Enrollment
338
Elementary
DISTRICT 343 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PLEASANT RIDGE UNION ELEMENTARY·NCES 063093008942
Alta Sierra Elementary
16607 Annie Dr., Grass Valley, CA 95949 · (530) 272-2319 · Nevada County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY32-TOWNREGULAR SCHOOL338 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 50% of California public elementary schools
- B+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- BThree-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
24.1:1
14 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 23.3:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
34%
116 students
DISTRICT 33% · STATE 65%
Community
0
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 | 74 | 22% |
| Grade 1 | 45 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 53 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 54 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 68 | 20% |
| Grade 5 | 44 | 13% |
This year's kindergarten class (74) is 68% larger than its 5th grade class (44).
Student demographics
46%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 47% · 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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Alta Sierra Elementary→Magnolia Intermediate
Based on grade levels within Pleasant Ridge Union Elementary. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
CAASPP 2024-25 . % met or exceeded standardEnglish Language Arts
52.5%
CA avg 49.1% . -11.5pp since 2014
Math
54.4%
CA avg 37.7% . +3.4pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 52 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 54 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 12 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 3 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 25.9% | 26.5% | 22.2% | 25.3% |
| Math | 25.0% | 29.4% | 31.9% | 13.8% |
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 | 52.5% | 54.4% |
| 2023-24 | 53.8% | 50.0% |
| 2022-23 | 48.6% | 53.5% |
| 2021-22 | 49.7% | 50.6% |
| 2020-21 | 54.1% | 52.3% |
| 2018-19 | 59.7% | 51.5% |
| 2017-18 | 61.1% | 48.4% |
| 2016-17 | 54.8% | 40.8% |
| 2015-16 | 55.0% | 45.0% |
| 2014-15 | 64.0% | 51.0% |
% 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
52.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
59.4%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-7.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 52% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 59% 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 Alta Sierra Elementary
Alta Sierra Elementary's state test result (52.0% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alta Sierra Elementary this school | 338 | 34.3% | 52.0% |
| Pierpont Elementary Ventura | 304 | 34.9% | 60.7% |
| Santa Margarita Elementary Santa Margarita | 297 | 33.7% | 53.2% |
| Sutter Creek Elementary Sutter Creek | 387 | 34.6% | 39.4% |
| Green Oaks Fundamental Elementary Orangevale | 307 | 37.1% | 61.1% |
| Golden Valley Orchard Orangevale | 292 | 31.5% | N/A |
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 Alta Sierra Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Nevada County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 52.0% | #1,588 of 5,151 | #4 of 14 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 54.4% | #1,345 of 5,172 ▲ 180 | #4 of 14 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 52.5% | #1,853 of 5,172 ▼ 222 | #6 of 14 ▼ 2 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +3.3pp | #2,190 of 5,116 | #6 of 14 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 338 | #4,398 of 5,915 | #8 of 20 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 24.1:1 | #3,860 of 5,352 | #13 of 14 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 46.4% | #3,040 of 5,354 | #6 of 14 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 34.3% | #4,587 of 5,625 | #14 of 17 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +11.2% | #474 of 1,139 | #4 of 6 |
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
338
+12 (+4%) vs 2020
-39% since 1990-91, when it was 552
Student : Teacher
24.1:1
was 21.7:1
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 | 338 | 14 | 24.1:1 | 34% (116) |
| 2023-24 | 331 | 15 | 22.1:1 | 36% (120) |
| 2022-23 | 319 | 15 | 21.2:1 | 34% (110) |
| 2020-21 | 326 | 15 | 21.7:1 | 30% (97) |
| 2017-18 | 304 | 16 | 19.0:1 | 42% (129) |
| 2015-16 | 325 | 15 | 21.7:1 | 30% (97) |
| 2010-11 | 324 | N/A | N/A | 30% (96) |
| 2000-01 | 429 | 21 | 20.4:1 | 10% (43) |
| 1990-91 | 552 | 24 | 23.0:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Alta Sierra Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students up 11% (304 to 338); teachers down 12% (16 to 14).
About Alta Sierra Elementary
Alta Sierra Elementary is a low-enrollment elementary school in California, located in Grass Valley. It enrolled 338 students in kindergarten through 5 for the 2024-25 school year. Enrollment is 27% lower than the average for elementary schools in California, which is about 465.
Pleasant Ridge Union Elementary, which runs Alta Sierra Elementary, has 4 schools and 1,440 students.
At 70%, White students outnumber all other groups at Alta Sierra Elementary combined. Other students are 17% Hispanic and 11% multiracial. By comparison, Nevada County residents are about 84% White. Alta Sierra Elementary has a diversity index of 46%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
The ratio of students to teachers is 24.1:1, with 14 full-time-equivalent teachers on staff. The 22.3:1 average for elementary schools in California is lower than this school's figure. Lunch subsidy eligibility at Alta Sierra Elementary is 34%. The 43% average for public schools in Nevada County is 9 points higher.
Alta Sierra Elementary is graded B- by allk12, scoring above 50% of California public elementary schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
Alta Sierra Elementary sits between the top and bottom 10% of California schools on BeatsExpectations, with an actual average proficiency rate on state tests of 52.0% and a predicted 59.4%.
Recent Census Bureau figures for Nevada County show that median household income is about $89,882, about 42% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 7% of residents are in poverty. Alta Sierra Elementary is one of 46 public schools in Nevada County, which together enroll about 13,561 students.
Chicago Park Elementary is the nearest neighboring public school, about 3.9 miles away. Counting only straight-line distance, 7 other public schools are within five miles. Its average proficiency rate of 52.0% is above the 48.2% average for nearby schools.
Federal data place Alta Sierra Elementary in the Town: Distant locale, which means it is in a town some distance from an urbanized area.
Enrollment was 326 in 2020-21 and 338 in 2024-25, a rise of 12 students. In 2020-21, the student-to-teacher ratio was 21.7:1; by 2024-25 it was 24.1:1.
Conversations here can range across sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
Nevada County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
102,481
Census ACS
Median income
$89,882
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
42%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
46
13,561 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Pleasant Ridge Union Elementary
- Cottage Hill ElementaryElementary · 485 students
- Magnolia IntermediateMiddle · 410 students
- Arete Charter AcademyElementary · 207 students
- Pleasant Ridge Special Education PreschoolElementary
Other schools in Grass Valley
- Nevada Union HighHigh · 1,561 students
- Bear River HighHigh · 664 students
- John Muir CharterHigh · 629 students
- Grass Valley CharterElementary · 546 students
- Union Hill ElementaryElementary · 542 students
- Cottage Hill ElementaryElementary · 485 students
Nearby schools
- Chicago Park Elementary3.9 mi · 120
- Chicago Park Community Charter3.9 mi · 43
- Colfax High4.2 mi · 611
- Colfax Elementary4.4 mi · 345
- Magnolia Intermediate4.9 mi · 410
- Arete Charter Academy4.9 mi · 207
Frequently asked questions
About Alta Sierra ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at Alta Sierra Elementary?
Alta Sierra Elementary enrolls approximately 338 students in grades KG-05.
What age range does Alta Sierra Elementary serve?
Alta Sierra Elementary serves students from grade KG through grade 05.
How many teachers does Alta Sierra Elementary have?
Alta Sierra Elementary employs 14 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 24.1:1.
What is the student diversity at Alta Sierra Elementary?
Student demographics at Alta Sierra Elementary are roughly 70% White, 17% Hispanic, 1% Black, 0% Asian, 11% Two or more.
Is Alta Sierra Elementary public or private?
Alta Sierra Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Pleasant Ridge Union Elementary.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.