Rhoda Maxwell Elementary, Woodland CA

Original Research by School Decision on Rhoda Maxwell Elementary

Rhoda Maxwell Elementary serves kindergarten through sixth grade in Woodland, a Central Valley agricultural city and Yolo County seat. The school sits in a community with a walkable historic downtown anchored by the Opera House and Yolo County Courthouse, surrounded by residential neighborhoods shaped by recent master-planned development, particularly the Spring Lake area. The locale has a mixed economic base of trade, transportation, warehousing, agriculture, and healthcare, with UC Davis nearby to the south. Public transit via Yolobus connects Woodland to Sacramento and regional destinations.

The school's student body is economically disadvantaged: a substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The population is predominantly Hispanic, with smaller shares of white, multiracial, and Asian students. The school is small to mid-sized for an elementary, with enrollment spread across seven grades from kindergarten through sixth grade. The data does not report the school's English learner or special education rates, so those details are absent from this picture.

State assessment results from 2024-25 show low proficiency across tested subjects. In English language arts, performance ranges from low in third grade to moderate in sixth grade, with the overall proficiency rate around the midpoint across the upper elementary. Mathematics proficiency is markedly weaker, with rates in the low range across all tested grades (third through sixth). Science proficiency, measured only in fifth grade, is similarly low. When placed against the comparison set of districts in Yolo County, the school's overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades falls in the bottom quartile, well below the median performance countywide.

The data presents only one year of results, so trend information is not available; a parent may want to look into whether prior years' results are available through the school or district directly. Chronic absenteeism and graduation rate data were not provided in the available data. The school does not report its own specialized programs, course offerings, or staffing profile, so a parent would benefit from contacting the school directly about after-school support, intervention services, reading and math instruction approaches, or other details of daily operation.

The parent district, Woodland Joint Unified, approved a facilities bond (Measure Y) in 2020 that included funding for vocational education expansion, technology, and infrastructure repairs across its schools. A subsequent bond measure (Measure P) failed to pass voters in 2024, leaving future facility improvements dependent on existing resources. The district requires Ethnic Studies for high school graduation, a decision made ahead of state mandate; this curriculum spans Pre-K through 12 and is centered on race, ethnicity, and indigeneity. These are district-level policy choices families with children in the Woodland system will encounter.

Housing in the 95695 zip code, where the school is located, is moderately priced relative to surrounding state and national benchmarks. The Spring Lake development has brought new housing, including significant affordable units for agricultural workers, which has shaped the recent character of the area. The community has walkable downtown features and public transit access, though the school itself serves neighborhoods that span from the older central city to the newer southern development areas.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 318%

School 18% · District 33% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 418%

School 18% · District 32% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Grade 517%

School 17% · District 24% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

Grade 617%

School 17% · District 25% · ▼ 8 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 314%

School 14% · District 30% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 27 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Grade 430%

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

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

Grade 531%

School 31% · District 37% · ▼ 6 pts below district

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

Grade 638%

School 38% · District 40% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Science

Grade 523%

School 23% · District 23%

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

This schoolWoodland Joint 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.