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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at Colonel Howard Nichols Elementary?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
960
Elementary
DISTRICT 619 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BAKERSFIELD CITY·NCES 060363000311
Colonel Howard Nichols Elementary
3401 Renegade Ave., Bakersfield, CA 93306 · (661) 631-5400 · Kern County
GRADES KG–06ELEMENTARY11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL960 STUDENTS
C
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 26% of California public elementary schools
- CTest 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.
- C-Three-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
23.5:1
41 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 19.7:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
84%
808 students
DISTRICT 88% · 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 | 168 | 18% |
| Grade 1 | 123 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 122 | 13% |
| Grade 3 | 119 | 12% |
| Grade 4 | 126 | 13% |
| Grade 5 | 141 | 15% |
| Grade 6 | 161 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (168) is about the same size as its 6th grade class (161).
Student demographics
28%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 30% · 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
33.1%
CA avg 49.1% . +1.1pp since 2014
Math
21.3%
CA avg 37.7% . -7.8pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 33 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 21 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 1 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 8 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 14.5% | 18.6% | 25.5% | 41.4% |
| Math | 6.8% | 14.4% | 27.5% | 51.3% |
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 | 33.1% | 21.3% |
| 2023-24 | 35.7% | 24.7% |
| 2022-23 | 38.9% | 26.3% |
| 2021-22 | 36.9% | 22.1% |
| 2018-19 | 42.4% | 33.3% |
| 2017-18 | 47.0% | 30.7% |
| 2016-17 | 45.5% | 34.8% |
| 2015-16 | 43.0% | 33.0% |
| 2014-15 | 32.0% | 29.0% |
% 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
29.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
30.2%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-0.8pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 29% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 30% 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 Colonel Howard Nichols Elementary
Colonel Howard Nichols Elementary's state test result (29.4% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colonel Howard Nichols Elementary this school | 960 | 84.2% | 29.4% |
| Maple Elementary Hesperia | 988 | 84.0% | 27.2% |
| Railroad Canyon Elementary Lake Elsinore | 873 | 83.2% | 31.5% |
| Cottonwood Elementary Hesperia | 868 | 84.2% | 16.2% |
| Mountain View Elementary Riverside | 851 | 82.8% | 33.8% |
| Jefferson Elementary Riverside | 886 | 86.5% | 29.1% |
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 Colonel Howard Nichols Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Kern County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 29.4% | #3,592 of 5,151 | #73 of 148 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 21.3% | #4,182 of 5,172 ▼ 523 | #92 of 150 ▼ 18 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 33.1% | #3,651 of 5,172 ▼ 498 | #80 of 150 ▼ 17 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -2.3pp | #1,118 of 5,116 | #27 of 147 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 960 | #106 of 5,915 | #6 of 163 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 23.5:1 | #3,332 of 5,352 | #111 of 145 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 28.4% | #4,014 of 5,354 | #92 of 145 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 84.2% | #1,743 of 5,625 | #87 of 153 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +12.8% | #419 of 1,139 | #14 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
960
+95 (+11%) vs 2020
+21% since 1990-91, when it was 791
Student : Teacher
23.5:1
was 22.2:1
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 | 960 | 40.9 | 23.5:1 | 84% (808) |
| 2023-24 | 926 | 42.4 | 21.8:1 | 92% (849) |
| 2022-23 | 931 | 40.5 | 23.0:1 | 82% (767) |
| 2020-21 | 865 | 39 | 22.2:1 | 89% (774) |
| 2017-18 | 851 | 36.5 | 23.3:1 | 86% (735) |
| 2015-16 | 768 | 34 | 22.6:1 | 77% (588) |
| 2010-11 | 633 | N/A | N/A | 75% (473) |
| 2000-01 | 667 | 39 | 17.1:1 | 55% (367) |
| 1990-91 | 791 | 31 | 25.5:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Colonel Howard Nichols Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students up 13% (851 to 960); teachers up 12% (36.5 to 40.9).
About Colonel Howard Nichols Elementary
Colonel Howard Nichols Elementary is a high-enrollment elementary school in Bakersfield, California. Enrollment is 960 students in 2024-25, and the school serves kindergarten through 6. The average for elementary schools in California is about 465 students, so this school is 106% larger than average.
Bakersfield City has a total of 44 schools and 28,365 students, Colonel Howard Nichols Elementary among them.
The large majority of students at Colonel Howard Nichols Elementary, 84%, are Hispanic. Other reported shares: 10% White and 4% Black. Kern County's residents are about 57% Hispanic, 27 points below the school's share. Colonel Howard Nichols Elementary has a diversity index of 28%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
Staffing totals 40.9 full-time-equivalent teachers, and the student-to-teacher ratio is 23.5:1. That ratio is over the 22.3:1 average for elementary schools in California. The free or reduced-price lunch rate at Colonel Howard Nichols Elementary is 84%. Compared with the 76% average for public schools in Kern County, the school's rate is higher.
Measured against California public elementary schools, Colonel Howard Nichols Elementary receives a C. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
Colonel Howard Nichols Elementary posts an average proficiency rate on state tests of 29.4%, compared with a predicted 30.2%. It is not in the top or bottom 10% of California schools on BeatsExpectations.
According to the American Community Survey, in Kern County, median household income is about $70,210, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 19%, and about 15% of people live in poverty. A total of 279 public schools operate in Kern County, serving about 197,431 students.
Harding Elementary is the public school closest to Colonel Howard Nichols Elementary, about 0.8 miles away. Inside a five-mile radius, there are at least 8 other public schools. On average proficiency, Colonel Howard Nichols Elementary is 3rd of 9 nearby schools with test data.
Its location is classified as City: Large by the National Center for Education Statistics.
The number of students grew from 865 to 960 over 4 years. The school's ratio rose from 22.2:1 to 23.5:1 between 2020-21 and 2024-25.
Topics for discussion here include sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
Kern County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
915,075
Census ACS
Median income
$70,210
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
19%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
15%
Below federal line
Schools in county
279
197,431 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Bakersfield City
- Curran MiddleMiddle · 973 students
- Voorhies ElementaryElementary · 915 students
- Walter Stiern MiddleMiddle · 891 students
- Horace Mann ElementaryElementary · 870 students
- Bessie E. Owens ElementaryElementary · 867 students
- Dr. Juliet Thorner ElementaryElementary · 813 students
Other schools in Bakersfield
- Bakersfield HighHigh · 3,069 students
- Ridgeview HighHigh · 2,575 students
- Highland HighHigh · 2,530 students
- Stockdale HighHigh · 2,398 students
- Liberty HighHigh · 2,369 students
- East Bakersfield HighHigh · 2,331 students
Nearby schools
- Harding Elementary0.8 mi · 542
- Compton Junior High0.9 mi · 586
- Henry Eissler Elementary1.0 mi · 529
- Chipman Junior High1.0 mi · 708
- College Heights Elementary1.0 mi · 761
- Highland High1.2 mi · 2,530
Frequently asked questions
About Colonel Howard Nichols ElementaryHow large is Colonel Howard Nichols Elementary?
Colonel Howard Nichols Elementary enrolls approximately 960 students in grades KG-06.
Is Colonel Howard Nichols Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Colonel Howard Nichols Elementary is an elementary school covering grades KG-06.
How many teachers does Colonel Howard Nichols Elementary have?
Colonel Howard Nichols Elementary employs 41 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 23.5:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Colonel Howard Nichols Elementary?
At Colonel Howard Nichols Elementary, the student body is approximately 10% White, 84% Hispanic, 4% Black, 1% Asian, 0% Two or more.
What district is Colonel Howard Nichols Elementary in?
Colonel Howard Nichols Elementary is part of Bakersfield City.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.