Is Phelan Elementary a good school?

Phelan Elementary ranks in the bottom 11.6% of California elementary schools.

How many students attend Phelan Elementary?

In the 2023-24 school year, 695 students attended Phelan Elementary.

What is the racial makeup of Phelan Elementary?

Students at Phelan Elementary are 70% Hispanic, 20% White, 8% Two or more races.

What schools do graduates of Phelan Elementary attend?

Students who attend Phelan Elementary usually go on to attend: Middle : Pinon Mesa Middle High : Serrano High

Phelan Elementary

Summary:

Phelan Elementary is a public elementary school serving 642 students in grades K-5 in the Snowline Joint Unified School District in Phelan, California. The school has consistently ranked in the bottom 10-15% of California elementary schools over the past decade, with a 1-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Phelan Elementary faces significant challenges, including a chronic absenteeism rate of 42.8% in 2022-2023, which is more than double the state average. Student academic performance is also a major concern, with only 23.71% of Phelan students proficient or better in ELA and just 14.61% proficient in math, compared to district and state averages that are significantly higher. Additionally, 78.19% of Phelan students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a high percentage of students from low-income families.

Interestingly, the nearby Vista Verde Elementary and Baldy Mesa Elementary schools in the Snowline Joint Unified District perform significantly better than Phelan Elementary across a range of metrics, suggesting that factors specific to Phelan Elementary, rather than the broader district, are contributing to the school's poor performance. Phelan Elementary's subgroup performance is also concerning, with the school ranking in the bottom 10-15% of California schools for most student subgroups.

Detail:

Public K-5

4167 Phelan Rd.
Phelan, CA 92371-3902

(760) 868-3252

District: Snowline Joint Unified

SchoolDigger Rank:
5181^st of 5,862 California Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $7,724

Students who attend Phelan Elementary usually attend:

Middle:	Pinon Mesa Middle
High:	Serrano High

Student/teacher ratio: 23.1

Number of students: 695

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

69.9%

White:

20.0%

Two or more races:

8.1%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 81.2%

See top rated California elementary schools

Compare Phelan Elementary to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Phelan Elementary ranks worse than 88.4% of elementary schools in California. It also ranks 5^th among 6 ranked elementary schools in the Snowline Joint Unified School District. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 16.32. (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 (69.9%), White (20%), two or more races (8.1%). (See more...)

Compare Details 81.2% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. This is the highest percentage in the Snowline Joint Unified School District. (See more...)

Compare Details (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Phelan Elementary is 23.1, which is the 3^rd best among 6 elementary schools in the Snowline Joint Unified School District. (See more...)

Compare Phelan Elementary employs 30 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Phelan Elementary is $7,724, which is the 2^nd highest among 6 elementary schools in the Snowline Joint Unified School District.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Phelan Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks Phelan Elementary 5181^st of 5862 California public elementary schools. (See Phelan 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:

White students:

Snowline Joint Unified:

SchoolDigger ranks Snowline Joint Unified 1012^th of 1568 California school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Rank History for Phelan Elementary

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Rank History for all students at Phelan Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2004	29.84	3256^th	4809	32.3%
2005	43.96	2484^th	4822	48.5%
2006	36.05	2933^rd	4818	39.1%
2007	24.07	4002^nd	5113	21.7%
2008	27.11	3822^nd	5113	25.2%
2009	36.82	3261^st	5193	37.2%
2010	36.51	3386^th	5314	36.3%
2011	37.76	3403^rd	5377	36.7%
2012	20.14	4637^th	5390	14.0%
2013	33.53	3774^th	5530	31.8%
2015	18.73	4763^rd	5611	15.1%
2016	18.42	4748^th	5614	15.4%
2017	20.07	4686^th	5692	17.7%
2018	20.55	4634^th	5662	18.2%
2019	22.22	4615^th	5789	20.3%
2022	15.84	5285^th	5883	10.2%
2023	18.22	5020^th	5874	14.5%
2024	16.32	5181^st	5862	11.6%

See the entire list of California Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at Phelan Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2022	3.68	593^rd	610	2.8%
2023	4.71	646^th	669	3.4%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Multi-racial Students!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Phelan Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	32.58	2206^th	3246	32.0%
2019	30.79	2428^th	3275	25.9%
2022	24.76	2959^th	3311	10.6%
2023	31.62	2419^th	3250	25.6%
2024	32.78	2362^nd	3160	25.3%

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

Rank History for Special Education students at Phelan Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	17.82	2337^th	2420	3.4%
2024	21.38	2325^th	2634	11.7%

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

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Phelan Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	24.32	4171^st	5084	18.0%
2019	30.91	3799^th	5173	26.6%
2022	18.86	4730^th	5264	10.1%
2023	22.45	4509^th	5374	16.1%
2024	19.72	4794^th	5511	13.0%

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

Rank History for Female students at Phelan Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	17.33	4755^th	5413	12.2%
2019	18.29	4772^nd	5492	13.1%
2022	13.39	5330^th	5635	5.4%
2023	16.56	5000^th	5617	11.0%
2024	13.76	5213^th	5605	7.0%

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

Rank History for Disabled students at Phelan Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	20.91	1927^th	2128	9.4%
2019	29.34	1837^th	2585	28.9%
2022	18.02	2162^nd	2227	2.9%

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

Rank History for Male students at Phelan Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	24.33	4161^st	5431	23.4%
2019	27.27	4002^nd	5510	27.4%
2022	21.52	4562^nd	5663	19.4%
2023	22.14	4528^th	5650	19.9%
2024	20.21	4698^th	5636	16.6%

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

Rank History for Hispanic students at Phelan Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	25.42	3874^th	4830	19.8%
2019	26.44	3941^st	4963	20.6%
2022	18.61	4603^rd	5084	9.5%
2023	25.35	4087^th	5098	19.8%
2024	22.09	4335^th	5102	15.0%

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

Rank History for White students at Phelan Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	13.64	2467^th	2737	9.9%
2019	16.59	2474^th	2834	12.7%
2022	6.08	2621^st	2726	3.9%
2023	3.65	2620^th	2662	1.6%
2024	4.92	2574^th	2647	2.8%

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 Phelan Elementary

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	618	4	7	86	4	n/a	n/a	0	719
1989	765	7	11	114	19	n/a	n/a	0	916
1990	594	7	3	90	15	n/a	n/a	0	709
1991	621	7	8	132	17	n/a	n/a	0	785
1992	651	19	8	155	15	n/a	n/a	0	848
1993	539	15	5	141	10	n/a	n/a	0	710
1994	566	14	5	169	9	n/a	n/a	0	763
1995	488	11	10	167	12	n/a	n/a	0	688
1996	488	11	10	167	12	n/a	n/a	0	688
1997	472	16	14	199	6	n/a	n/a	0	707
1998	488	17	12	203	6	n/a	n/a	0	726
1999	464	13	8	191	6	n/a	n/a	0	682
2000	439	11	8	160	8	n/a	n/a	0	626
2001	466	9	12	161	2	n/a	n/a	0	650
2002	351	78	32	181	2	n/a	n/a	14	658
2003	351	78	32	181	2	n/a	n/a	14	658
2004	376	9	14	215	2	n/a	n/a	10	626
2005	376	8	15	236	3	n/a	n/a	19	657
2006	359	13	14	280	4	n/a	n/a	6	676
2007	359	14	15	325	1	n/a	n/a	2	716
2008	344	14	20	331	3	n/a	n/a	0	712
2009	343	18	13	303	5	0	15	0	697
2010	319	22	11	297	7	0	20	0	676
2011	292	24	7	289	6	2	20	0	640
2012	205	15	5	287	1	2	92	0	607
2013	243	13	9	278	2	1	36	0	582
2014	194	8	4	262	3	1	73	0	545
2015	182	10	4	280	0	0	77	0	553
2016	137	8	6	280	1	1	113	0	546
2017	142	15	5	305	2	0	121	0	590
2018	172	7	4	354	6	1	70	0	614
2019	136	11	4	357	6	1	86	0	601
2020	117	5	1	335	5	1	87	0	551
2021	107	6	1	321	1	1	73	0	510
2022	102	5	4	370	0	1	76	0	558
2023	133	5	6	422	2	1	73	0	642
2024	139	5	5	486	4	0	56	0	695

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 Phelan Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	719	29.0	24.7	n/a
1989	916	34.0	26.9	n/a
1990	709	31.0	22.8	n/a
1991	785	34.0	23.0	n/a
1992	848	34.6	24.5	34
1993	710	31.0	22.9	39
1994	763	32.0	23.8	45.3
1995	688	30.0	22.9	34.6
1996	688	30.0	22.9	34.6
1997	707	35.0	20.2	59.4
1998	726	35.0	20.7	63.4
1999	682	34.0	20.1	74.2
2000	626	33.0	19.0	61.3
2001	650	33.0	19.7	65.5
2002	658	35.0	18.8	66.6
2003	658	35.0	18.8	66.6
2004	626	32.5	19.3	70.9
2005	657	31.5	20.9	69.4
2006	676	32.0	21.1	73.3
2007	716	36.0	19.9	60.8
2008	712	36.0	19.8	65.6
2009	697	33.0	20.5	74.9
2010	676	29.0	23.3	70.7
2011	640	n/a	n/a	74.5
2012	607	22.0	27.5	n/a
2013	582	21.0	27.7	75.8
2014	545	20.0	27.2	69.2
2015	553	22.0	25.1	70.5
2016	546	22.0	24.8	81
2017	590	22.5	26.2	82.2
2018	614	23.0	26.6	82.9
2019	601	23.0	26.1	82.7
2020	551	n/a	n/a	81.3
2021	510	21.5	23.7	84.7
2022	558	23.0	24.2	82.8
2023	642	27.0	23.7	78.2
2024	695	30.0	23.1	81.2

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 Phelan Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	719	29.0	24.7	n/a
1989	916	34.0	26.9	n/a
1990	709	31.0	22.8	n/a
1991	785	34.0	23.0	n/a
1992	848	34.6	24.5	34
1993	710	31.0	22.9	39
1994	763	32.0	23.8	45.3
1995	688	30.0	22.9	34.6
1996	688	30.0	22.9	34.6
1997	707	35.0	20.2	59.4
1998	726	35.0	20.7	63.4
1999	682	34.0	20.1	74.2
2000	626	33.0	19.0	61.3
2001	650	33.0	19.7	65.5
2002	658	35.0	18.8	66.6
2003	658	35.0	18.8	66.6
2004	626	32.5	19.3	70.9
2005	657	31.5	20.9	69.4
2006	676	32.0	21.1	73.3
2007	716	36.0	19.9	60.8
2008	712	36.0	19.8	65.6
2009	697	33.0	20.5	74.9
2010	676	29.0	23.3	70.7
2011	640	n/a	n/a	74.5
2012	607	22.0	27.5	n/a
2013	582	21.0	27.7	75.8
2014	545	20.0	27.2	69.2
2015	553	22.0	25.1	70.5
2016	546	22.0	24.8	81
2017	590	22.5	26.2	82.2
2018	614	23.0	26.6	82.9
2019	601	23.0	26.1	82.7
2020	551	n/a	n/a	81.3
2021	510	21.5	23.7	84.7
2022	558	23.0	24.2	82.8
2023	642	27.0	23.7	78.2
2024	695	30.0	23.1	81.2

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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