Alice Birney Elementary

Alice Birney Elementary operates as a low-enrollment elementary-level community in Eureka, California, one of the schools within Eureka City Schools. Current enrollment sits at 375 students spanning grades K through 5.

Within Eureka City Schools, which oversees 8 schools and 3,462 students, Alice Birney Elementary is one campus in the system.

On demographics, Alice Birney Elementary records that the most-represented group is Hispanic (33%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. The remainder is composed of 25% White, 20% Asian, 13% multiracial, 3% Black. That is visibly more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 14%.

Looking at school resources, On paper, Alice Birney Elementary has 15 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 25.0:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 22.3:1, putting Alice Birney Elementary higher than the state norm the norm. An estimated 78% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. Set against Humboldt County (around 60%), the school's rate is meaningfully above typical.

With demographic context factored in, On a poverty-adjusted basis, Alice Birney Elementary sits in the bottom 10% statewide. Predicted proficiency from the FRL regression is roughly 33.3%; actual is 15.9%, a gap of -17.3 points.

Around the school, Humboldt County reports that median household income runs about $61,160, roughly 33% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 11%. Alice Birney Elementary is one of 92 public schools in Humboldt County (combined enrollment of about 17,319 students).

The closest other public school is Zoe Barnum High, roughly 0.4 miles away. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Among the 6 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Alice Birney Elementary ranks 6th on composite proficiency, beneath the local average of 31.4%.

Geographically, the school is in a small-town area.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count ticked down 7%: 403 students in 2018 compared to 375 in 2025. Over the same period, the Hispanic share contracted from 39% to 33%. The student-to-teacher ratio loosened from 23.7:1 in 2018 to 25.0:1 today.

On this page, posts here usually surface around fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.