Is Prunedale Elementary a good school?

Prunedale Elementary ranks in the bottom 24.8% of California elementary schools.

How many students attend Prunedale Elementary?

In the 2023-24 school year, 642 students attended Prunedale Elementary.

What is the racial makeup of Prunedale Elementary?

Students at Prunedale Elementary are 90% Hispanic, 8% White.

What schools do graduates of Prunedale Elementary attend?

Students who attend Prunedale Elementary usually go on to attend: Middle : North Monterey County Middle High : North Monterey County High

Prunedale Elementary

Summary:

Prunedale Elementary is a public elementary school serving 640 students in grades K-6 in Salinas, California, which is part of the North Monterey County Unified School District. The school faces significant challenges, with lower test scores, higher chronic absenteeism rates, and performance that lags behind both state and local averages.

Prunedale Elementary has seen a sharp increase in chronic absenteeism, rising from 7.0% in 2018-2019 to 31.1% in 2022-2023, which is much higher than the 13.4% to 34.6% range at nearby schools like Castroville Elementary and Elkhorn Elementary. The school's test scores are also consistently lower than state and district averages, with only 25% of students proficient or better in English Language Arts/Literacy and 26.24% proficient in math, compared to 47.04% and 35.54% statewide, respectively.

Prunedale Elementary's performance is particularly concerning for certain student subgroups, ranking in the bottom 25% of California elementary schools for female students, male students, Hispanic students, and students with disabilities. Additionally, the school has a very high percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch, ranging from 74.38% to 83.2% over the past few years, which is significantly higher than the 15.79% to 88.87% range at nearby schools. These factors may be contributing to the school's lower academic performance and declining ranking over time.

Detail:

Public K-6

17719 Pesante Rd.
Salinas, CA 93907-1508

(831) 663-3963

District: North Monterey County Unified

SchoolDigger Rank:
4407^th of 5,862 California Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $7,464

Students who attend Prunedale Elementary usually attend:

Middle:	North Monterey County Middle
High:	North Monterey County High

Student/teacher ratio: 25.1

Number of students: 642

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

89.7%

White:

7.6%

Two or more races:

0.9%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 85.4%

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Performance Trends

Compare Details Prunedale Elementary ranks worse than 75.2% of elementary schools in California. It also ranks first among 4 ranked elementary schools in the North Monterey County Unified School District! (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 24.52. (See more...)

Chronic absenteeism in a school refers to a situation where students repeatedly miss school, with the threshold often defined as missing 10% or more of school days for any reason, excused or unexcused.

Student Body

Compare Details Prunedale Elementary has the largest elementary school student body size in the North Monterey County Unified School District. Racial makeup is: Hispanic (89.7%), White (7.6%), two or more races (0.9%). (See more...)

Compare Details 85.4% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. This is the lowest percentage in the North Monterey County Unified School District. (See more...)

Compare Details (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Prunedale Elementary is 25.1. 2 elementary schools in the North Monterey County Unified School District have better student/teacher ratios. (See more...)

Compare Prunedale Elementary employs 25.5 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Prunedale Elementary is $7,464, which is the lowest among 4 elementary schools in the North Monterey County Unified School District!

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Prunedale Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks Prunedale Elementary 4407^th of 5862 California public elementary schools. (See Prunedale Elementary in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

English Language Learner students:

Special Education students:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Homeless students:

Female students:

Male students:

Hispanic students:

North Monterey County Unified:

SchoolDigger ranks North Monterey County Unified 1331^st of 1568 California school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Rank History for Prunedale Elementary

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Rank History for all students at Prunedale Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2004	26.28	3465^th	4809	27.9%
2005	30.44	3249^th	4822	32.6%
2006	30.75	3255^th	4818	32.4%
2007	35.87	3174^th	5113	37.9%
2008	22.76	4139^th	5113	19.0%
2009	22.25	4264^th	5193	17.9%
2010	24.53	4254^th	5314	19.9%
2011	31.64	3868^th	5377	28.1%
2012	36.54	3493^rd	5390	35.2%
2013	30.71	3989^th	5530	27.9%
2015	28.24	3848^th	5611	31.4%
2016	33.33	3519^th	5614	37.3%
2017	26.54	4119^th	5692	27.6%
2018	29.10	3903^rd	5662	31.1%
2019	34.78	3550^th	5789	38.7%
2022	19.97	4860^th	5883	17.4%
2023	20.75	4787^th	5874	18.5%
2024	24.52	4407^th	5862	24.8%

See the entire list of California Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Prunedale Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	39.40	1793^rd	3246	44.8%
2019	31.87	2346^th	3275	28.4%
2022	33.34	2334^th	3311	29.5%
2023	44.21	1532^nd	3250	52.9%
2024	51.39	1106^th	3160	65.0%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Prunedale Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	44.47	1065^th	2420	56.0%
2024	19.49	2417^th	2634	8.2%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Prunedale Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	31.68	3647^th	5084	28.3%
2019	39.05	3192^nd	5173	38.3%
2022	21.55	4529^th	5264	14.0%
2023	24.93	4316^th	5374	19.7%
2024	28.43	4104^th	5511	25.5%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Homeless students at Prunedale Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2022	41.63	199^th	356	44.1%
2023	36.79	218^th	336	35.1%
2024	51.31	160^th	364	56.0%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Homeless Students!

Rank History for Female students at Prunedale Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	24.85	4182^nd	5413	22.7%
2019	36.28	3327^th	5492	39.4%
2022	17.94	4893^rd	5635	13.2%
2023	22.63	4464^th	5617	20.5%
2024	27.97	3972^nd	5605	29.1%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Disabled students at Prunedale Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2018	41.08	1006^th	2128	52.7%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Disabled Students!

Rank History for Male students at Prunedale Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	34.43	3377^th	5431	37.8%
2019	33.21	3523^rd	5510	36.1%
2022	23.36	4391^st	5663	22.5%
2023	19.78	4742^nd	5650	16.1%
2024	22.01	4531^st	5636	19.6%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Prunedale Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	33.63	3296^th	4830	31.8%
2019	39.42	2995^th	4963	39.7%
2022	21.56	4391^st	5084	13.6%
2023	25.39	4081^st	5098	19.9%
2024	32.32	3548^th	5102	30.5%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for White students at Prunedale Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	39.71	1829^th	2737	33.2%
2019	57.92	1283^rd	2834	54.7%
2022	40.15	1739^th	2726	36.2%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: California Department of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Data source: California Department of Education

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Enrollment information for Prunedale Elementary

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	503	8	25	133	4	n/a	n/a	0	673
1989	333	8	19	220	1	n/a	n/a	0	581
1990	345	4	23	227	1	n/a	n/a	0	600
1991	282	7	63	232	2	n/a	n/a	0	586
1992	280	12	50	256	0	n/a	n/a	0	598
1993	283	13	24	240	0	n/a	n/a	0	560
1994	294	11	19	239	1	n/a	n/a	0	564
1995	283	13	23	300	0	n/a	n/a	0	619
1996	283	13	23	300	0	n/a	n/a	0	619
1997	287	8	24	332	0	n/a	n/a	0	651
1998	289	6	29	318	1	n/a	n/a	0	643
1999	275	8	31	322	1	n/a	n/a	0	637
2000	268	10	30	316	0	n/a	n/a	0	624
2001	244	6	23	294	0	n/a	n/a	0	567
2002	180	4	15	336	0	n/a	n/a	0	535
2003	180	4	15	336	0	n/a	n/a	0	535
2004	157	3	12	349	3	n/a	n/a	0	524
2005	179	3	9	374	1	n/a	n/a	0	566
2006	209	5	12	423	3	n/a	n/a	0	652
2007	203	6	12	436	3	n/a	n/a	0	660
2008	176	6	16	416	5	n/a	n/a	0	619
2009	169	4	18	443	3	0	0	0	637
2010	170	1	17	458	2	2	1	0	651
2011	166	2	12	460	0	2	8	0	650
2012	129	3	14	480	0	1	11	0	638
2013	120	3	14	515	1	2	0	0	655
2014	112	1	12	524	2	1	1	0	653
2015	106	1	10	537	1	3	1	0	659
2016	110	2	8	528	1	3	3	0	655
2017	122	2	6	548	1	3	4	0	686
2018	115	2	4	562	1	6	4	0	694
2019	102	4	2	552	1	6	2	0	669
2020	91	4	3	556	1	7	1	0	663
2021	87	4	2	561	0	5	2	0	661
2022	75	3	3	552	0	3	1	0	637
2023	64	1	3	565	0	3	4	0	640
2024	49	3	2	576	0	5	6	1	642

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Prunedale Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	673	24.5	27.4	n/a
1989	581	25.5	22.7	n/a
1990	600	24.5	24.4	n/a
1991	586	24.0	24.4	n/a
1992	598	24.4	24.5	44.6
1993	560	24.0	23.3	44.3
1994	564	24.0	23.5	53
1995	619	27.0	22.9	54.8
1996	619	27.0	22.9	54.8
1997	651	31.0	21.0	59
1998	643	36.0	17.9	57.7
1999	637	34.0	18.7	71.7
2000	624	32.0	19.5	70.7
2001	567	34.4	16.5	60.8
2002	535	28.5	18.8	74.8
2003	535	28.5	18.8	74.8
2004	524	26.4	19.8	74.6
2005	566	29.0	19.5	65.5
2006	652	32.0	20.4	69.6
2007	660	30.0	22.0	68.8
2008	619	32.0	19.3	62.8
2009	637	30.0	20.5	72.1
2010	651	28.0	23.2	75.6
2011	650	n/a	n/a	75.2
2012	638	22.6	28.2	n/a
2013	655	23.0	28.4	79.8
2014	653	22.9	28.4	77.2
2015	659	25.0	26.3	80.1
2016	655	26.0	25.1	76.8
2017	686	27.0	25.4	78.1
2018	694	28.0	24.7	79
2019	669	28.0	23.8	81.6
2020	663	n/a	n/a	76.9
2021	661	25.0	26.4	81.2
2022	637	26.0	24.5	83.2
2023	640	25.5	25.0	74.4
2024	642	25.5	25.1	85.4

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Prunedale Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	673	24.5	27.4	n/a
1989	581	25.5	22.7	n/a
1990	600	24.5	24.4	n/a
1991	586	24.0	24.4	n/a
1992	598	24.4	24.5	44.6
1993	560	24.0	23.3	44.3
1994	564	24.0	23.5	53
1995	619	27.0	22.9	54.8
1996	619	27.0	22.9	54.8
1997	651	31.0	21.0	59
1998	643	36.0	17.9	57.7
1999	637	34.0	18.7	71.7
2000	624	32.0	19.5	70.7
2001	567	34.4	16.5	60.8
2002	535	28.5	18.8	74.8
2003	535	28.5	18.8	74.8
2004	524	26.4	19.8	74.6
2005	566	29.0	19.5	65.5
2006	652	32.0	20.4	69.6
2007	660	30.0	22.0	68.8
2008	619	32.0	19.3	62.8
2009	637	30.0	20.5	72.1
2010	651	28.0	23.2	75.6
2011	650	n/a	n/a	75.2
2012	638	22.6	28.2	n/a
2013	655	23.0	28.4	79.8
2014	653	22.9	28.4	77.2
2015	659	25.0	26.3	80.1
2016	655	26.0	25.1	76.8
2017	686	27.0	25.4	78.1
2018	694	28.0	24.7	79
2019	669	28.0	23.8	81.6
2020	663	n/a	n/a	76.9
2021	661	25.0	26.4	81.2
2022	637	26.0	24.5	83.2
2023	640	25.5	25.0	74.4
2024	642	25.5	25.1	85.4

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.

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