The top reported proficiency rate is 62% in English language arts. The lowest is 43% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Scott M. Leaman
Scott M. Leaman Elementary sits on Brentford Circle in Lincoln, California, a fast-growing suburb roughly 30 miles northeast of Sacramento in Placer County. It serves kindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school within the Western Placer Unified School District.
Lincoln's character is worth understanding before the school itself. The city grew at a remarkable clip in the 2000s, slowed after the recession, and has been booming again. Housing stock has expanded at one of the higher rates in California since the start of the pandemic, with master-planned "villages" and the Twelve Bridges area adding neighborhoods at the edge of a preserved historic downtown. The result is a community with a family-oriented, residential feel, anchored by parks, a public library near Twelve Bridges High School, and a downtown that still draws some foot traffic. The city is largely car-dependent outside that core. Thunder Valley Casino Resort is the city's dominant single employer; the broader South Placer corridor is the region's second-largest employment center outside Sacramento.
On the housing market: the area's typical home value sits well above the California statewide midpoint and substantially above the national figure, and it has dipped slightly over the past year. Rents have moved in the opposite direction, ticking upward. The estimated monthly carrying cost of ownership at current mortgage rates is substantial, and rent-to-income ratios here would stretch most budgets. This is an expensive market relative to national norms, even as it remains somewhat more accessible than coastal California.
For the school itself, Leaman is a mid-sized elementary with enrollment spread fairly evenly across grades. The student body is predominantly white, with a meaningful share of Hispanic students, a growing multiracial population, and smaller proportions of Asian, Black, and other students. About a quarter of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, a relatively modest economic-need rate. IEP and English learner population figures were not available in the data provided.
California's CAASPP state assessments are administered in grades three through five, so Leaman has a full picture of its tested grades. In math, third and fourth graders perform solidly, with fourth grade reaching a notably strong proficiency rate by California standards. Fifth grade math proficiency falls back to just under half of students meeting or exceeding standards, a dip worth discussing with the school. In English language arts, the pattern is similar: third and fourth graders post results in the solid range, while fifth grade dips somewhat. Fifth-grade science, measured by the state's CAST assessment, shows less than half of students reaching proficiency. Taken together, Leaman's overall proficiency index lands above the midpoint relative to districts in Placer County, a reasonably strong position in a competitive county. Trend data is available for only a single year at this time, so direction of travel cannot be assessed.
No program-specific information was available in the data -- specialty programs, enrichment offerings, or intervention supports were not reported, and a parent would want to ask the school directly about those.
On the district level, Western Placer Unified opened Twelve Bridges High School in fall 2021, the first new comprehensive high school in Lincoln in well over a generation. That matters for families with elementary-age children now: the high school pathway from Leaman will eventually include a second option. The district has also seen repeated failures to pass facilities bond measures, which constrains its ability to fund new construction and upgrades. Given Lincoln's continued growth, that tension between rising enrollment and limited capital funding is a reasonable thing to track.
Attendance and chronic absenteeism data were not available for Leaman, so that dimension of school health cannot be assessed here.
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