Enrollment
217
Elementary
DISTRICT 234 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DEL NORTE COUNTY UNIFIED·NCES 061077001191
Bess Maxwell Elementary
1124 El Dorado St., Crescent City, CA 95531 · (707) 464-0310 · Del Norte County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY33-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL217 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
19.7:1
11 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 19.8:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
86%
187 students
DISTRICT 73% · 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 | 23 | 11% |
| Grade 1 | 38 | 18% |
| Grade 2 | 39 | 18% |
| Grade 3 | 38 | 18% |
| Grade 4 | 43 | 20% |
| Grade 5 | 36 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (23) is 36% smaller than its 5th grade class (36).
Student demographics
69%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 69% · 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
Bess Maxwell Elementary→Crescent Elk Middle
Based on grade levels within Del Norte County Unified. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
CAASPP 2024-25 . % met or exceeded standardEnglish Language Arts
13.6%
CA avg 49.1% . -10.4pp since 2014
Math
12.6%
CA avg 37.7% . -14.4pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 14 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 13 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 10 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 | 1.9% | 11.7% | 17.5% | 68.9% |
| Math | 1.9% | 10.7% | 21.4% | 66.0% |
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 | 13.6% | 12.6% |
| 2023-24 | 14.6% | 13.0% |
| 2022-23 | 10.7% | 10.6% |
| 2021-22 | 16.1% | 8.0% |
| 2018-19 | 30.7% | 28.1% |
| 2017-18 | 27.8% | 27.0% |
| 2016-17 | 22.7% | 20.0% |
| 2015-16 | 31.0% | 30.0% |
| 2014-15 | 24.0% | 27.0% |
% 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of CA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
13.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
29.1%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-15.6pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 13% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 29% typical for California schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 Bess Maxwell Elementary
Bess Maxwell Elementary's state test result (13.5% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bess Maxwell Elementary this school | 217 | 86.2% | 13.5% |
| Pine Grove Elementary Crescent City | 265 | 83.4% | 17.6% |
| North Fork Elementary North Fork | 227 | 79.7% | 31.6% |
| Juniper Redding | 227 | 84.6% | 33.1% |
| Frazier Park Elementary Frazier Park | 234 | 84.6% | 32.2% |
| Golden Hills Elementary Oroville | 274 | 84.7% | 27.3% |
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 Bess Maxwell Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Del Norte County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 13.5% | #5,011 of 5,151 | #6 of 6 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 12.6% | #4,909 of 5,172 ▼ 81 | #5 of 6 ▲ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 13.6% | #5,083 of 5,172 ▼ 45 | #6 of 6 no change |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +1.1pp | #2,967 of 5,116 | #4 of 6 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 217 | #5,281 of 5,915 | #6 of 8 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 19.7:1 | #820 of 5,352 | #2 of 6 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 68.6% | #808 of 5,354 | #2 of 6 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 86.2% | #1,549 of 5,625 | #1 of 6 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -18.4% | #1,590 of 3,837 | N/A |
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
217
-29 (-12%) vs 2020
-62% since 1990-91, when it was 565
Student : Teacher
19.7:1
was 22.4:1
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 | 217 | 11 | 19.7:1 | 86% (187) |
| 2023-24 | 232 | 13.4 | 17.3:1 | 81% (188) |
| 2022-23 | 233 | 12.7 | 18.4:1 | 82% (190) |
| 2020-21 | 246 | 11 | 22.4:1 | 84% (207) |
| 2017-18 | 266 | 12 | 22.2:1 | 83% (220) |
| 2015-16 | 269 | 12 | 22.4:1 | 83% (223) |
| 2010-11 | 269 | N/A | N/A | 84% (227) |
| 2000-01 | 316 | 20 | 15.8:1 | 85% (269) |
| 1990-91 | 565 | 25 | 22.6:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Bess Maxwell Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 18% (266 to 217); teachers down 8% (12 to 11).
About Bess Maxwell Elementary
Federal records list Bess Maxwell Elementary as an elementary school in Crescent City, California. The student body numbers 217 students, from kindergarten through 5. Average enrollment for elementary schools in California is about 465, so this school runs 53% smaller than that.
Del Norte County Unified is the district for Bess Maxwell Elementary. It has 11 schools and 3,378 students.
White students form the largest group at Bess Maxwell Elementary, 47% of enrollment. The remaining shares are 24% Hispanic, 17% Native American, 10% multiracial, and 3% Asian. Census estimates put the White share of Del Norte County's population at about 64%. Bess Maxwell Elementary has a diversity index of 69%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
Federal data list 11 full-time-equivalent teachers at Bess Maxwell Elementary in 2024-25, for a ratio of 19.7:1. Among elementary schools in California, the typical ratio is 22.3:1. The lunch program counts 86% of students at Bess Maxwell Elementary as eligible for free or reduced-price meals. On average, public schools in Del Norte County report 69%.
Given its lunch-eligibility share, the predicted average proficiency rate on state tests for Bess Maxwell Elementary is 29.1%. It actually posts 13.5%, which is 15.6 points lower and in the bottom 10% of California schools.
Del Norte County has about 27,107 residents, and median household income is about $67,058, about 21% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 8% of residents are in poverty. Federal data list 16 public schools in Del Norte County, with a combined enrollment of about 4,003.
The closest other public school is Castle Rock, less than a tenth of a mile away. There are at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Bess Maxwell Elementary ranks 7th of 7 among nearby schools on average proficiency, with 13.5% against a local average of 22.9%.
Locale: Town: Remote. In NCES terms, the school is in a town far from an urbanized area.
From 2020-21 to 2024-25, Bess Maxwell Elementary went from 246 students to 217. The student-to-teacher ratio went down from 22.4:1 to 19.7:1.
Community posts for Bess Maxwell Elementary can cover science fairs, picture day, and bus routes. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Del Norte County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
27,107
Census ACS
Median income
$67,058
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
21%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
8%
Below federal line
Schools in county
16
4,003 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Del Norte County Unified
- Del Norte HighHigh · 918 students
- Crescent Elk MiddleMiddle · 507 students
- Redwood ElementaryElementary · 452 students
- Joe Hamilton ElementaryElementary · 298 students
- Pine Grove ElementaryElementary · 265 students
- Smith River ElementaryElementary · 258 students
Other schools in Crescent City
- Del Norte HighHigh · 918 students
- Crescent Elk MiddleMiddle · 507 students
- Redwood ElementaryElementary · 452 students
- Castle RockCombined · 315 students
- Joe Hamilton ElementaryElementary · 298 students
- Uncharted Shores AcademyCombined · 283 students
Nearby schools
- Castle Rock0.1 mi · 315
- Del Norte Community0.1 mi · 27
- Del Norte High0.2 mi · 918
- Mary Peacock Elementary0.7 mi · 251
- Crescent Elk Middle0.8 mi · 507
- Joe Hamilton Elementary0.8 mi · 298
Frequently asked questions
About Bess Maxwell ElementaryHow many students attend Bess Maxwell Elementary?
Bess Maxwell Elementary enrolls approximately 217 students in grades KG-05.
What grades does Bess Maxwell Elementary serve?
Bess Maxwell Elementary serves grades KG-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Bess Maxwell Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Bess Maxwell Elementary is approximately 19.7:1 (11 FTE teachers).
How diverse is Bess Maxwell Elementary?
Bess Maxwell Elementary reports a student body of 47% White, 24% Hispanic, 3% Asian, 10% Two or more.
Who oversees Bess Maxwell Elementary?
Bess Maxwell Elementary is overseen by Del Norte County Unified in Del Norte County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.