These are the top five elementary schools in the Fresno area, new ranking system says
A new ranking from Niche, a school review website, says California’s top elementary schools are split between Northern and Southern California — mostly concentrated in the Bay and Los Angeles areas.
Fresno-area schools didn’t crack the top 200, but several still received an “A” grade from the site.
The top five ranked within the area were all in the Clovis Unified School District.
Niche’s 2023 Best Public Elementary School ranking used a tiered system to compile the overall grades.
It used the following factors, which each included surveys of parents, teachers and/or students, in its ranking methodology:
- Academic grades based on state testing
- Teacher grades based on salary, state test results and absences
- District grade based on parent and student survey responses
- Culture and diversity school culture, racial and economic student diversity
- Resources and Facilities: expenses utilized per student and staffing
- Clubs and activities: expenses utilized for extracurricular activities
- Sports grade: based on the athletic sports offered at the school, and participation
Niche appears to reference enrollment figures from the 2020-21 school year and pre-pandemic reading and math assessment scores from 2019. Neither of those represent the most recent data set available from the California Department of Education.
Here’s which elementary schools Niche says are the best in the Fresno area:
Best Fresno-area elementary schools, Niche says
Niche overall grade: A
Type of school: public school
Student proficiency snapshot: 82% of students are proficient in math and 86% are proficient in reading.
Student population: 601
Statewide ranking: 258
District: Clovis Unified School District
Address: 1250 E Liberty Hill Rd., Fresno
2. James S. Fugman Elementary School
Niche overall grade: A
Type of school: public school
Student proficiency snapshot: 84% of students are proficient in math and 87% are proficient in reading.
Student population: 802
Statewide ranking: 275
District: Clovis Unified School District
Address: 10825 N Cedar Ave., Fresno
Niche overall grade: A
Type of school: public school
Student proficiency snapshot: 78% of students are proficient in math and 80% are proficient in reading.
Student population: 639
Statewide ranking: 292
District: Clovis Unified School District
Address: 1315 N Peach Ave., Clovis
4. Valley Oak Elementary School
Niche overall grade: A
Type of school: public school
Student proficiency snapshot: 72% of students are proficient in math and 78% are proficient in reading.
Student population: 476
Statewide ranking: 307
District: Clovis Unified School District
Address: 465 E Chaplain Dr., Fresno
5. Dry Creek Elementary School
Niche overall grade: A
Type of school: public school
Student proficiency snapshot: 77% of students are proficient in math and 80% are proficient in reading.
Student population: 916
Statewide ranking: 325
District: Clovis Unified School District
Address: 1273 N Armstrong Ave., Clovis
View additional rankings on Niche’s site.
This story was originally published April 14, 2023 at 5:30 AM.
