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How has Ben Hulse Elementary changed in the last five years, for better or worse?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
838
Elementary
DISTRICT 737 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·IMPERIAL UNIFIED·NCES 061821002240
Ben Hulse Elementary
303 South D St., Imperial, CA 92251 · (760) 355-3210 · Imperial County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY23-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL838 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
22.1:1
38 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 22.1:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
67%
559 students
DISTRICT 58% · STATE 65%
Community
6
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 | 161 | 19% |
| Grade 1 | 126 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 134 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 158 | 19% |
| Grade 4 | 130 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 129 | 15% |
This year's kindergarten class (161) is 25% larger than its 5th grade class (129).
Student demographics
17%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 17% · 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
Ben Hulse Elementary→Frank M. Wright Middle
Based on grade levels within Imperial Unified. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
CAASPP 2024-25 . % met or exceeded standardEnglish Language Arts
49.1%
CA avg 49.1% . +15.1pp since 2014
Math
43.1%
CA avg 37.7% . +5.1pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 49 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 43 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 15 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 5 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 23.8% | 25.3% | 23.6% | 27.3% |
| Math | 20.2% | 22.9% | 35.5% | 21.4% |
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 | 49.1% | 43.1% |
| 2023-24 | 53.1% | 48.5% |
| 2022-23 | 50.3% | 46.8% |
| 2021-22 | 51.1% | 42.5% |
| 2020-21 | 43.3% | 24.7% |
| 2018-19 | 53.9% | 42.6% |
| 2017-18 | 51.4% | 45.3% |
| 2016-17 | 46.7% | 46.1% |
| 2015-16 | 46.0% | 41.0% |
| 2014-15 | 34.0% | 38.0% |
% 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
48.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
40.5%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+8.0pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 48% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 40% 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 Ben Hulse Elementary
Ben Hulse Elementary's state test result (48.5% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Hulse Elementary this school | 838 | 66.7% | 48.5% |
| Ponderosa Elementary Anaheim | 785 | 67.4% | 14.7% |
| Mann (Horace) Elementary Anaheim | 705 | 67.2% | 26.8% |
| Hollister Dual Language Academy Hollister | 858 | 62.0% | 32.5% |
| Gallatin Elementary Downey | 788 | 66.9% | 45.7% |
| Imperial Cross Elementary Imperial | 760 | 61.3% | 46.8% |
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 Ben Hulse Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Imperial County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 48.5% | #1,821 of 5,151 | #3 of 35 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 43.1% | #2,059 of 5,172 ▼ 437 | #6 of 35 ▼ 4 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 49.1% | #2,105 of 5,172 ▼ 420 | #8 of 35 ▼ 4 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -0.7pp | #1,568 of 5,116 | #5 of 35 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 838 | #286 of 5,915 | #2 of 38 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 22.1:1 | #2,239 of 5,352 | #16 of 34 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 16.9% | #4,597 of 5,354 | #5 of 34 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 66.7% | #3,137 of 5,625 | #30 of 36 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -16.9% | #1,794 of 3,837 | #11 of 23 |
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
838
+53 (+7%) vs 2020
+8% since 1990-91, when it was 774
Student : Teacher
22.1:1
was 23.8:1
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 | 838 | 38 | 22.1:1 | 67% (559) |
| 2023-24 | 826 | 36 | 22.9:1 | 54% (448) |
| 2022-23 | 794 | 34 | 23.4:1 | 57% (456) |
| 2020-21 | 785 | 33 | 23.8:1 | 53% (417) |
| 2017-18 | 1,009 | 41.5 | 24.3:1 | 60% (601) |
| 2015-16 | 1,018 | 43 | 23.7:1 | 57% (578) |
| 2010-11 | 955 | N/A | N/A | 50% (473) |
| 2000-01 | 842 | 44 | 19.1:1 | 46% (388) |
| 1990-91 | 774 | 31 | 25.0:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Ben Hulse Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 17% (1,009 to 838); teachers down 8% (41.5 to 38).
About Ben Hulse Elementary
In Imperial, California, part of Imperial County, Ben Hulse Elementary is an elementary school. The school reports 838 students in kindergarten through 5. The typical figure for elementary schools in California is about 465 students.
Imperial Unified counts 4,794 students in its 6 schools, and Ben Hulse Elementary is one of them.
Most students at Ben Hulse Elementary are Hispanic: 91% of enrollment. Smaller groups are 6% White. The chance that two students picked at random at Ben Hulse Elementary belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 17%.
Its teaching staff equals 38 full-time positions, a ratio of 22.1:1. Across elementary schools in California, the average ratio is about 22.3:1. Free and reduced-price lunch eligibility, a common measure of family income, is 67%. That rate is below the 77% average among public schools in Imperial County.
On the allk12 BeatsExpectations measure, Ben Hulse Elementary is 8.0 points above the average proficiency rate on state tests predicted for its free or reduced-price lunch share: 48.5% actual, 40.5% predicted. That is outside both the top and bottom 10% in California.
Across Imperial County, median household income is about $57,681, roughly 16% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 17%. The public schools of Imperial County number 76 and enroll about 36,513.
The school nearest to Ben Hulse Elementary is Imperial High, at a distance of about 0.2 miles. Within five miles of Ben Hulse Elementary, there are at least 8 other public schools. Ben Hulse Elementary is 1st of 8 nearby schools by average proficiency rate.
The school's federal locale classification is Suburb: Small.
The 2024-25 enrollment of 838 was 7% higher than in 2020-21, when it was 785. Students per teacher fell from 23.8 in 2020-21 to 22.1 in 2024-25.
To ask about school safety, transportation, and start times, start a discussion on this page. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
Imperial County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
180,202
Census ACS
Median income
$57,681
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
16%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
17%
Below federal line
Schools in county
76
36,513 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Imperial Unified
- Imperial HighHigh · 1,439 students
- Frank M. Wright MiddleMiddle · 1,116 students
- Imperial Cross ElementaryElementary · 760 students
- T. L. Waggoner ElementaryElementary · 613 students
- Imperial Ave. Holbrook HighHigh · 28 students
Other schools in Imperial
- Imperial HighHigh · 1,439 students
- Frank M. Wright MiddleMiddle · 1,116 students
- Imperial Cross ElementaryElementary · 760 students
- T. L. Waggoner ElementaryElementary · 613 students
- Imperial Ave. Holbrook HighHigh · 28 students
Nearby schools
- Imperial High0.2 mi · 1,439
- Imperial Ave. Holbrook High0.5 mi · 28
- Frank M. Wright Middle0.7 mi · 1,116
- Imperial Cross Elementary1.8 mi · 760
- T. L. Waggoner Elementary1.8 mi · 613
- Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary2.9 mi · 445
Frequently asked questions
About Ben Hulse ElementaryHow many students attend Ben Hulse Elementary?
Ben Hulse Elementary enrolls approximately 838 students in grades KG-05.
What grades does Ben Hulse Elementary serve?
Ben Hulse Elementary serves grades KG-05.
How many students per teacher at Ben Hulse Elementary?
Approximately 22.1:1 students per teacher at Ben Hulse Elementary.
How diverse is Ben Hulse Elementary?
Ben Hulse Elementary reports a student body of 6% White, 91% Hispanic, 0% Black, 2% Asian, 1% Two or more.
Who oversees Ben Hulse Elementary?
Ben Hulse Elementary is overseen by Imperial Unified in Imperial County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.