Montezuma Elementary, Stockton CA

Original Research by School Decision on Montezuma Elementary

Montezuma Elementary serves kindergarten through eighth grade in Stockton, a large inland city in California's San Joaquin Valley. The school sits in a mixed-use neighborhood with a clear concentration of families in modest economic circumstances—a substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student body is predominantly Latino, with smaller Asian, Black, and White populations.

The school's academic performance on California's state tests presents a consistent picture across subjects and grade levels: proficiency rates are notably low. In math, proficiency ranges from a low point in the upper elementary grades to slightly higher rates in third and eighth grade. English language arts proficiency is similarly low across grades three through six, though it improves somewhat in grades seven and eight. Science proficiency, measured in fifth and eighth grade, shows very limited numbers of students meeting standards. These results place Montezuma in the bottom quartile of schools across San Joaquin County districts when looking at overall proficiency.

The school has a small-to-modest enrollment spread across nine grades, which is a structure common in unified districts where elementary-middle combinations serve the full K-8 span. This mixed setting can work well for families seeking continuity, though it places younger and older students under one roof.

Stockton as a place is anchored by a historic downtown core with civic buildings, a public library system with multilingual materials, and public transit that connects to Sacramento and the Bay Area, though the city is largely car-dependent outside central neighborhoods. The housing market in the area is positioned as more affordable than the Bay Area, which continues to draw commuters and families. Prices are described as normalizing, and new development downtown includes affordable housing projects.

The Stockton Unified School District has undertaken several changes relevant to families. It adopted a structured phonics reading program called SIPPS and credits it with gains in early-grade reading. The district also set new cell phone policies starting in the 2025-26 school year and adopted a multiyear accountability plan focused on academic achievement, whole-child support, and creating conditions for Black students to succeed. Voters approved a general obligation bond in 2022 to fund facility upgrades, which means ongoing property tax implications for district homeowners.

A parent considering Montezuma may want to look into further with the school how it is addressing the low proficiency rates, what literacy and math supports are available to students, and how the SIPPS reading program is being implemented at the K-8 level. The school's enrollment data and free-lunch rate show a high-poverty student population, which often correlates with resource constraints and the need for strong targeted interventions.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 328%

School 28% · District 27% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 415%

School 15% · District 21% · ▼ 6 pts below district

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

Grade 55%

School 5% · District 14% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Grade 612%

School 12% · District 17% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

Grade 719%

School 19% · District 19% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

Grade 832%

School 32% · District 19% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 325%

School 25% · District 24% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 414%

School 14% · District 24% · ▼ 10 pts below district

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

Grade 513%

School 13% · District 25% · ▼ 12 pts below district

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

Grade 623%

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

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

Grade 731%

School 31% · District 31%

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 838%

School 38% · District 34% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Science

Grade 58%

School 8% · District 15% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

Grade 815%

School 15% · District 15%

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

Social studies

Grade 817%

School 17% · District 23% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 32 pts below state median · ▼ 21 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.