Bradley Elementary

Bradley Elementary is one of the middle-of-the-pack elementary schools in Watsonville, California, overseen by Pajaro Valley Unified, with 520 students on its rolls from grades K through 6.

Pajaro Valley Unified comprises 33 schools with combined enrollment of 16,482 students; Bradley Elementary is among them.

Demographically, Bradley Elementary shows that Hispanic students make up the majority at 57%. Other groups include 37% White, 4% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 35% Hispanic, putting the school's mix visibly more Hispanic than the area baseline.

Looking at school resources, Bradley Elementary records 25 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 21.0:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 22.3:1 average. About 54% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), On a poverty-adjusted basis, Bradley Elementary sits in the bottom 10% statewide. Predicted proficiency from the FRL regression is roughly 47.2%; actual is 30.1%, a gap of -17.1 points.

In the surrounding community, community-level numbers for Santa Cruz County indicate median household earnings sit near $111,093, about 44% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and the poverty rate sits near 6%. Bradley Elementary is one of 83 public schools in Santa Cruz County (combined enrollment of about 36,316 students).

The closest other public school is Calabasas Elementary, roughly 2.4 miles away. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Bradley Elementary ranks 3rd on composite proficiency, above the local average of 25.2%.

The school occupies a rural site.

Over the past 7-year window. Bradley Elementary's enrollment has decreased 5% since 2018, when it stood at 548 (now 520). Class-load math has narrowed: from 23.8:1 in 2018 to 21.0:1 in 2025.

On this page, recent activity here tends to focus on enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. The community welcomes input from current and former families.