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This Stockton school has been ranked among best in California by U.S. News & World Report

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11 hours ago

December 20, 2024

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This Stockton school has been ranked among best in California by U.S. News & World Report

Elkhorn School in Stockton was ranked as one of the best middle schools in California in U.S. News & World Report’s annual rankings for 2025.

The school, which has an enrollment of 266 students and serves gifted students in grades 4-8 in the Lodi Unified School District, was ranked No. 3 on the outlet’s annual list of Best California Middle Schools.

The rankings, which were released on Nov. 14, are only for public schools and are based on the percentage of students rated proficient or above in mathematics and reading/language arts in state assessment tests. The data used for the 2025 rankings is based on the U.S. Department of Education’s Common Core of Data for the 2022-23 school year, according to methodology published with the annual rankings.

Elkhorn was tied for first among 2,404 California schools in reading proficiency, and was ranked fourth for math proficiency, according to U.S. News & World Report.

At Elkhorn, 94% of students scored at or above the proficient level for math, and 98% scored at or above that level for reading. The school’s math performance and reading performance were ranked “well above expectations,” the outlet said.

Matt Huiras has served as principal of Elkhorn School for the past three years. He said the recognition from U.S. News & World Report is a testament to the efforts of Elkhorn’s teachers, students and their families.

“It’s a huge positive to have 100% gifted learners, but it’s a culture that we set as a staff with the support systems that we have built in,” Huiras said. “One of the biggest misconceptions is that all gifted learners are ready to perform to their highest abilities, which is not necessarily always the case, so we set up a collaborative, supportive environment to make sure to continue to challenge them so we don’t lose them.”

Huiras said the middle school years are a critical period of development for gifted learners, and it’s important for them to be challenged when they’re in middle school.

“A lot of gifted learners who go unchallenged tend to start to have some negative behaviors, at times, that we are able to nip in the bud pretty quickly because we do have such a small community,” Huiras said. “All of my middle school teachers teach all of the kids and I know every student on campus, so we can really curb things right as they happen if we do get any sort of negativity, and really foster that collaborative environment so they’re able to support one another and feel supported by their peers and staff.”

Compared to the rest of Lodi Unified, Elkhorn performed better in math and reading as 36% of Lodi Unified students tested at or above the proficient level for reading, and 26% tested at or above that level for math, according to U.S. News & World Report.

The school also performed better in math and reading than students across the state. In California, 43% of students tested at or above the proficient level for reading, and 33% tested at or above that level for math, the outlet said.

The other four schools in California that are considered to be among the best for middle schoolers are Whitney High School in Cerritos, Oxford Academy in Cypress, Science Academy STEM Magnet in North Hollywood, and Petaluma Accelerated Charter in Petaluma.

Julius Cordes Elementary School and Hansen Elementary School, both in the Lammersville Joint Unified School District, were the only other schools in San Joaquin County to rank in the top 100 schools. Julius Cordes was No. 15 and Hansen was No. 33.

Record reporter Hannah Workman covers news in Stockton and San Joaquin County. She can be reached at hworkman@recordnet.com or on Twitter @byhannahworkman. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.