Is Michelle Obama Elementary a good school?

Michelle Obama Elementary ranks in the bottom 19.9% of California elementary schools.

How many students attend Michelle Obama Elementary?

In the 2023-24 school year, 447 students attended Michelle Obama Elementary.

What is the racial makeup of Michelle Obama Elementary?

Students at Michelle Obama Elementary are 68% Hispanic, 12% Asian, 8% African American, 6% White, 5% Two or more races.

What schools do graduates of Michelle Obama Elementary attend?

Students who attend Michelle Obama Elementary usually go on to attend: Middle : Lovonya DeJean Middle High : John F. Kennedy High

Michelle Obama Elementary

Summary:

Michelle Obama Elementary is a public elementary school in Richmond, California, serving 431 students in grades K-6. The school is part of the West Contra Costa Unified School District, which is ranked 1129 out of 1568 districts in the state and has a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Michelle Obama Elementary faces significant challenges, including high chronic absenteeism rates that have risen from 14.0% in 2017-2018 to 49.0% in 2021-2022, well above the district and state averages. The school also struggles academically, with proficiency rates in English Language Arts and Mathematics consistently lower than the district and state averages. For example, in 2023-2024, only 28.18% of students at Michelle Obama Elementary were proficient or better in English Language Arts, compared to 32.53% for the district and 47.04% for the state. The school particularly struggles to support certain student subgroups, such as male students, Hispanic students, and students from low socioeconomic backgrounds.

Compared to nearby schools in the district, such as Edward M. Downer Elementary, Martin Luther King Junior Elementary, and Mira Vista Elementary, Michelle Obama Elementary is underperforming. However, the school appears to be providing better support for special education students and English language learners compared to other subgroups. Addressing the root causes of chronic absenteeism and implementing targeted interventions could be key strategies for improving academic outcomes at the school.

Detail:

Public K-6

629 42nd st
Richmond, CA 94805-1831

(510) 231-1456

District: West Contra Costa Unified

SchoolDigger Rank:
4693^rd of 5,862 California Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $7,019

Students who attend Michelle Obama Elementary usually attend:

Middle:	Lovonya DeJean Middle
High:	John F. Kennedy High

Student/teacher ratio: 23.5

Number of students: 447

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

67.8%

Asian:

12.1%

African American:

7.8%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 78.1%

See top rated California elementary schools

Compare Michelle Obama Elementary to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Michelle Obama Elementary ranks worse than 80.1% of elementary schools in California. It also ranks 19^th among 37 ranked elementary schools in the West Contra Costa Unified School District. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 21.77. (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 Racial makeup is: Hispanic (67.8%), Asian (12.1%), African American (7.8%). (See more...)

Compare Details 78.1% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Compare Details (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Michelle Obama Elementary is 23.5. 27 elementary schools in the West Contra Costa Unified School District have better student/teacher ratios. (See more...)

Compare Michelle Obama Elementary employs 19 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Michelle Obama Elementary is $7,019, which is the 10^th highest among 37 elementary schools in the West Contra Costa Unified School District.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Michelle Obama Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks Michelle Obama Elementary 4693^rd of 5862 California public elementary schools. (See Michelle Obama 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:

Female students:

Male students:

Hispanic students:

West Contra Costa Unified:

SchoolDigger ranks West Contra Costa Unified 1129^th of 1568 California school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Rank History for Michelle Obama Elementary

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Rank History for all students at Michelle Obama Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2004	18.86	4030^th	4809	16.2%
2005	25.33	3610^th	4822	25.1%
2006	21.27	3902^nd	4818	19.0%
2007	30.29	3554^th	5113	30.5%
2008	21.14	4263^rd	5113	16.6%
2009	13.99	4803^rd	5193	7.5%
2010	16.60	4809^th	5314	9.5%
2011	22.71	4489^th	5377	16.5%
2012	28.28	4065^th	5390	24.6%
2013	28.24	4184^th	5530	24.3%
2015	22.69	4357^th	5611	22.3%
2016	21.47	4473^rd	5614	20.3%
2017	24.67	4286^th	5692	24.7%
2018	16.53	4962^nd	5662	12.4%
2019	18.52	4939^th	5789	14.7%
2022	23.67	4479^th	5883	23.9%
2023	23.27	4531^st	5874	22.9%
2024	21.77	4693^rd	5862	19.9%

See the entire list of California Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Michelle Obama Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	23.13	2839^th	3246	12.5%
2019	26.84	2720^th	3275	16.9%
2022	39.75	1818^th	3311	45.1%
2023	49.71	1213^th	3250	62.7%
2024	30.90	2495^th	3160	21.0%

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

Rank History for Special Education students at Michelle Obama Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2024	59.25	738^th	2634	72.0%

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

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Michelle Obama Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	22.10	4327^th	5084	14.9%
2019	22.11	4416^th	5173	14.6%
2022	27.94	4002^nd	5264	24.0%
2023	22.72	4481^st	5374	16.6%
2024	22.09	4606^th	5511	16.4%

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

Rank History for Female students at Michelle Obama Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	19.49	4581^st	5413	15.4%
2019	21.88	4471^st	5492	18.6%
2022	23.83	4340^th	5635	23.0%
2023	28.49	3912^th	5617	30.4%
2024	30.31	3765^th	5605	32.8%

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

Rank History for Disabled students at Michelle Obama Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2018	54.32	686^th	2128	67.8%

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

Rank History for Male students at Michelle Obama Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	16.41	4866^th	5431	10.4%
2019	18.95	4756^th	5510	13.7%
2022	25.57	4188^th	5663	26.0%
2023	19.40	4772^nd	5650	15.5%
2024	16.59	5016^th	5636	11.0%

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

Rank History for Hispanic students at Michelle Obama Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	26.09	3826^th	4830	20.8%
2019	26.72	3919^th	4963	21.0%
2022	23.81	4213^th	5084	17.1%
2023	26.97	3958^th	5098	22.4%
2024	21.50	4371^st	5102	14.3%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Hispanic 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 Michelle Obama Elementary

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	183	155	57	71	3	n/a	n/a	0	469
1989	159	175	50	80	11	n/a	n/a	0	475
1990	146	214	63	86	6	n/a	n/a	0	515
1991	133	227	77	80	6	n/a	n/a	0	523
1992	118	262	86	78	5	n/a	n/a	0	549
1993	88	293	76	99	7	n/a	n/a	0	563
1994	75	286	100	88	10	n/a	n/a	0	559
1995	80	324	80	103	4	n/a	n/a	0	591
1996	80	324	80	103	4	n/a	n/a	0	591
1997	70	306	79	102	1	n/a	n/a	0	558
1998	68	299	72	114	3	n/a	n/a	0	556
1999	64	272	69	141	1	n/a	n/a	0	547
2000	63	279	61	147	2	n/a	n/a	0	552
2001	54	254	52	171	4	n/a	n/a	9	544
2002	61	168	49	201	4	n/a	n/a	17	500
2003	61	168	49	201	4	n/a	n/a	17	500
2004	54	159	62	199	6	n/a	n/a	5	485
2005	48	131	65	218	5	n/a	n/a	8	475
2006	44	146	64	214	5	n/a	n/a	5	478
2007	28	127	74	249	1	n/a	n/a	6	485
2008	19	127	70	253	1	n/a	n/a	0	470
2009	23	133	58	285	0	2	3	0	504
2010	24	133	78	311	0	2	0	0	548
2011	17	52	52	312	1	4	148	0	586
2012	29	98	79	340	0	2	0	0	548
2013	25	84	77	345	0	4	3	0	538
2014	28	77	67	334	0	4	4	0	514
2015	20	74	68	331	0	4	9	0	506
2016	21	70	71	312	0	7	15	0	496
2017	20	55	64	302	0	7	13	0	461
2018	19	47	54	284	2	10	13	0	429
2019	20	41	55	253	3	8	15	0	395
2020	23	54	64	247	2	8	23	0	421
2021	17	48	48	237	3	7	16	0	376
2022	20	47	49	259	2	10	21	0	408
2023	22	48	43	286	1	7	24	0	431
2024	25	35	54	303	4	4	22	0	447

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 Michelle Obama Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	469	16.0	29.3	n/a
1989	475	17.0	27.9	n/a
1990	515	20.8	24.7	n/a
1991	523	21.1	24.7	n/a
1992	549	21.4	25.6	48.8
1993	563	18.5	30.4	57.4
1994	559	21.0	26.6	62.1
1995	591	23.9	24.7	69.4
1996	591	23.9	24.7	69.4
1997	558	22.4	24.9	69
1998	556	27.0	20.6	69.2
1999	547	29.0	18.9	69.7
2000	552	27.7	19.9	68.5
2001	544	28.0	19.4	78.9
2002	500	25.8	19.4	71.4
2003	500	25.8	19.4	71.4
2004	485	23.8	20.4	74.8
2005	475	21.8	21.8	76.4
2006	478	23.0	20.8	74.2
2007	485	24.0	20.2	78.9
2008	470	26.5	17.7	77.4
2009	504	26.2	17.9	77.8
2010	548	27.0	20.3	81.4
2011	586	n/a	n/a	76.5
2012	548	26.0	21.0	n/a
2013	538	20.0	26.9	85.1
2014	514	20.0	25.7	87.7
2015	506	20.0	25.3	93.3
2016	496	20.0	24.8	87.5
2017	461	19.0	24.2	88.9
2018	429	17.4	24.6	88.8
2019	395	16.0	24.6	86.8
2020	421	n/a	n/a	77.4
2021	376	16.0	23.5	86.4
2022	408	17.0	24.0	51.5
2023	431	18.0	23.9	58.7
2024	447	19.0	23.5	78.1

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 Michelle Obama Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	469	16.0	29.3	n/a
1989	475	17.0	27.9	n/a
1990	515	20.8	24.7	n/a
1991	523	21.1	24.7	n/a
1992	549	21.4	25.6	48.8
1993	563	18.5	30.4	57.4
1994	559	21.0	26.6	62.1
1995	591	23.9	24.7	69.4
1996	591	23.9	24.7	69.4
1997	558	22.4	24.9	69
1998	556	27.0	20.6	69.2
1999	547	29.0	18.9	69.7
2000	552	27.7	19.9	68.5
2001	544	28.0	19.4	78.9
2002	500	25.8	19.4	71.4
2003	500	25.8	19.4	71.4
2004	485	23.8	20.4	74.8
2005	475	21.8	21.8	76.4
2006	478	23.0	20.8	74.2
2007	485	24.0	20.2	78.9
2008	470	26.5	17.7	77.4
2009	504	26.2	17.9	77.8
2010	548	27.0	20.3	81.4
2011	586	n/a	n/a	76.5
2012	548	26.0	21.0	n/a
2013	538	20.0	26.9	85.1
2014	514	20.0	25.7	87.7
2015	506	20.0	25.3	93.3
2016	496	20.0	24.8	87.5
2017	461	19.0	24.2	88.9
2018	429	17.4	24.6	88.8
2019	395	16.0	24.6	86.8
2020	421	n/a	n/a	77.4
2021	376	16.0	23.5	86.4
2022	408	17.0	24.0	51.5
2023	431	18.0	23.9	58.7
2024	447	19.0	23.5	78.1

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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