Enrollment
197
Elementary
DISTRICT 651 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·HEMET UNIFIED·NCES 061692002150
Cottonwood
44260 Sage Rd., Aguanga, CA 92536 · (951) 767-3870 · Riverside County
GRADES KG–08ELEMENTARY42-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL197 STUDENTS
C-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 17% of California public elementary schools
- CTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- C-Three-year trend Change in reading and math proficiency over the last three test years.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded California public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
15.4:1
13 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 22.2:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
74%
145 students
DISTRICT 85% · STATE 65%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 34 | 17% |
| Grade 1 | 25 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 25 | 13% |
| Grade 3 | 11 | 6% |
| Grade 4 | 18 | 9% |
| Grade 5 | 30 | 15% |
| Grade 6 | 16 | 8% |
| Grade 7 | 18 | 9% |
| Grade 8 | 20 | 10% |
This year's kindergarten class (34) is 70% larger than its 8th grade class (20).
Student demographics
53%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 49% · STATE 62% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
CAASPP 2024-25 . % met or exceeded standardEnglish Language Arts
37.0%
CA avg 49.1% . -12.0pp since 2014
Math
20.0%
CA avg 37.7% . -16.0pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 37 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 20 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all California schools, those numbers are about 49 and 38. Reading and writing scores are down about 12 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 16 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 15.1% | 21.9% | 31.9% | 31.1% |
| Math | 1.7% | 18.3% | 25.0% | 55.0% |
Share of tested students at each CAASPP level. Each student counts in one level, so a row adds to about 100%.
CAASPP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 37.0% | 20.0% |
| 2023-24 | 36.8% | 14.3% |
| 2022-23 | 45.1% | 33.1% |
| 2021-22 | 46.8% | 20.2% |
| 2018-19 | 51.1% | 42.9% |
| 2017-18 | 57.9% | 40.5% |
| 2016-17 | 47.4% | 41.8% |
| 2015-16 | 53.0% | 39.0% |
| 2014-15 | 49.0% | 36.0% |
% met or exceeded standard, all students and all tested grades.
Source: CAASPP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
27.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
36.4%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-8.5pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 28% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 36% typical for California schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among California's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Cottonwood
Cottonwood's state test result (27.9% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cottonwood this school | 197 | 73.6% | 27.9% |
| Lincoln Elementary Ventura | 202 | 74.8% | 26.5% |
| Tomales Elementary Tomales | 160 | 72.5% | 21.9% |
| Elverta Elementary Elverta | 159 | 70.4% | 28.9% |
| Isleton Elementary Isleton | 188 | 79.3% | 54.3% |
| Paragon Collegiate Academy Marysville | 208 | 70.7% | N/A |
Matched among California elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Cottonwood ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Riverside County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 27.9% | #3,757 of 5,151 | #188 of 283 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 20.0% | #4,304 of 5,172 ▲ 432 | #221 of 283 ▲ 39 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 37.0% | #3,223 of 5,172 ▼ 176 | #161 of 283 ▼ 19 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -5.0pp | #563 of 5,116 | #17 of 280 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 197 | #5,364 of 5,915 | #293 of 296 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 73.6% | #2,723 of 5,625 | #193 of 294 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -15.8% | #1,930 of 3,837 | #93 of 207 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
197
+18 (+10%) vs 2020
-24% since 1990-91, when it was 259
Student : Teacher
15.4:1
was 13.8:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 197 | 12.8 | 15.4:1 | 74% (145) |
| 2023-24 | 189 | 12.5 | 15.1:1 | 72% (136) |
| 2022-23 | 185 | 10.4 | 17.7:1 | 70% (129) |
| 2020-21 | 179 | 13 | 13.8:1 | 80% (143) |
| 2017-18 | 234 | 13.5 | 17.3:1 | 71% (165) |
| 2015-16 | 246 | 12 | 20.5:1 | 69% (169) |
| 2010-11 | 257 | N/A | N/A | 78% (200) |
| 2000-01 | 267 | 14 | 19.1:1 | 83% (222) |
| 1990-91 | 259 | 13 | 19.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Cottonwood.
Since 2017-18: students down 16% (234 to 197); teachers down 5% (13.5 to 12.8).
About Cottonwood
Cottonwood is a public elementary school in Aguanga, California. The school reports 197 students in kindergarten through 8. The typical figure for elementary schools in California is about 465 students.
The 27 schools of Hemet Unified, including Cottonwood, enroll 22,778 students.
At 57%, Hispanic students outnumber all other groups at Cottonwood combined. Smaller groups are 37% White and 4% multiracial. By the diversity index, Cottonwood comes in at 53%.
Teachers at the school number 12.8 full-time equivalents, and the ratio is 15.4:1. Among elementary schools in California, the typical ratio is 22.3:1. The school's lunch program data list 74% of students as eligible for free or reduced-price meals. That is close to the 74% average for public schools in Riverside County.
allk12 grades Cottonwood a C-. The grade compares the school only with California public elementary schools, because each state gives its own test.
Cottonwood sits between the top and bottom 10% of California schools on BeatsExpectations, with an actual average proficiency rate on state tests of 27.9% and a predicted 36.4%.
In the county around the school, Riverside County, median household income is about $93,074, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 26% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 8%. A total of 543 public schools operate in Riverside County, serving about 424,872 students.
Tony Tobin Elementary is the nearest neighboring public school, about 9.2 miles away. A ten-mile radius around the school includes 4 other public schools. Ranking the closest schools with test data puts Cottonwood at 9th of 9.
The NCES locale for Cottonwood is Rural: Distant, which covers schools in rural territory some distance from an urban area.
The number of students climbed from 179 to 197 over 4 years. Students per teacher rose from 13.8 in 2020-21 to 15.4 in 2024-25.
The allk12 site hosts a discussion page for Cottonwood covering things like enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Riverside County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
2,478,600
Census ACS
Median income
$93,074
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
26%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
8%
Below federal line
Schools in county
543
424,872 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Hemet Unified
- Hemet HighHigh · 2,414 students
- West Valley HighHigh · 1,857 students
- Tahquitz HighHigh · 1,761 students
- Diamond Valley MiddleMiddle · 1,123 students
- Dartmouth MiddleMiddle · 1,113 students
- Rancho Viejo MiddleMiddle · 1,040 students
Other Cottonwood schools
5 other US public schools in 3 states are named Cottonwood. Cottonwood is the 3rd largest of the 6.
- CottonwoodEl Dorado Hills, CA · 3,563 students
- Cottonwood SchoolSALT LAKE CITY, UT · 340 students
- Cottonwood SchoolORANGEVILLE, UT · 115 students
- Cottonwood SchoolHavre, MT · 20 students
- Cottonwood SchoolBozeman, MT · 16 students
Nearby schools
- Tony Tobin Elementary9.2 mi · 718
- Crowne Hill Elementary9.6 mi · 519
- Vail Ranch Middle9.7 mi · 765
- Pauba Valley Elementary9.9 mi · 510
- Abby Reinke Elementary10.3 mi · 559
- Helen Hunt Jackson Elementary10.5 mi · 438
Frequently asked questions
About CottonwoodHow large is Cottonwood?
Cottonwood enrolls approximately 197 students in grades KG-08.
Is Cottonwood an elementary, middle, or high school?
Cottonwood is an elementary school covering grades KG-08.
How many teachers does Cottonwood have?
Cottonwood employs 13 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.4:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Cottonwood?
At Cottonwood, the student body is approximately 37% White, 57% Hispanic, 1% Asian, 4% Two or more.
Is Cottonwood public or private?
Cottonwood is a public K-12 school, overseen by Hemet Unified.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.