Shaffer Elementary, Litchfield CA

Original Research by School Decision on Shaffer Elementary

Shaffer Elementary sits on a standalone rural campus along Highway 395 North in Litchfield, a small agricultural community in Lassen County's Honey Lake Valley. The school serves kindergarten through eighth grade and is the only school in the Shaffer Union Elementary District. For a family moving to this part of northeastern California, it is the sole local option for all of those years.

Litchfield itself is an unincorporated, low-density community oriented around ranching and farming, with alfalfa fields, cattle operations, and open rangeland as the immediate backdrop. The Bureau of Land Management's wild horse and burro corrals nearby are the area's most identifiable public employer. There is no walkable downtown. Services and county functions are in Susanville, roughly fifteen miles to the west. The housing market here sits well below California's statewide median and noticeably below the national median as well, with modest year-over-year appreciation. Real estate listings lean toward larger agricultural and ranch parcels rather than newer subdivisions, and the community's population has trended downward rather than growing.

One recent change worth knowing: voters in the district approved a general obligation bond measure in November 2024 to fund renovation and upgrades of aging classrooms and buildings at the school. The bond is repaid through property taxes, so a family buying into the district takes on that obligation alongside the facility improvements. Publicly reported information indicates the district is setting up a citizen oversight committee to monitor how bond funds are spent, with proceeds restricted to facilities and prohibited from covering salaries or operating costs.

On academic performance, Shaffer Elementary's most recent state assessment results show a mixed picture. The school serves grades where California's CAASPP testing applies, and results are available by grade. In English language arts, the upper-elementary and middle grades posted results that land roughly at or near the state midpoint in some years, while third and fifth grades came in below. Math proficiency rates across the tested grades are generally low, with most grades falling well short of half of students meeting the standard, and fifth grade in particular stands out as a soft spot. Science results at the tested grade levels also came in low. Taken together, the school's overall proficiency index sits just above the midpoint among the districts in Lassen County, which is a fair framing of where it stands relative to its local peers, though the underlying grade-level results vary considerably from one cohort to the next. Because enrollment is small, individual grade-level results can shift substantially year to year with relatively few students, and a parent may want to ask the school directly about how specific grades are trending and what academic supports are in place.

Demographic data shows a majority-white enrollment with a substantial Hispanic share and smaller American Indian and multiracial populations. Roughly half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which reflects the economic character of the surrounding community. Data on English learner populations and special education rates was not available in the data we reviewed.

The school does not serve high school grades, so graduation rates are not applicable here. Students completing eighth grade would move on to a high school outside this district, likely in Susanville.

Program-specific information, course offerings, staffing ratios, attendance rates, and chronic absenteeism data were not available in the data provided, so those dimensions of school life are gaps this account cannot fill. The school's Facebook page, publicly noted as a source of community updates, may be a practical starting point for a parent wanting current information on what the school offers beyond the tested academic core.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 330%

School 30% · District 30%

▼ 13 pts below state median

Grade 436%

School 36% · District 36%

▼ 2 pts below state median

Grade 511%

School 11% · District 11%

▼ 19 pts below state median

Grade 615%

School 15% · District 15%

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 739%

School 39% · District 39%

▲ 9 pts above state median

Grade 822%

School 22% · District 22%

▼ 6 pts below state median

English language arts

Grade 318%

School 18% · District 18%

▼ 22 pts below state median

Grade 450%

School 50% · District 50%

▲ 8 pts above state median

Grade 515%

School 15% · District 15%

▼ 31 pts below state median

Grade 640%

School 40% · District 40%

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

Grade 748%

School 48% · District 48%

▲ 2 pts above state median

Grade 839%

School 39% · District 39%

▼ 5 pts below state median

Science

Grade 519%

School 19% · District 19%

▼ 10 pts below state median

Grade 811%

School 11% · District 11%

▼ 15 pts below state median

Social studies

Grade 836%

School 36% · District 36%

▼ 13 pts below state median

This schoolShaffer Union 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-income19%Higher-income17%2 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income20%Higher-income8%12 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income42%Higher-income55%13 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income33%Higher-income25%8 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income7%Higher-income17%10 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income17%Higher-income64%47 pp gap