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Alumni: what's one memory from Desert Knolls Elementary that still sticks with you?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
582
Elementary
DISTRICT 855 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·APPLE VALLEY UNIFIED·NCES 060001709103
Desert Knolls Elementary
18213 Symeron Dr., Apple Valley, CA 92307 · (760) 242-3441 · San Bernardino County
GRADES KG–06ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL582 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 5% of California public elementary schools
- DTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- FBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- B-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
21.6:1
27 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 22.6:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
77%
450 students
DISTRICT 77% · 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 | 112 | 19% |
| Grade 1 | 88 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 74 | 13% |
| Grade 3 | 78 | 13% |
| Grade 4 | 84 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 75 | 13% |
| Grade 6 | 71 | 12% |
This year's kindergarten class (112) is 58% larger than its 6th grade class (71).
Student demographics
57%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 55% · 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
25.9%
CA avg 49.1% . -9.1pp since 2014
Math
15.3%
CA avg 37.7% . -5.8pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 26 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 15 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all California schools, those numbers are about 49 and 38. Reading and writing scores are down about 9 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 6 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 9.2% | 16.7% | 21.4% | 52.7% |
| Math | 4.8% | 10.5% | 25.1% | 59.7% |
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 | 25.9% | 15.3% |
| 2023-24 | 11.8% | 13.1% |
| 2022-23 | 23.1% | 15.1% |
| 2021-22 | 22.4% | 14.6% |
| 2018-19 | 41.3% | 23.3% |
| 2017-18 | 36.0% | 29.0% |
| 2016-17 | 30.2% | 23.7% |
| 2015-16 | 31.0% | 20.0% |
| 2014-15 | 35.0% | 21.0% |
% 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of CA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
16.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
34.2%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-17.7pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 17% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 34% typical for California schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 Desert Knolls Elementary
Desert Knolls Elementary's state test result (16.6% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Desert Knolls Elementary this school | 582 | 77.3% | 16.6% |
| Christa McAuliffe Elementary Bakersfield | 524 | 77.9% | 37.3% |
| Sycamore Rocks Elementary Apple Valley | 667 | 79.2% | 25.1% |
| Laurelglen Elementary Bakersfield | 574 | 75.8% | 30.0% |
| Anna Hause Elementary Beaumont | 656 | 78.2% | 40.5% |
| Foothill Knolls Academy of Innovation Upland | 514 | 73.9% | 40.1% |
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 Desert Knolls Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In San Bernardino County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 16.6% | #4,848 of 5,151 | #284 of 318 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 15.3% | #4,724 of 5,172 ▲ 92 | #272 of 321 ▲ 5 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 25.9% | #4,402 of 5,172 ▲ 699 | #254 of 321 ▲ 62 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +2.0pp | #2,627 of 5,116 | #199 of 318 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 582 | #1,546 of 5,915 | #123 of 340 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 21.6:1 | #1,857 of 5,352 | #87 of 328 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 56.7% | #2,161 of 5,354 | #78 of 328 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 77.3% | #2,432 of 5,625 | #199 of 331 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -1.7% | #3,664 of 3,837 | #239 of 246 |
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
582
+39 (+7%) vs 2020
-24% since 1990-91, when it was 766
Student : Teacher
21.6:1
was 20.1:1
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 | 582 | 27 | 21.6:1 | 77% (450) |
| 2023-24 | 584 | 26 | 22.5:1 | 77% (449) |
| 2022-23 | 610 | 26 | 23.5:1 | 74% (449) |
| 2020-21 | 543 | 27 | 20.1:1 | 80% (433) |
| 2017-18 | 592 | 24.5 | 24.2:1 | 72% (428) |
| 2015-16 | 596 | 25 | 23.8:1 | 75% (447) |
| 2010-11 | 567 | N/A | N/A | 64% (363) |
| 2000-01 | 649 | 32 | 20.3:1 | 32% (207) |
| 1990-91 | 766 | 27 | 28.4:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Desert Knolls Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 2% (592 to 582); teachers up 10% (24.5 to 27).
About Desert Knolls Elementary
Desert Knolls Elementary is a mid-sized elementary school. Its address is in Apple Valley, California. The school offers kindergarten through 6 and enrolls 582 students. On average, elementary schools in California enroll around 465, and this school is 25% larger than that mark.
Apple Valley Unified oversees Desert Knolls Elementary and 13 other schools, with 13,613 students in total.
About 60% of the student body at Desert Knolls Elementary is Hispanic. Other groups include 24% White, 9% Black, and 4% multiracial. A diversity index of 57% means there is a 57% chance two randomly chosen students at Desert Knolls Elementary are from different groups.
Staffing at Desert Knolls Elementary comes to 27 full-time-equivalent teachers, or 21.6:1. The school's 21.6:1 compares with an average of 22.3:1 for elementary schools in California. On the income side, 77% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.
Desert Knolls Elementary earns a D on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 5% of California public elementary schools.
The BeatsExpectations model predicts 34.2% for Desert Knolls Elementary, given its share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The actual figure is 16.6%. The 17.7-point gap ranks in the bottom 10% of California schools.
Census data for San Bernardino County show the median household earns about $85,478 a year, 23% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 11% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Public schools in San Bernardino County number 583, with about 393,648 students.
Academy for Academic Excellence is the nearest public school to Desert Knolls Elementary, about 0.7 miles away. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. Among 6 nearby schools that report test results, Desert Knolls Elementary ranks 5th on proficiency.
NCES describes the area around Desert Knolls Elementary as Suburb: Large, meaning in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Enrollment rose by 7% across 4 years, from 543 in 2020-21 to 582 in 2024-25. Staffing shifted too: the ratio moved from 20.1:1 to 21.6:1.
This page collects posts and questions about Desert Knolls Elementary, such as fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies. Members of the school community can share what they know.
San Bernardino County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
2,197,104
Census ACS
Median income
$85,478
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
23%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
583
393,648 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Apple Valley Unified
- Apple Valley HighHigh · 2,211 students
- Granite Hills HighHigh · 1,791 students
- Sitting Bull AcademyElementary · 1,695 students
- Phoenix AcademyElementary · 1,213 students
- Vanguard PreparatoryElementary · 1,153 students
- Rio Vista School of Applied LearningElementary · 927 students
Other schools in Apple Valley
- Apple Valley HighHigh · 2,211 students
- Granite Hills HighHigh · 1,791 students
- Sitting Bull AcademyElementary · 1,695 students
- Academy for Academic ExcellenceCombined · 1,489 students
- Phoenix AcademyElementary · 1,213 students
- Vanguard PreparatoryElementary · 1,153 students
Nearby schools
- Academy for Academic Excellence0.7 mi · 1,489
- Sixth Street Prep1.7 mi · 229
- Irwin Academy of Performing Arts1.8 mi · 594
- Green Tree East Elementary1.9 mi · 508
- Victor Valley High2.1 mi · 2,255
- Rio Vista School of Applied Learning2.3 mi · 927
Frequently asked questions
About Desert Knolls ElementaryHow many students attend Desert Knolls Elementary?
Desert Knolls Elementary enrolls approximately 582 students in grades KG-06.
Is Desert Knolls Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Desert Knolls Elementary is an elementary school covering grades KG-06.
How many teachers does Desert Knolls Elementary have?
Desert Knolls Elementary employs 27 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 21.6:1.
How diverse is Desert Knolls Elementary?
Desert Knolls Elementary reports a student body of 24% White, 60% Hispanic, 9% Black, 1% Asian, 4% Two or more.
Is Desert Knolls Elementary public or private?
Desert Knolls Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Apple Valley Unified.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.