Bonita Elementary

Bonita Elementary, a very small elementary school in Crows Landing, California, run under Newman-Crows Landing Unified, caters to 134 students, covering grades K through 5. That puts it 71% leaner than the typical public school in California, which averages around 465 students.

Within Newman-Crows Landing Unified, which oversees 9 schools and 3,085 students, Bonita Elementary is one campus in the system.

On demographics, Bonita Elementary lists that the largest single group is Hispanic, at 62% of enrollment. Beyond that, the school reports 18% White, 9% Black, 7% multiracial, 3% Asian. The wider county runs roughly 50% Hispanic, putting the school's mix considerably more Hispanic than the area baseline.

On the resource side, On paper, Bonita Elementary has 6 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 22.3:1. That tracks the state average closely. Roughly 66% of students at Bonita Elementary qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy.

After controlling for student poverty, Bonita Elementary performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 39.9%, the actual is 34.4%, a residual of -5.5 points.

Across the wider county, census data for Stanislaus County shows median household earnings sit near $81,468, roughly 20% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 11%. In all, Stanislaus County runs 190 public schools (combined enrollment of about 106,477 students), of which Bonita Elementary is one.

The closest other public school is Orestimba High, roughly 5.4 miles away. Within ten miles, there are 8 other public schools, a sparser pattern than typical urban areas. Among the 6 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Bonita Elementary ranks 1st on composite proficiency, higher than the local average of 24.7%.

Bonita Elementary operates from a rural location.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count declined 8%: 145 students in 2018 compared to 134 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share fell from 35% to 18%. Class-load math has pulled in: from 24.2:1 in 2018 to 22.3:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, recent activity here tends to focus on pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. The community welcomes input from current and former families.