Cesar Chavez Elementary

Cesar Chavez Elementary is one of the average-sized elementary schools in Madera, California, part of Madera Unified, with 659 students on its rolls from grades K through 6. Compared to the state average of about 465 students per school, that is 42% larger than typical.

Within Madera Unified, which oversees 28 schools and 19,922 students, Cesar Chavez Elementary is one campus in the system.

In terms of who attends, Cesar Chavez Elementary lists that 92% of students identify as Hispanic, making the school strongly Hispanic-majority. The remainder consists of 4% Asian, 2% multiracial. That is visibly more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 61%.

On the resource side, Staff filings list 33 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 20.2:1 students per teacher. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 22.3:1, putting Cesar Chavez Elementary tighter than the state norm the norm. Roughly 93% of students at Cesar Chavez Elementary qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. By comparison, Madera County runs at roughly 81%, so the school's eligibility rate is somewhat above the surrounding baseline.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Cesar Chavez Elementary sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 23.9%; this one delivers 24.1%.

In the area at large, ACS estimates for Madera County put the typical household earns roughly $76,627 per year, roughly 18% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 14%. Across Madera County's 81 public schools (combined enrollment of about 32,251 students), Cesar Chavez Elementary is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is Pioneer Technical Center, roughly 1.4 miles away. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Cesar Chavez Elementary. On composite proficiency, Cesar Chavez Elementary comes 3rd of 5 in the immediate cluster, ahead of the nearby-schools average of 20.5%.

The campus sits in a countryside setting.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count edged down 12%: 745 students in 2018 compared to 659 in 2025. Class-load math has tightened: from 25.3:1 in 2018 to 20.2:1 in 2025.

On this page, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.