Empire Gardens Elementary

Empire Gardens Elementary is an elementary campus of small scale in San Jose, California, part of San Jose Unified, works with 214 students in grades K through 5. By comparison, California's public schools average about 465 students each, so Empire Gardens Elementary sits 54% smaller than that benchmark.

Across the 41 schools in San Jose Unified (24,322 students total), Empire Gardens Elementary accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

In terms of who attends, Empire Gardens Elementary reports that the student body is overwhelmingly Hispanic (86%). The remainder reads as 6% Asian, 5% White. That is noticeably more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 25%.

Looking at the economic backdrop, On paper, Empire Gardens Elementary has 12 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 18.4:1. The state averages around 22.3:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Around 71% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. That share is noticeably above Santa Clara County's rate of about 37%.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Empire Gardens Elementary is in the bottom 10% of California public schools. The BeatsExpectations model predicts schools with this FRL share to land around 37.5%; Empire Gardens Elementary posts 9.4%, -28.1 points below that line.

Zooming out to the county, census data for Santa Clara County shows the typical household earns roughly $164,281 per year, 57% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 4%. In all, Santa Clara County runs 412 public schools (combined enrollment of about 230,059 students), of which Empire Gardens Elementary is one.

The closest other public school is ACE Inspire Academy, roughly 0.2 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, Empire Gardens Elementary comes 5th of 5 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 19.7%.

The campus sits in a city-core setting.

Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Empire Gardens Elementary has edged down 31%, going from 309 students in 2018 to 214 in 2025. Class-load math has tightened: from 19.6:1 in 2018 to 18.4:1 in 2025.

Inside the community feed, the feed for Empire Gardens Elementary typically covers school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.