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Parents: what's one thing you'd want the Cottonwood Elementary administration to hear?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
652
Elementary
DISTRICT 720 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WESTSIDE UNION ELEMENTARY·NCES 064212010141
Cottonwood Elementary
2740 West Ave. P-8, Palmdale, CA 93551 · (661) 267-2825 · Los Angeles County
GRADES KG–06ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL652 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 91% of California public elementary schools
- A-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- A+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
27.2:1
24 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 25.4:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
55%
359 students
DISTRICT 55% · STATE 65%
Community
6
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 | 146 | 22% |
| Grade 1 | 76 | 12% |
| Grade 2 | 80 | 12% |
| Grade 3 | 86 | 13% |
| Grade 4 | 94 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 94 | 14% |
| Grade 6 | 76 | 12% |
This year's kindergarten class (146) is 92% larger than its 6th grade class (76).
Student demographics
61%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 61% · 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
65.8%
CA avg 49.1% . +30.8pp since 2014
Math
56.3%
CA avg 37.7% . +32.3pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 66 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 56 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all California schools, those numbers are about 49 and 38. Reading and writing scores are up about 31 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 32 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 31.9% | 33.9% | 24.3% | 9.9% |
| Math | 25.6% | 30.7% | 26.1% | 17.6% |
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 | 65.8% | 56.3% |
| 2023-24 | 60.5% | 46.8% |
| 2022-23 | 53.9% | 40.9% |
| 2021-22 | 50.2% | 37.9% |
| 2018-19 | 50.8% | 32.0% |
| 2017-18 | 35.8% | 30.2% |
| 2016-17 | 36.1% | 24.6% |
| 2015-16 | 42.0% | 24.0% |
| 2014-15 | 35.0% | 24.0% |
% 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
57.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
47.3%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+10.2pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 57% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 47% 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 Elementary
Cottonwood Elementary's state test result (57.5% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cottonwood Elementary this school | 652 | 55.1% | 57.5% |
| Mary W. Jackson STEAM Multilingual Magnet Elementary Altadena | 658 | 51.8% | 41.8% |
| Tournament Hills Elementary Beaumont | 805 | 58.4% | 50.6% |
| Smiley Elementary Redlands | 634 | 56.8% | 52.8% |
| Del Sur Senior Elementary Lancaster | 763 | 53.3% | 26.8% |
| B. Gale Wilson Middle Fairfield | 602 | 62.3% | 31.4% |
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 Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Los Angeles County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 57.5% | #1,248 of 5,151 | #284 of 1,126 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 56.3% | #1,249 of 5,172 ▲ 451 | #291 of 1,129 ▲ 95 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 65.8% | #970 of 5,172 ▲ 256 | #212 of 1,129 ▲ 61 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +17.0pp | #117 of 5,116 | #53 of 1,116 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 652 | #1,009 of 5,915 | #184 of 1,300 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 27.2:1 | #5,151 of 5,352 | #1,162 of 1,213 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 61.0% | #1,729 of 5,354 | #256 of 1,214 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 55.1% | #3,688 of 5,625 | #965 of 1,276 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +38.4% | #83 of 1,139 | #12 of 181 |
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
652
+101 (+18%) vs 2020
+135% since 1990-91, when it was 277
Student : Teacher
27.2:1
was 26.2:1
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 | 652 | 24 | 27.2:1 | 55% (359) |
| 2023-24 | 615 | 22 | 27.9:1 | 57% (351) |
| 2022-23 | 575 | 21 | 27.4:1 | 59% (338) |
| 2020-21 | 551 | 21 | 26.2:1 | 56% (310) |
| 2017-18 | 471 | 18 | 26.2:1 | 65% (307) |
| 2015-16 | 470 | 18 | 26.1:1 | 60% (282) |
| 2010-11 | 601 | N/A | N/A | 49% (292) |
| 2000-01 | 723 | 34 | 21.3:1 | 18% (128) |
| 1990-91 | 277 | 8 | 34.6:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Cottonwood Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students up 38% (471 to 652); teachers up 33% (18 to 24).
About Cottonwood Elementary
Cottonwood Elementary is a public elementary school run by Westside Union Elementary in Palmdale, California. The school counts 652 students across kindergarten through 6. The typical figure for elementary schools in California is about 465 students.
Westside Union Elementary oversees Cottonwood Elementary and 11 other schools, with 9,078 students in total.
Hispanic students are the majority at Cottonwood Elementary, with 58% of enrollment. Other groups include 16% White, 11% Black, 9% multiracial, and 5% Asian. By comparison, Los Angeles County residents are about 48% Hispanic. Cottonwood Elementary's diversity index is 61%, against a US figure of 70%.
The ratio of students to teachers is 27.2:1, with 24 full-time-equivalent teachers on staff. That is 4.9 students per teacher above the 22.3:1 average for elementary schools in California. The percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch is 55%. The gap from the 70% average for public schools in Los Angeles County is 15 points.
allk12 grades Cottonwood Elementary an A. The grade compares the school only with California public elementary schools, because each state gives its own test.
The allk12 BeatsExpectations score for Cottonwood Elementary is +10.2 points: 57.5% actual, 47.3% predicted.
Recent Census Bureau figures for Los Angeles County show that the median household income is $90,112, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 36%, and roughly 10% of residents are in poverty. Besides Cottonwood Elementary, Los Angeles County has 2,243 other public schools.
The nearest public school is Highland High, at about 0.3 miles. Inside a five-mile radius, there are at least 8 other public schools. Cottonwood Elementary comes in 1st of 7 nearby schools on average proficiency.
Its NCES locale code is Suburb: Large: the school is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Compared with 2020-21, the school had 101 more students in 2024-25.
Discussions about Cottonwood Elementary may include science fairs, picture day, and bus routes. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
Los Angeles County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
9,808,667
Census ACS
Median income
$90,112
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
36%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
10%
Below federal line
Schools in county
2,244
1,265,907 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Westside Union Elementary
- Hillview MiddleMiddle · 1,100 students
- Esperanza ElementaryElementary · 962 students
- Sundown ElementaryElementary · 941 students
- Gregg Anderson AcademyElementary · 893 students
- Rancho Vista ElementaryElementary · 886 students
- Quartz Hill ElementaryElementary · 845 students
Other schools in Palmdale
- Highland HighHigh · 2,706 students
- William J. (Pete) Knight HighHigh · 2,349 students
- Palmdale Aerospace AcademyCombined · 2,259 students
- Palmdale HighHigh · 2,208 students
- Hillview MiddleMiddle · 1,100 students
- Antelope Valley Learning AcademyCombined · 1,059 students
Other Cottonwood Elementary schools
20 other US public schools in 12 states are named Cottonwood Elementary. Cottonwood Elementary is the 5th largest of the 21.
- Cottonwood ElementaryHesperia, CA · 868 students
- Cottonwood Elementary SchoolCLEVELAND, TX · 1,023 students
- COTTONWOOD ELEMENTARYCARLSBAD, NM · 684 students
- COTTONWOOD ELEMENTARYRIGBY, ID · 682 students
- Cottonwood Elementary SchoolFernley, NV · 572 students
Nearby schools
- Highland High0.3 mi · 2,706
- David G. Millen Law and Government Magnet Academy0.6 mi · 952
- Summerwind Elementary1.3 mi · 569
- Palmdale Discovery Center1.5 mi · 246
- Dos Caminos Dual Immersion1.5 mi · 945
- Ocotillo Elementary1.6 mi · 588
Frequently asked questions
About Cottonwood ElementaryHow many students attend Cottonwood Elementary?
Cottonwood Elementary enrolls approximately 652 students in grades KG-06.
What grades does Cottonwood Elementary serve?
Cottonwood Elementary serves grades KG-06.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Cottonwood Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Cottonwood Elementary is approximately 27.2:1 (24 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Cottonwood Elementary?
At Cottonwood Elementary, the student body is approximately 16% White, 58% Hispanic, 11% Black, 5% Asian, 9% Two or more.
What district is Cottonwood Elementary in?
Cottonwood Elementary is part of Westside Union Elementary.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.