Ernesto Galarza Elementary

Ernesto Galarza Elementary is a compact primary school in San Jose, California, operated by San Jose Unified. The school teaches 322 students in grades K through 5. By comparison, California's public schools average about 465 students each, so Ernesto Galarza Elementary sits 31% below that benchmark.

San Jose Unified comprises 41 schools with combined enrollment of 24,322 students; Ernesto Galarza Elementary is among them.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Ernesto Galarza Elementary shows that nearly all students (81%) are Hispanic. Beyond that, the school lists 6% White, 6% Asian, 4% multiracial, 3% Black. By comparison, Santa Clara County as a whole is about 25% Hispanic, so the school skews visibly more Hispanic than its surroundings.

Looking at the economic backdrop, On paper, Ernesto Galarza Elementary has 14 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 22.5:1. That tracks the state average closely. Roughly 77% of students at Ernesto Galarza Elementary qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. Set against Santa Clara County (around 37%), the school's rate is north of typical.

After controlling for student poverty, Ernesto Galarza Elementary is in the bottom 10% of California public schools. The BeatsExpectations model predicts schools with this FRL share to land around 33.4%; Ernesto Galarza Elementary posts 13.8%, -19.6 points below that line.

Across the wider county, community-level numbers for Santa Clara County indicate median household earnings sit near $164,281, 57% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 4%. Ernesto Galarza Elementary is one of 412 public schools in Santa Clara County (combined enrollment of about 230,059 students).

Nearest neighbor: Hammer Montessori at Galarza Elementary, around 0.0 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, Ernesto Galarza Elementary comes 6th of 6 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 50.9%.

Geographically, the school is in an urban area.

Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Ernesto Galarza Elementary has shrank 24%, going from 426 students in 2018 to 322 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 23.6:1 in 2018 to 22.5:1 today.

On the community side, recent activity here tends to focus on enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.