Cuyama Elementary

Cuyama Elementary, a tiny elementary school in New Cuyama, California, overseen by Cuyama Joint Unified, caters to 107 students, covering grades K through 8. That puts it 77% leaner than the typical public school in California, which averages around 465 students.

Cuyama Joint Unified comprises 3 schools with combined enrollment of 164 students; Cuyama Elementary is among them.

Demographically, Cuyama Elementary shows that Hispanic students make up the majority at 74%; the rest comes out to 24% White. By comparison, Santa Barbara County as a whole is about 48% Hispanic, so the school skews noticeably more Hispanic than its surroundings.

On the resource side, The school reports having 6 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 17.7:1. The state averages around 22.3:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Around 78% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. By comparison, Santa Barbara County runs at roughly 68%, so the school's eligibility rate is above the surrounding baseline.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Cuyama Elementary tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 33.3% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 29.6%.

In the surrounding community, the surrounding county (Santa Barbara County) logs that median household earnings sit near $98,161, about 37% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 9%. Across Santa Barbara County's 129 public schools (combined enrollment of about 66,191 students), Cuyama Elementary is one campus in the mix.

Cuyama Valley High is the nearest neighboring public school, about 3.8 miles from this campus. 2 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 6 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Cuyama Elementary ranks 3rd on composite proficiency, above the local average of 24.8%.

Cuyama Elementary operates from a rural location.

Over the past 7-year window. Cuyama Elementary's enrollment has decreased 30% since 2018, when it stood at 152 (now 107). Over the same period, the White share climbed from 20% to 24%. Class-load math has fell: from 19.0:1 in 2018 to 17.7:1 in 2025.

On this page, recent activity here tends to focus on school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.