Veva Blunt Elementary, Visalia CA

Original Research by School Decision on Veva Blunt Elementary

Veva Blunt Elementary serves kindergarten through sixth grade in Visalia, a Central Valley city that has been growing steadily and adding new housing, often in large master-planned neighborhoods with reserved school sites. The school draws most of its students from families with low household incomes: a substantial majority qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with smaller numbers of white, multiracial, Asian, and Black students. The school sits near the southern edge of the city on South Chinowth Road.

On state assessments in English language arts and math, Veva Blunt's results are below the midpoint when compared to districts across Tulare County. In English language arts, measured proficiency runs in the range of roughly a quarter to a half of students across grades three through six, with third grade performing somewhat higher than the upper grades. Math proficiency is notably weaker, ranging from roughly one in ten students in fifth grade to about four in ten in third grade. In fifth-grade science, proficiency is around one in six students. These results reflect substantial academic challenges in reading and especially mathematics. The school offers no data on prior-year performance, so whether results are stable, improving, or declining cannot be determined from the available information.

Veva Blunt is a regular public school within Visalia Unified, which has made some district-wide curriculum decisions that touch every elementary school. In 2023, the district adopted a board-approved phonics curriculum for all kindergarten through second-grade students, aiming to ensure explicit phonics instruction and the goal that students read by third grade. This is a foundational shift in how early literacy is taught. The district has also launched a blended universal transitional kindergarten program integrating preschool and kindergarten into full-day classrooms, now serving students across many schools in a structured language and social-emotional model.

The school's enrollment is small to mid-sized for an elementary school, with students distributed fairly evenly across grades. Information about the school's specific support services, staffing, discipline policies, attendance patterns, and specialized programs was not available. Families considering Veva Blunt may want to ask the school directly about intervention supports for students below grade level in reading and math, the structure of small-group or pull-out instruction, and how progress is monitored in the early grades where the phonics initiative is in effect. Visalia itself is experiencing active housing growth and remains affordable relative to state and national benchmarks, which may be relevant to families considering relocating to the area.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 341%

School 41% · District 41%

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 431%

School 31% · District 35% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

Grade 59%

School 9% · District 29% · ▼ 20 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 622%

School 22% · District 33% · ▼ 11 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 353%

School 53% · District 44% · ▲ 9 pts above district

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

Grade 440%

School 40% · District 42% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 526%

School 26% · District 45% · ▼ 19 pts below district

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

Grade 629%

School 29% · District 46% · ▼ 17 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 516%

School 16% · District 28% · ▼ 12 pts below district

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

This schoolVisalia 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 4Lower-income42%Higher-income31%11 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income32%Higher-income25%7 pp gap