Grunsky Elementary, Stockton CA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Grunsky Elementary

Grunsky Elementary serves kindergarten through grade eight in Stockton, California, as a regular public school within the Stockton Unified School District. The school sits in a community marked by economic hardship and English-language diversity: roughly nine out of every ten students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and Hispanic students make up most of the enrollment, with pockets of Asian, Black, White, and multiracial students present as well.

The academic picture is straightforward and demands attention. State testing data from 2024-25 shows proficiency rates that are low across the board. In mathematics, proficiency ranges from under one in ten students at grade five reaching proficient levels, to better performance at grade six where about four in ten do. English language arts shows somewhat stronger ground at grade six, where roughly six in ten students meet proficiency standards, but other grades cluster in the low twenties or thirties. Science proficiency at grades five and eight is particularly weak. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, as these results sit well below the midpoint among comparable schools across San Joaquin County. The school has only one year of recent testing data, so trajectory and trend are not yet visible in the record.

Grade six stands out as a relative strength in both ELA and mathematics, suggesting that something in the school's approach or staffing at that level may be working differently. The pattern across other grades points to widespread instructional challenges, particularly in math, that deserve direct conversation with school leadership about what supports exist, how they're being deployed, and what the school is doing to shift the trajectory.

The school's student body is small by district standards, with roughly equal representation across its nine grades. Kindergarten through second grade serve fewer students, while grades seven and eight each serve around sixty. This size can create a tighter community feel but may limit the breadth of programs, clubs, or electives a middle-grade student might access elsewhere.

Stockton itself is a large inland city in California's San Joaquin Valley with a mixed urban and suburban character. It functions as the county seat and serves as a regional center for processing, logistics, and distribution work. The city's walkability varies sharply by neighborhood; some central areas score well for pedestrian infrastructure, but much of the city is car-dependent. Public transit exists through the San Joaquin Regional Transit District, which runs about thirty bus routes including some bus rapid transit service. The historic downtown holds the civic core, including government offices, a newly renovated central library with materials in multiple languages, and some school and cultural facilities. Housing affordability relative to the Bay Area continues to draw families and commuters to the area. The local economy is anchored by Amazon's e-fulfillment operations, healthcare, agriculture, education institutions like University of the Pacific and San Joaquin Delta College, and firms such as Diamond Foods and the Herrick Corporation.

Within the Stockton Unified system, families should know that the district is implementing Measure C, a property-tax-backed bond voters approved in 2022 that funds facility improvements and acquisitions across schools over time. The district has also adopted SIPPS, a structured phonics reading program, as its foundational reading approach district-wide, and reported gains in early-grade reading outcomes as a result. Beginning in 2025-26, the district implemented a new policy limiting student cell phone use during the school day, aligning with a state law requiring districts to adopt smartphone policies by next year. The district's 2024-27 strategic priorities focus on raising academic achievement, supporting students with disabilities, and creating conditions for Black students to thrive, informed by an equity audit.

For a family considering Grunsky, the academic foundation at this school is weak and needs direct inquiry about the school's response. The questions to ask are concrete: What specific reading, writing, and math interventions are in place for struggling learners? How is the school using the SIPPS program, and is there evidence it's taking hold at Grunsky? Why does grade six perform so much better, and can those practices scale? What family engagement opportunities exist? The small, economically challenged student body and the school's location in a diverse, transit-accessible urban neighborhood are facts about the school's character, neither strengths nor weaknesses but defining context. Whether the school's environment and community fit a family's needs requires a visit, a conversation with staff, and a realistic assessment of what supports will be needed to help a child succeed given the current proficiency landscape.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 327%

School 27% · District 27%

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

Grade 427%

School 27% · District 21% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

Grade 510%

School 10% · District 14% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 639%

School 39% · District 17% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 719%

School 19% · District 19%

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

Grade 824%

School 24% · District 19% · ▲ 5 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 326%

School 26% · District 24% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 430%

School 30% · District 24% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▼ 12 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 521%

School 21% · District 25% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

Grade 659%

School 59% · District 28% · ▲ 31 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

Grade 720%

School 20% · District 31% · ▼ 12 pts below district

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

Grade 830%

School 30% · District 34% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 510%

School 10% · District 15% · ▼ 6 pts below district

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

Grade 816%

School 16% · District 15% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grade 89%

School 9% · District 23% · ▼ 14 pts below district

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

This schoolStockton 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.