Enrollment
113
Elementary
STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BALLARD ELEMENTARY·NCES 060372000343
Ballard Elementary
2425 School St., Solvang, CA 93463 · (805) 688-4812 · Santa Barbara County
GRADES KG–06ELEMENTARY41-RURALREGULAR SCHOOL113 STUDENTS
B+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 74% of California public elementary schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- B-Three-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
16.1:1
7 FTE teachers
STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
11%
12 students
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 | 14 | 12% |
| Grade 1 | 12 | 11% |
| Grade 2 | 16 | 14% |
| Grade 3 | 20 | 18% |
| Grade 4 | 22 | 19% |
| Grade 5 | 14 | 12% |
| Grade 6 | 15 | 13% |
This year's kindergarten class (14) is 7% smaller than its 6th grade class (15).
Student demographics
36%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
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
77.5%
CA avg 49.1% . -4.5pp since 2014
Math
66.2%
CA avg 37.7% . -13.8pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 77 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 66 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 5 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 14 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 40.9% | 36.6% | 18.3% | 4.2% |
| Math | 38.0% | 28.2% | 29.6% | 4.2% |
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 | 77.5% | 66.2% |
| 2023-24 | 77.0% | 72.1% |
| 2022-23 | 88.7% | 75.8% |
| 2021-22 | 69.6% | 71.0% |
| 2018-19 | 87.7% | 84.9% |
| 2017-18 | 85.1% | 75.3% |
| 2016-17 | 84.9% | 76.7% |
| 2015-16 | 92.0% | 80.0% |
| 2014-15 | 82.0% | 80.0% |
% 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
73.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
73.3%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+0.3pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 74% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 73% 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 Ballard Elementary
Ballard Elementary's state test result (73.6% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ballard Elementary this school | 113 | 10.6% | 73.6% |
| Gratton Charter Denair | 111 | 12.6% | 60.7% |
| Happy Valley Elementary Santa Cruz | 106 | 7.5% | 80.4% |
| Knights Ferry Elementary Knights Ferry | 106 | 15.1% | 55.3% |
| Newcastle Elementary Newcastle | 164 | 13.4% | 66.6% |
| Mountain Elementary Soquel | 143 | 14.7% | 63.0% |
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 Ballard Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Santa Barbara County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 73.6% | #484 of 5,151 | #4 of 66 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 66.2% | #767 of 5,172 ▼ 259 | #6 of 66 ▼ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 77.5% | #382 of 5,172 ▼ 10 | #4 of 66 ▲ 2 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +1.5pp | #2,819 of 5,116 | #31 of 66 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 113 | #5,602 of 5,915 | #69 of 75 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 10.6% | #5,454 of 5,625 | #68 of 70 |
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
113
-15 (-12%) vs 2020
+47% since 1990-91, when it was 77
Student : Teacher
16.1:1
was 18.3:1
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 | 113 | 7 | 16.1:1 | 11% (12) |
| 2023-24 | 107 | 7 | 15.3:1 | 9% (10) |
| 2022-23 | 118 | 7 | 16.9:1 | 10% (12) |
| 2020-21 | 128 | 7 | 18.3:1 | 8% (10) |
| 2017-18 | 131 | 7 | 18.7:1 | 8% (10) |
| 2015-16 | 124 | 7 | 17.7:1 | 2% (3) |
| 2010-11 | 118 | N/A | N/A | 3% (3) |
| 2000-01 | 141 | 7 | 20.1:1 | 3% (4) |
| 1990-91 | 77 | 3 | 25.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Ballard Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 14% (131 to 113); teachers unchanged (7 to 7).
About Ballard Elementary
At 2425 School St. in Solvang, California, Ballard Elementary operates as a small elementary school. It enrolled 113 students in kindergarten through 6 for the 2024-25 school year. Statewide, elementary schools in California average about 465 students each.
In federal data, the district for Ballard Elementary is the school itself.
A majority of students at Ballard Elementary, 79%, are White. Next come 12% Hispanic and 7% multiracial. The county population is about 48% White. The chance that two students picked at random at Ballard Elementary belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 36%.
Federal staffing data show 7 full-time-equivalent teachers at Ballard Elementary and a ratio of 16.1:1. The average ratio among elementary schools in California is 22.3:1, higher than at this school. The count of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch equals 11% of enrollment. The 68% average for public schools in Santa Barbara County is 57 points higher.
Measured against California public elementary schools, Ballard Elementary receives a B+. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
Ballard Elementary posts an average proficiency rate on state tests of 73.6%, compared with a predicted 73.3%. It is not in the top or bottom 10% of California schools on BeatsExpectations.
According to the American Community Survey, in Santa Barbara County, median household income is about $98,161, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 37%, and about 9% of people live in poverty. A total of 129 public schools operate in Santa Barbara County, serving about 66,191 students.
Los Olivos Elementary is the public school closest to Ballard Elementary, about 1.8 miles away. Inside a five-mile radius, there are at least 8 other public schools. On average proficiency, Ballard Elementary is 1st of 5 nearby schools with test data.
Federal records code the school's setting as Rural: Fringe.
From 2020-21 to 2024-25, Ballard Elementary went from 128 students to 113. The school's ratio fell from 18.3:1 to 16.1:1 between 2020-21 and 2024-25.
Topics for discussion here include school safety, transportation, and start times. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Santa Barbara County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
443,701
Census ACS
Median income
$98,161
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
37%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
129
66,191 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Solvang
- Santa Ynez Valley Union HighHigh · 801 students
- Solvang ElementaryElementary · 602 students
- Refugio HighHigh · 11 students
Other Ballard Elementary schools
4 other US public schools in 5 states are named Ballard Elementary. Ballard Elementary is the 4th largest of the 5.
- Ballard Elementary SchoolNILES, MI · 516 students
- BALLARD ELEMENTARY SCHOOLBRADENTON, FL · 421 students
- BALLARD ELEMENTARY SCHOOLWILTON, NY · 311 students
- BALLARD ELEM.BUTLER, MO · 57 students
Nearby schools
- Los Olivos Elementary1.8 mi · 159
- Santa Ynez Elementary2.2 mi · 147
- Refugio High2.3 mi · 11
- Santa Ynez Valley Union High2.3 mi · 801
- Santa Ynez Valley Charter2.4 mi · 189
- College Elementary2.4 mi · 28
Frequently asked questions
About Ballard ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at Ballard Elementary?
Ballard Elementary enrolls approximately 113 students in grades KG-06.
Is Ballard Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Ballard Elementary is an elementary school covering grades KG-06.
How many teachers does Ballard Elementary have?
Ballard Elementary employs 7 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 16.1:1.
What is the student diversity at Ballard Elementary?
Student demographics at Ballard Elementary are roughly 79% White, 12% Hispanic, 2% Asian, 7% Two or more.
What district is Ballard Elementary in?
Ballard Elementary is part of Ballard Elementary.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.