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What's the biggest difference between Orchard Elementary and what you expected?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
579
Elementary
DISTRICT 511 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SYLVAN UNION ELEMENTARY·NCES 063867001813
Orchard Elementary
1800 Wisdom Way, Modesto, CA 95355 · (209) 552-3100 · Stanislaus County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL579 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
20.7:1
28 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 21.6:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
70%
406 students
DISTRICT 67% · 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 | 131 | 23% |
| Grade 1 | 86 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 99 | 17% |
| Grade 3 | 78 | 13% |
| Grade 4 | 96 | 17% |
| Grade 5 | 89 | 15% |
This year's kindergarten class (131) is 47% larger than its 5th grade class (89).
Student demographics
63%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 66% · 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
37.5%
CA avg 49.1% . -1.5pp since 2014
Math
38.1%
CA avg 37.7% . +11.1pp 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 38 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 2 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 11 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 16.2% | 21.2% | 27.0% | 35.5% |
| Math | 11.2% | 26.9% | 26.5% | 35.4% |
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 | 37.5% | 38.1% |
| 2023-24 | 33.2% | 32.0% |
| 2022-23 | 37.4% | 31.6% |
| 2021-22 | 36.8% | 35.0% |
| 2018-19 | 42.2% | 35.5% |
| 2017-18 | 40.4% | 37.2% |
| 2016-17 | 44.1% | 33.5% |
| 2015-16 | 53.0% | 34.0% |
| 2014-15 | 39.0% | 27.0% |
% 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
35.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
38.5%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-3.1pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 35% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 38% 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 Orchard Elementary
Orchard Elementary's state test result (35.3% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orchard Elementary this school | 579 | 70.1% | 35.3% |
| Avaxat Elementary Murrieta | 617 | 68.7% | 34.1% |
| Mitchell Community Elementary Canyon Country | 569 | 68.4% | 36.5% |
| Chester W. Morrison Elementary Menifee | 518 | 72.6% | 46.7% |
| Temecula Elementary Temecula | 522 | 72.6% | 38.6% |
| Dearborn Elementary Charter Academy Northridge | 527 | 72.1% | 58.0% |
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 Orchard Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Stanislaus County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 35.3% | #2,925 of 5,151 | #40 of 100 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 38.1% | #2,435 of 5,172 ▲ 448 | #29 of 100 ▲ 5 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 37.5% | #3,180 of 5,172 ▲ 247 | #46 of 100 ▲ 4 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +1.8pp | #2,733 of 5,116 | #56 of 100 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 579 | #1,576 of 5,915 | #36 of 108 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 20.7:1 | #1,316 of 5,352 | #17 of 97 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 62.8% | #1,522 of 5,354 | #15 of 97 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 70.1% | #2,951 of 5,625 | #64 of 105 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -4.1% | #3,420 of 3,837 | #46 of 56 |
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
579
-1 (0%) vs 2020
-28% since 2000-01, when it was 805
Student : Teacher
20.7:1
was 21.5:1
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 | 579 | 28 | 20.7:1 | 70% (406) |
| 2023-24 | 604 | 26.5 | 22.8:1 | 66% (397) |
| 2022-23 | 580 | 27.1 | 21.4:1 | 63% (364) |
| 2020-21 | 580 | 27 | 21.5:1 | 62% (360) |
| 2017-18 | 604 | 24 | 25.2:1 | 57% (345) |
| 2015-16 | 557 | 25 | 22.3:1 | 58% (324) |
| 2010-11 | 490 | N/A | N/A | 58% (282) |
| 2000-01 | 805 | 37 | 21.8:1 | 18% (145) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Orchard Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 4% (604 to 579); teachers up 17% (24 to 28).
About Orchard Elementary
At 1800 Wisdom Way in Modesto, California, Orchard Elementary operates as a mid-sized elementary school. Federal data show 579 students enrolled in kindergarten through 5 in 2024-25. On average, elementary schools in California enroll around 465, and this school is 25% above that mark.
Orchard Elementary is one school in Sylvan Union Elementary, a system of 13 schools with 7,974 students.
Of every 100 students at Orchard Elementary, about 56 are Hispanic. Other reported shares: 21% White, 9% multiracial, 7% Asian, and 6% Black. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Orchard Elementary scores 63%.
Its ratio of 20.7:1 is based on 28 full-time-equivalent teachers. Elementary schools in California have an average ratio of 22.3:1. In all, 70% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. That is in line with the 71% average for public schools in Stanislaus County.
The school's average proficiency rate across its state test results is 35.3%. For its free or reduced-price lunch share, the predicted value is 38.5%.
For Stanislaus County, Census Bureau data show the median household earns about $81,468 a year, 20% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 11% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Public schools in Stanislaus County number 190, with about 106,477 students.
Orchard Elementary's nearest public school is Connecting Waters Charter School - Central Valley (about 0.2 miles). In all, at least 8 other public schools sit within five miles of Orchard Elementary. Among the 8 closest schools with test data, this one included, Orchard Elementary ranks 4th on average proficiency.
For locale, NCES codes Orchard Elementary as City: Mid-size.
Over 4 years, enrollment stayed close to where it was, going from 580 to 579.
The Orchard Elementary discussion page is a place for fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Stanislaus County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
553,990
Census ACS
Median income
$81,468
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
20%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
190
106,477 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Sylvan Union Elementary
- Elizabeth Ustach MiddleMiddle · 1,016 students
- Somerset MiddleMiddle · 947 students
- Daniel J. Savage MiddleMiddle · 906 students
- Crossroads ElementaryElementary · 752 students
- Freedom ElementaryElementary · 713 students
- Mary Ann Sanders ElementaryElementary · 558 students
Other schools in Modesto
- Joseph A. Gregori HighHigh · 2,346 students
- James C. Enochs HighHigh · 2,304 students
- Modesto HighHigh · 2,292 students
- Thomas Downey HighHigh · 2,192 students
- Grace M. Davis HighHigh · 2,083 students
- Peter Johansen HighHigh · 2,029 students
Other Orchard Elementary schools
6 other US public schools in 4 states are named Orchard Elementary. Orchard Elementary is the 4th largest of the 7.
- Orchard ElementarySan Jose, CA · 740 students
- Orchard ElementaryVacaville, CA · 437 students
- Orchard ElementaryRio Linda, CA · 366 students
- Orchard Elementary SchoolMobile, AL · 622 students
- Orchard ElementaryRichland, WA · 594 students
Nearby schools
- Connecting Waters Charter School - Central Valley0.2 mi · 776
- Sonoma Elementary0.6 mi · 536
- Elizabeth Ustach Middle1.0 mi · 1,016
- Rose Avenue Elementary1.0 mi · 561
- Coleman F. Brown Elementary1.0 mi · 378
- Lakewood Elementary1.1 mi · 395
Frequently asked questions
About Orchard ElementaryHow many students attend Orchard Elementary?
Orchard Elementary enrolls approximately 579 students in grades KG-05.
Is Orchard Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Orchard Elementary is an elementary school covering grades KG-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Orchard Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Orchard Elementary is approximately 20.7:1 (28 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Orchard Elementary?
Orchard Elementary reports a student body of 21% White, 56% Hispanic, 6% Black, 7% Asian, 9% Two or more.
What district is Orchard Elementary in?
Orchard Elementary is part of Sylvan Union Elementary.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.