Buttonwillow Elementary

Buttonwillow Elementary is a primary school of compact scale in Buttonwillow, California, run under Buttonwillow Union Elementary, enrolling 288 students in grades K through 8. Enrollment runs roughly 38% smaller than the state mean of about 465.

Operationally, Buttonwillow Elementary answers to Buttonwillow Union Elementary, which sets policy, hires staff, and reports enrollment to the state.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Buttonwillow Elementary logs that the student body is overwhelmingly Hispanic (94%); the rest is composed of 5% White. That is considerably more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 57%.

In terms of school funding signals, On paper, Buttonwillow Elementary has 23 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 12.5:1. The state averages around 22.3:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. About 91% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. By comparison, Kern County runs at roughly 76%, so the school's eligibility rate is meaningfully above the surrounding baseline.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Buttonwillow Elementary sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 25.5%; this one delivers 19.2%.

Zooming out to the county, ACS estimates for Kern County put median household income runs about $70,210, about 19% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and roughly 15% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Buttonwillow Elementary is one of 279 public schools in Kern County (combined enrollment of about 197,431 students).

Nearest neighbor: Elk Hills Elementary, around 9.8 miles off. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Buttonwillow Elementary at 7th of 8; the average score across the group is 39.5%.

Geographically, the school is in a countryside area.

Looking at the recent track record. Buttonwillow Elementary's enrollment has ticked down 16% since 2018, when it stood at 344 (now 288). The Hispanic share of enrollment increased from 90% to 94% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 21.5:1 in 2018 to 12.5:1 today.

On the community side, members of the Buttonwillow Elementary community share and discuss open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.