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Parents: what's one thing you'd want the Bonita Elementary administration to hear?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
535
Elementary
DISTRICT 825 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SANTA MARIA-BONITA·NCES 060558000502
Bonita Elementary
2715 West Main St., Santa Maria, CA 93458 · (805) 361-8290 · Santa Barbara County
GRADES KG–06ELEMENTARY41-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL535 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 12% of California public elementary schools
- FTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- BThree-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
18.1:1
30 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 21.7:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
98%
523 students
DISTRICT 93% · 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 | 93 | 17% |
| Grade 1 | 70 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 67 | 13% |
| Grade 3 | 81 | 15% |
| Grade 4 | 75 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 71 | 13% |
| Grade 6 | 78 | 15% |
This year's kindergarten class (93) is 19% larger than its 6th grade class (78).
Student demographics
2%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 9% · 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
Test scores
CAASPP 2024-25 . % met or exceeded standardEnglish Language Arts
16.7%
CA avg 49.1% . +5.7pp since 2014
Math
16.0%
CA avg 37.7% . +1.0pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 17 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 16 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 6 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 1 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 3.1% | 13.7% | 21.5% | 61.8% |
| Math | 1.7% | 14.3% | 26.3% | 57.7% |
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 | 16.7% | 16.0% |
| 2023-24 | 15.1% | 13.6% |
| 2022-23 | 16.2% | 11.5% |
| 2021-22 | 15.9% | 10.5% |
| 2018-19 | 24.8% | 23.3% |
| 2017-18 | 19.1% | 19.3% |
| 2016-17 | 20.0% | 20.6% |
| 2015-16 | 18.0% | 19.0% |
| 2014-15 | 11.0% | 15.0% |
% 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
15.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
22.3%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-7.2pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 15% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 22% 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 Bonita Elementary
Bonita Elementary's state test result (15.1% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bonita Elementary this school | 535 | 97.8% | 15.1% |
| Belvedere Elementary Los Angeles | 526 | 97.7% | 25.4% |
| Santa Rita Elementary Salinas | 545 | 97.2% | 10.7% |
| Eastman Avenue Elementary Los Angeles | 545 | 96.3% | 23.5% |
| Ramona Elementary Oxnard | 568 | 97.4% | 13.9% |
| Corona Avenue Elementary Bell | 542 | 95.9% | 29.2% |
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 Bonita Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Santa Barbara County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 15.1% | #4,929 of 5,151 | #65 of 66 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 16.0% | #4,654 of 5,172 ▲ 136 | #55 of 66 ▲ 6 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 16.7% | #4,995 of 5,172 ▲ 20 | #65 of 66 ▲ 1 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +3.2pp | #2,203 of 5,116 | #22 of 66 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 535 | #2,028 of 5,915 | #25 of 75 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.1:1 | #288 of 5,352 | #14 of 63 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 2.2% | #5,320 of 5,354 | #63 of 63 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 97.8% | #120 of 5,625 | #1 of 70 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -6.1% | #3,182 of 3,837 | #39 of 47 |
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
535
-14 (-3%) vs 2020
+723% since 1990-91, when it was 65
Student : Teacher
18.1:1
was 23.9:1
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 | 535 | 29.5 | 18.1:1 | 98% (523) |
| 2023-24 | 545 | 28 | 19.5:1 | 96% (525) |
| 2022-23 | 540 | 25.2 | 21.4:1 | 92% (499) |
| 2020-21 | 549 | 23 | 23.9:1 | 98% (537) |
| 2017-18 | 570 | 26.5 | 21.5:1 | 94% (538) |
| 2015-16 | 536 | 25 | 21.4:1 | 94% (505) |
| 2010-11 | 535 | N/A | N/A | 94% (501) |
| 2000-01 | 322 | 17 | 18.9:1 | 93% (298) |
| 1990-91 | 65 | 4 | 16.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Bonita Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 6% (570 to 535); teachers up 11% (26.5 to 29.5).
About Bonita Elementary
This page covers Bonita Elementary, a mid-sized elementary school in Santa Maria, California. The school teaches kindergarten through 6 and enrolls 535 students.
Bonita Elementary is part of a district of 21 schools: Santa Maria-Bonita, with 17,408 students.
Hispanic students account for 99% of the school's enrollment. The Hispanic share of the county population is lower, at 48%. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 2, compared with 70 nationally.
Teacher count: 29.5 full-time equivalents. Student-to-teacher ratio: 18.1:1. The gap from the 22.3:1 average for elementary schools in California is 4.2 students per teacher. Eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch, often used to gauge student poverty, is 98%. The 68% average for public schools in Santa Barbara County is 30 points lower.
Bonita Elementary earns a D on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 12% of California public elementary schools.
Bonita Elementary posts an average proficiency rate across its state test results of 15.1%, compared with a predicted 22.3%. It is not in the top or bottom 10% of California schools on BeatsExpectations.
For Santa Barbara County, Census Bureau data show median household income comes to about $98,161, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 37%, and roughly 9% of residents are in poverty. The county has 129 public schools and about 66,191 students.
Oakley (Calvin C.) Elementary is the nearest public school to Bonita Elementary, about 3.3 miles away. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. Bonita Elementary comes in 8th of 9 nearby schools on average proficiency.
For locale, NCES codes Bonita Elementary as Rural: Fringe.
Over 4 years, enrollment fell by 14 students, from 549 to 535. From 2020-21 to 2024-25, the ratio dropped from 23.9:1 to 18.1:1.
This community page is for conversations about fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Santa Barbara County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
443,701
Census ACS
Median income
$98,161
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
37%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
129
66,191 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Santa Maria-Bonita
- JIMENEZ ROBERTO AND DR. FRANCISCO ELEMENTARYElementary · 1,177 students
- Bruce (Robert) ElementaryElementary · 1,050 students
- Alvin ElementaryElementary · 998 students
- Fesler (Isaac) Junior HighMiddle · 974 students
- Tunnell (Martin Luther) ElementaryElementary · 917 students
- Kunst (Tommie) Junior HighMiddle · 912 students
Other schools in Santa Maria
- Santa Maria HighHigh · 3,143 students
- Pioneer Valley HighHigh · 3,080 students
- Ernest Righetti HighHigh · 2,416 students
- JIMENEZ ROBERTO AND DR. FRANCISCO ELEMENTARYElementary · 1,177 students
- Bruce (Robert) ElementaryElementary · 1,050 students
- Alvin ElementaryElementary · 998 students
Other Bonita Elementary schools
2 other US public schools in 2 states are named Bonita Elementary. Bonita Elementary is the largest of the 3.
- Bonita ElementaryCrows Landing, CA · 134 students
- Bonita Elementary SchoolWILLCOX, AZ · 94 students
Nearby schools
- Oakley (Calvin C.) Elementary3.3 mi · 849
- Mary Buren Elementary3.4 mi · 738
- Fairlawn Elementary3.5 mi · 716
- Liberty Elementary3.7 mi · 865
- Sanchez (David J.) Elementary3.8 mi · 654
- Ontiveros (Juan Pacifico) Elementary3.8 mi · 869
Frequently asked questions
About Bonita ElementaryHow many students attend Bonita Elementary?
Bonita Elementary enrolls approximately 535 students in grades KG-06.
Is Bonita Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Bonita Elementary is an elementary school covering grades KG-06.
How many teachers does Bonita Elementary have?
Bonita Elementary employs 30 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 18.1:1.
What is the student diversity at Bonita Elementary?
Student demographics at Bonita Elementary are roughly 0% White, 99% Hispanic, 0% Two or more.
What district is Bonita Elementary in?
Bonita Elementary is part of Santa Maria-Bonita.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.