing a genuinely diverse student body: Asian and Hispanic students each make up roughly a similar and substantial share of enrollment, Black students represent a meaningful portion, and multiracial students add further breadth. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, making this one of the more economically disadvantaged campuses in the district. Data on English learner rates and students with IEPs were not available in what was provided.

The academic picture is the most pressing thing a parent needs to understand. On California's CAASPP state assessments in the most recent year, proficiency rates in both English language arts and mathematics were low across every tested grade, from third through eighth. In ELA, the strongest grade reached roughly a quarter of students at proficiency; in math, the highest grade topped out well below that, and most grades sat in single digits. Science results on the CAST were similarly low at the two tested grades. Taken together, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in San Francisco County. For context, the social studies figure in the data is from a state assessment that California retired years ago and does not reflect current conditions. Multi-year trend data was not available, so it is not possible to say whether results have been moving in any direction. Parents who want to understand what's driving these outcomes and what the school is doing in response would do well to ask the school directly.

The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to report. Program details were not included in the data provided. The district brief returned no confirmed parent-relevant changes, so specific San Francisco Unified initiatives affecting this school were not available.

The school sits in South of Market, a neighborhood that publicly reported accounts describe as a dense, mixed-use part of the central city. The surrounding area is served by Muni and BART, making the campus accessible by transit from across the city. San Francisco is one of the most walkable large American cities by standard measures, and South of Market sits close to the Civic Center corridor, with the Main Library, parks, and cultural institutions within reach.

Housing near the school carries some of the highest prices in the state. Median home values in the zip code run well above the California statewide benchmark, which is itself well above the national figure. Rents have risen sharply over the past year, and the rent-to-income ratio for typical households is extreme. For anyone choosing this school because of its neighborhood location, the housing cost reality is a significant factor.

The district brief search was exhausted without surfacing confirmed recent changes at San Francisco Unified that could be reported here. That gap is named honestly rather than filled.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 314%

School 14% · District 52% · ▼ 37 pts below district

▼ 29 pts below state median · ▼ 32 pts below county median

Grade 42%

School 2% · District 49% · ▼ 47 pts below district

▼ 35 pts below state median · ▼ 43 pts below county median

Grade 57%

School 7% · District 46% · ▼ 39 pts below district

▼ 23 pts below state median · ▼ 34 pts below county median

Grade 610%

School 10% · District 43% · ▼ 33 pts below district

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

Grade 713%

School 13% · District 47% · ▼ 34 pts below district

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

Grade 84%

School 4% · District 41% · ▼ 37 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 32 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 313%

School 13% · District 47% · ▼ 34 pts below district

▼ 27 pts below state median · ▼ 33 pts below county median

Grade 421%

School 21% · District 51% · ▼ 30 pts below district

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

Grade 512%

School 12% · District 55% · ▼ 43 pts below district

▼ 33 pts below state median · ▼ 41 pts below county median

Grade 615%

School 15% · District 53% · ▼ 38 pts below district

▼ 29 pts below state median · ▼ 30 pts below county median

Grade 728%

School 28% · District 56% · ▼ 27 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

Grade 811%

School 11% · District 52% · ▼ 42 pts below district

▼ 33 pts below state median · ▼ 37 pts below county median

Science

Grade 58%

School 8% · District 42% · ▼ 33 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 33 pts below county median

Grade 82%

School 2% · District 39% · ▼ 38 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 841%

School 41% · District 54% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · even with county median

This schoolSan Francisco 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-income8%Higher-income33%25 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income17%Higher-income33%16 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income10%Higher-income16%6 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income13%Higher-income21%9 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income25%Higher-income36%11 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income5%Higher-income22%17 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income7%Higher-income42%35 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income3%Higher-income0%3 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income5%Higher-income11%5 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income11%Higher-income7%3 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income14%Higher-income8%7 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income0%Higher-income11%11 pp gap