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What do you wish you knew before starting at Buena Vista Elementary?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
495
Elementary
DISTRICT 443 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WALNUT CREEK ELEMENTARY·NCES 064125006827
Buena Vista Elementary
2355 San Juan Ave., Walnut Creek, CA 94597 · (925) 944-6822 · Contra Costa County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY13-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL495 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 75% of California public elementary schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- BBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- CThree-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
23.6:1
21 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 23.3:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
18%
90 students
DISTRICT 17% · 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 | 122 | 25% |
| Grade 1 | 80 | 16% |
| Grade 2 | 74 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 71 | 14% |
| Grade 4 | 70 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 78 | 16% |
This year's kindergarten class (122) is 56% larger than its 5th grade class (78).
Student demographics
73%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 70% · 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
Buena Vista Elementary→Walnut Creek Intermediate
Based on grade levels within Walnut Creek Elementary. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
CAASPP 2024-25 . % met or exceeded standardEnglish Language Arts
71.7%
CA avg 49.1% . +7.7pp since 2014
Math
75.6%
CA avg 37.7% . +17.6pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 72 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 76 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 8 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 18 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 49.8% | 21.9% | 16.9% | 11.4% |
| Math | 52.9% | 22.6% | 17.6% | 6.8% |
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 | 71.7% | 75.6% |
| 2023-24 | 71.7% | 68.9% |
| 2022-23 | 77.1% | 76.8% |
| 2021-22 | 76.5% | 73.1% |
| 2018-19 | 70.7% | 74.2% |
| 2017-18 | 70.6% | 75.1% |
| 2016-17 | 68.0% | 68.8% |
| 2015-16 | 70.0% | 72.0% |
| 2014-15 | 64.0% | 58.0% |
% 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
72.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
68.9%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+3.2pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 72% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 69% 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 Buena Vista Elementary
Buena Vista Elementary's state test result (72.0% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buena Vista Elementary this school | 495 | 18.2% | 72.0% |
| Edison Elementary Alameda | 474 | 21.9% | 74.9% |
| Huntington Seacliff Elementary Huntington Beach | 495 | 20.0% | 76.3% |
| Parkmead Elementary Walnut Creek | 478 | 18.8% | 65.9% |
| Frank Otis Elementary Alameda | 569 | 22.3% | 76.0% |
| Oak Meadow Elementary El Dorado Hills | 412 | 15.5% | 70.9% |
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 Buena Vista Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Contra Costa County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 72.0% | #558 of 5,151 | #34 of 149 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 75.6% | #399 of 5,172 ▲ 261 | #30 of 153 ▲ 8 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 71.7% | #671 of 5,172 ▼ 49 | #38 of 153 ▼ 8 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -1.2pp | #1,450 of 5,116 | #58 of 150 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 495 | #2,508 of 5,915 | #68 of 164 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 23.6:1 | #3,418 of 5,352 | #105 of 162 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 72.7% | #323 of 5,354 | #29 of 162 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 18.2% | #5,207 of 5,625 | #117 of 158 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +8.8% | #558 of 1,139 | #17 of 42 |
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
495
+31 (+7%) vs 2020
+3% since 1990-91, when it was 479
Student : Teacher
23.6:1
was 23.2:1
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 | 495 | 21 | 23.6:1 | 18% (90) |
| 2023-24 | 494 | 21 | 23.5:1 | 19% (93) |
| 2022-23 | 466 | 20 | 23.3:1 | 16% (75) |
| 2020-21 | 464 | 20 | 23.2:1 | 14% (66) |
| 2017-18 | 455 | 21.6 | 21.1:1 | 12% (53) |
| 2015-16 | 491 | 24 | 20.5:1 | 12% (59) |
| 2010-11 | 492 | N/A | N/A | 18% (89) |
| 2000-01 | 468 | 24 | 19.5:1 | 14% (66) |
| 1990-91 | 479 | 23 | 20.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Buena Vista Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students up 9% (455 to 495); teachers down 3% (21.6 to 21).
About Buena Vista Elementary
Buena Vista Elementary is a mid-sized elementary school located in Walnut Creek, California. The school runs kindergarten through 5 and enrolls 495 students.
Buena Vista Elementary is one school in Walnut Creek Elementary, a system of 7 schools with 3,597 students.
Of every 100 students at Buena Vista Elementary, about 40 are White, the largest group. The school is also 22% Asian, 19% multiracial, 15% Hispanic, and 3% Black. Census estimates put Contra Costa County at about 41% White, close to the school's figure. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 73%.
Classroom staffing at Buena Vista Elementary totals 21 full-time-equivalent teachers, and the student-to-teacher ratio is 23.6:1. The average for elementary schools in California, 22.3:1, is lower. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility at Buena Vista Elementary is about 18%. Across public schools in Contra Costa County, the average is 45%.
Among California public elementary schools, Buena Vista Elementary outscored 75%, which works out to an A- on the allk12 Grade.
Buena Vista Elementary is 3.2 points above its predicted average proficiency rate across its state test results (72.0% versus 68.9%), which places it in neither the top nor the bottom 10% in California.
American Community Survey estimates for Contra Costa County show that the median household earns about $127,229 a year, about 45% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 6%. Across Contra Costa County, 280 public schools serve about 167,423 students.
Walnut Creek Intermediate, about 0.8 miles away, is the closest public school. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. Compared with its nearest neighbors, Buena Vista Elementary ranks 3rd of 7 on average proficiency.
Buena Vista Elementary is coded as City: Small in federal locale data.
A 7% rise took enrollment from 464 in 2020-21 to 495 in 2024-25.
This page collects posts and questions about Buena Vista Elementary, such as athletics, class schedules, and weather closures. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Contra Costa County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
1,165,012
Census ACS
Median income
$127,229
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
45%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
280
167,423 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Walnut Creek Elementary
- Walnut Creek IntermediateMiddle · 940 students
- Parkmead ElementaryElementary · 478 students
- Murwood ElementaryElementary · 451 students
- Tice CreekElementary · 451 students
- Walnut Heights ElementaryElementary · 427 students
- Indian Valley ElementaryElementary · 355 students
Other schools in Walnut Creek
- Las Lomas HighHigh · 1,577 students
- Northgate HighHigh · 1,546 students
- Foothill MiddleMiddle · 1,005 students
- Walnut Creek IntermediateMiddle · 940 students
- Walnut Acres ElementaryElementary · 689 students
- Bancroft ElementaryElementary · 672 students
Other Buena Vista Elementary schools
10 other US public schools in 6 states are named Buena Vista Elementary. Buena Vista Elementary is the 6th largest of the 11.
- Buena Vista ElementaryBakersfield, CA · 713 students
- Buena Vista ElementaryPalmdale, CA · 573 students
- Buena Vista ElementaryLompoc, CA · 498 students
- Buena Vista ElementaryCarlsbad, CA · 281 students
- Buena Vista ElementaryTulare, CA · 180 students
Nearby schools
- Walnut Creek Intermediate0.8 mi · 940
- Pleasant Hill Elementary1.5 mi · 652
- Acalanes High1.6 mi · 1,256
- Horizons School: Independent Study1.7 mi · 182
- Pleasant Hill Middle1.7 mi · 738
- Prospect High (Continuation)1.7 mi · 60
Frequently asked questions
About Buena Vista ElementaryHow many students attend Buena Vista Elementary?
Buena Vista Elementary enrolls approximately 495 students in grades KG-05.
Is Buena Vista Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Buena Vista Elementary is an elementary school covering grades KG-05.
How many students per teacher at Buena Vista Elementary?
Approximately 23.6:1 students per teacher at Buena Vista Elementary.
How diverse is Buena Vista Elementary?
Buena Vista Elementary reports a student body of 40% White, 15% Hispanic, 3% Black, 22% Asian, 19% Two or more.
What district is Buena Vista Elementary in?
Buena Vista Elementary is part of Walnut Creek Elementary.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.