Bardin Elementary

Set in Salinas, California, Bardin Elementary is a mid-tier elementary campus, run under Alisal Union. It serves 559 students across grades K through 6. That puts it 20% larger than the typical public school in California, which averages around 465 students.

Across the 13 schools in Alisal Union (7,303 students total), Bardin Elementary accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

In terms of who attends, Bardin Elementary logs that 98% of students identify as Hispanic, making the school strongly Hispanic-majority. The wider county runs roughly 62% Hispanic, putting the school's mix considerably more Hispanic than the area baseline.

On the resource side, Bardin Elementary lists 21 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 26.6:1. That figure is higher than the state norm's 22.3:1 average. An estimated 93% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. That share is above Monterey County's rate of about 76%.

With demographic context factored in, Bardin Elementary tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 24.1% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 19.9%.

Across the wider county, the surrounding county (Monterey County) reports that median household income runs about $97,230, roughly 28% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 10%. Across Monterey County's 153 public schools (combined enrollment of about 73,845 students), Bardin Elementary is one campus in the mix.

Alisal Community is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.6 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Bardin Elementary. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Bardin Elementary ranks 8th on composite proficiency, below the local average of 26.9%.

The school occupies an inner-city site.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count shrank 17%: 675 students in 2018 compared to 559 in 2025. The Hispanic share of enrollment expanded from 84% to 98% over that span.

Inside the community feed, members of the Bardin Elementary community share and discuss classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. The community welcomes input from current and former families.