Enrollment
246
Elementary
DISTRICT 383 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·GRASS VALLEY ELEMENTARY·NCES 061578013165
Bell Hill Academy
342 South School St., Grass Valley, CA 95945 · (530) 273-2281 · Nevada County
GRADES KG–04ELEMENTARY32-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL246 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 89% 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.
- A-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- AThree-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
22.4:1
11 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 21.8:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
59%
146 students
DISTRICT 60% · 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 | 59 | 24% |
| Grade 1 | 47 | 19% |
| Grade 2 | 47 | 19% |
| Grade 3 | 47 | 19% |
| Grade 4 | 46 | 19% |
This year's kindergarten class (59) is 28% larger than its 4th grade class (46).
Student demographics
56%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 46% · 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
Bell Hill Academy→Lyman Gilmore Middle
Based on grade levels within Grass Valley Elementary. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
CAASPP 2024-25 . % met or exceeded standardEnglish Language Arts
56.4%
CA avg 49.1% . +12.4pp since 2014
Math
59.4%
CA avg 37.7% . +13.4pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 56 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 59 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all California schools, those numbers are about 49 and 38. Reading and writing scores are up about 12 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 13 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 29.8% | 26.6% | 21.3% | 22.3% |
| Math | 18.8% | 40.6% | 25.0% | 15.6% |
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 | 56.4% | 59.4% |
| 2023-24 | 60.5% | 48.8% |
| 2022-23 | 52.7% | 46.6% |
| 2021-22 | 52.9% | 36.6% |
| 2020-21 | 45.9% | 51.7% |
| 2018-19 | 51.2% | 55.3% |
| 2017-18 | 49.4% | 47.7% |
| 2016-17 | 49.4% | 47.0% |
| 2015-16 | 39.0% | 39.0% |
| 2014-15 | 44.0% | 46.0% |
% 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
56.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
44.8%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+11.6pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 56% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 45% 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 Bell Hill Academy
Bell Hill Academy's state test result (56.3% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bell Hill Academy this school | 246 | 59.3% | 56.3% |
| Plainfield Elementary Woodland | 257 | 57.2% | 44.7% |
| Grover Heights Elementary Grover Beach | 290 | 59.3% | 39.2% |
| Friendly Hills Elementary Joshua Tree | 266 | 62.4% | 52.8% |
| Toler Elementary San Diego | 235 | 54.0% | 53.5% |
| Knolls Elementary Simi Valley | 212 | 56.1% | 23.9% |
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 Bell Hill Academy ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Nevada County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 56.3% | #1,322 of 5,151 | #3 of 14 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 59.4% | #1,097 of 5,172 ▲ 491 | #2 of 14 ▲ 3 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 56.4% | #1,591 of 5,172 ▼ 357 | #4 of 14 ▼ 1 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +13.1pp | #298 of 5,116 | #1 of 14 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 246 | #5,138 of 5,915 | #12 of 20 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 22.4:1 | #2,478 of 5,352 | #8 of 14 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 55.8% | #2,256 of 5,354 | #1 of 14 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 59.3% | #3,503 of 5,625 | #3 of 17 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +11.3% | #466 of 1,139 | #3 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
246
+43 (+21%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
22.4:1
was 20.3:1
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 | 246 | 11 | 22.4:1 | 59% (146) |
| 2023-24 | 231 | 11 | 21.0:1 | 63% (146) |
| 2022-23 | 222 | 10 | 22.2:1 | 59% (130) |
| 2020-21 | 203 | 10 | 20.3:1 | 58% (117) |
| 2017-18 | 221 | 10 | 22.1:1 | 67% (147) |
| 2015-16 | 210 | 11 | 19.1:1 | 68% (143) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Bell Hill Academy.
Since 2017-18: students up 11% (221 to 246); teachers up 10% (10 to 11).
About Bell Hill Academy
Bell Hill Academy is a small elementary school in Grass Valley Elementary, located in Grass Valley, California. The school covers kindergarten through 4 and reported 246 students in 2024-25. Elementary schools in California average about 465 students, which makes this school 47% below average.
Bell Hill Academy belongs to Grass Valley Elementary, a district of 4 schools and 1,613 students.
At Bell Hill Academy, Hispanic students make up the biggest share, 48%. Other groups make up 46% White and 2% Native American. County-wide, 11% of Nevada County residents are Hispanic. A diversity index of 56% means there is a 56% chance two randomly chosen students at Bell Hill Academy are from different groups.
With 11 full-time-equivalent teachers, the student-to-teacher ratio is about 22.4:1. The ratio is within a point of the 22.3:1 average for elementary schools in California. Student poverty is often measured by lunch eligibility; at Bell Hill Academy, 59% qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. On average, public schools in Nevada County report 43%.
On the allk12 Grade, Bell Hill Academy lands at A, ahead of 89% of California public elementary schools.
Schools in California with a similar free or reduced-price lunch share are predicted to score about 44.8%. Bell Hill Academy scores 56.3%.
Five-year Census Bureau estimates for Nevada County show that the median household earns about $89,882 a year, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 42%, and about 7% of people live in poverty. Nevada County has 46 public schools with about 13,561 students, including Bell Hill Academy.
Grass Valley Charter sits about 0.3 miles from Bell Hill Academy. Bell Hill Academy has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Bell Hill Academy is 1st of 6 nearby schools by average proficiency rate.
NCES describes the area around Bell Hill Academy as Town: Distant, meaning in a town some distance from an urbanized area.
In 2020-21, Bell Hill Academy enrolled 203 students. By 2024-25, that number had grown to 246. Federal data show the ratio rising from 20.3:1 to 22.4:1.
On allk12, people connected to Bell Hill Academy can post about pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. Members of the school community can share what they know.
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 Grass Valley Elementary
- Grass Valley CharterElementary · 546 students
- Lyman Gilmore MiddleMiddle · 464 students
- Margaret G. Scotten ElementaryElementary · 357 students
- Grass Valley 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
- Grass Valley Charter0.3 mi · 546
- Silver Springs High (Continuation)0.4 mi · 80
- Lyman Gilmore Middle0.5 mi · 464
- John Muir Charter0.5 mi · 629
- Margaret G. Scotten Elementary0.7 mi · 357
- Yuba River Charter1.1 mi · 323
Frequently asked questions
About Bell Hill AcademyHow many students attend Bell Hill Academy?
Bell Hill Academy enrolls approximately 246 students in grades KG-04.
What grades does Bell Hill Academy serve?
Bell Hill Academy serves grades KG-04.
How many teachers does Bell Hill Academy have?
Bell Hill Academy employs 11 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 22.4:1.
How diverse is Bell Hill Academy?
Bell Hill Academy reports a student body of 46% White, 48% Hispanic, 1% Black, 1% Asian, 2% Two or more.
Is Bell Hill Academy public or private?
Bell Hill Academy is a public K-12 school, overseen by Grass Valley Elementary.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.