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What do you wish you knew before starting at Fairlawn Elementary?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
716
Elementary
DISTRICT 825 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SANTA MARIA-BONITA·NCES 060558009316
Fairlawn Elementary
120 Mary Dr., Santa Maria, CA 93458 · (805) 361-7500 · Santa Barbara County
GRADES KG–06ELEMENTARY12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL716 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 13% 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.
- 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.
- DThree-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
20.9:1
34 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 21.7:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
98%
699 students
DISTRICT 93% · 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 | 164 | 23% |
| Grade 1 | 80 | 11% |
| Grade 2 | 111 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 78 | 11% |
| Grade 4 | 90 | 13% |
| Grade 5 | 101 | 14% |
| Grade 6 | 92 | 13% |
This year's kindergarten class (164) is 78% larger than its 6th grade class (92).
Student demographics
3%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 9% · 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
22.4%
CA avg 49.1% . +9.4pp since 2014
Math
17.1%
CA avg 37.7% . +11.1pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 22 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 17 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 9 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 11 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 7.0% | 15.4% | 25.1% | 52.5% |
| Math | 4.4% | 12.7% | 26.7% | 56.2% |
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 | 22.4% | 17.1% |
| 2023-24 | 22.1% | 18.4% |
| 2022-23 | 29.3% | 18.7% |
| 2021-22 | 30.7% | 17.7% |
| 2018-19 | 29.8% | 26.5% |
| 2017-18 | 20.0% | 17.1% |
| 2016-17 | 18.0% | 14.7% |
| 2015-16 | 16.0% | 14.0% |
| 2014-15 | 13.0% | 6.0% |
% 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
20.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
22.3%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-2.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 20% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 22% 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 Fairlawn Elementary
Fairlawn Elementary's state test result (20.0% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fairlawn Elementary this school | 716 | 97.6% | 20.0% |
| Fremont Elementary Salinas | 711 | 96.9% | 16.2% |
| Cesar E. Chavez Elementary Oxnard | 754 | 98.0% | 21.5% |
| Mecca Elementary Mecca | 677 | 97.2% | 18.4% |
| Battles (Washington) Elementary Santa Maria | 769 | 97.3% | 16.8% |
| Santa Monica Boulevard Community Charter Los Angeles | 697 | 96.6% | N/A |
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 Fairlawn Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Santa Barbara County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 20.0% | #4,583 of 5,151 | #56 of 66 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 17.1% | #4,560 of 5,172 ▼ 207 | #54 of 66 ▼ 3 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 22.4% | #4,701 of 5,172 ▼ 142 | #56 of 66 no change |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -4.5pp | #647 of 5,116 | #11 of 66 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 716 | #682 of 5,915 | #17 of 75 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 20.9:1 | #1,434 of 5,352 | #33 of 63 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 3.0% | #5,288 of 5,354 | #61 of 63 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 97.6% | #133 of 5,625 | #2 of 70 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -7.1% | #3,043 of 3,837 | #36 of 47 |
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
716
-32 (-4%) vs 2020
+15% since 1990-91, when it was 623
Student : Teacher
20.9:1
was 24.1:1
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 | 716 | 34.3 | 20.9:1 | 98% (699) |
| 2023-24 | 716 | 35.8 | 20.0:1 | 96% (687) |
| 2022-23 | 746 | 33.4 | 22.3:1 | 93% (694) |
| 2020-21 | 748 | 31 | 24.1:1 | 95% (714) |
| 2017-18 | 771 | 31.5 | 24.5:1 | 95% (736) |
| 2015-16 | 742 | 28 | 26.5:1 | 93% (690) |
| 2010-11 | 662 | N/A | N/A | 90% (596) |
| 2000-01 | 722 | 35 | 20.6:1 | 94% (680) |
| 1990-91 | 623 | 25 | 24.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Fairlawn Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 7% (771 to 716); teachers up 9% (31.5 to 34.3).
About Fairlawn Elementary
Fairlawn Elementary is classified as an elementary school. It is located in Santa Maria, California. Students in kindergarten through 6 attend, and enrollment is 716 students. The school's enrollment is 54% bigger than the 465 average for elementary schools in California.
Santa Maria-Bonita is made up of 21 schools with 17,408 students in all.
The student body at Fairlawn Elementary is 98% Hispanic. By comparison, Santa Barbara County residents are about 48% Hispanic. Fairlawn Elementary's diversity index is 3%, against a US figure of 70%.
Teacher staffing is 34.3 full-time equivalents, or about 20.9 students per teacher. On average, elementary schools in California have 22.3:1, compared with 20.9:1 here. About 98% of students, or 699, qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Across public schools in Santa Barbara County, the average is 68%.
Measured against California public elementary schools, Fairlawn Elementary receives a D. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
Fairlawn Elementary's actual average proficiency rate on state tests (20.0%) and its predicted rate (22.3%) put it outside the top and bottom 10% of California schools.
Santa Barbara County has about 443,701 residents, and the median household income is $98,161, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 37% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 9%. In all, Santa Barbara County has 129 public schools and roughly 66,191 students.
Bruce (Robert) Elementary is the public school closest to Fairlawn Elementary, about 0.5 miles away. The count of other public schools within five miles is at least 8. On average proficiency, Fairlawn Elementary is 4th of 9 nearby schools with test data.
On the NCES locale scale, the school is City: Mid-size.
Fairlawn Elementary's enrollment dropped from 748 in 2020-21 to 716 in 2024-25. There were fewer students per teacher in 2024-25 (20.9:1) than in 2020-21 (24.1:1).
The discussion area below is open to posts about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Santa Barbara County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
443,701
Census ACS
Median income
$98,161
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
37%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
129
66,191 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Santa Maria-Bonita
- JIMENEZ ROBERTO AND DR. FRANCISCO ELEMENTARYElementary · 1,177 students
- Bruce (Robert) ElementaryElementary · 1,050 students
- Alvin ElementaryElementary · 998 students
- Fesler (Isaac) Junior HighMiddle · 974 students
- Tunnell (Martin Luther) ElementaryElementary · 917 students
- Kunst (Tommie) Junior HighMiddle · 912 students
Other schools in Santa Maria
- Santa Maria HighHigh · 3,143 students
- Pioneer Valley HighHigh · 3,080 students
- Ernest Righetti HighHigh · 2,416 students
- JIMENEZ ROBERTO AND DR. FRANCISCO ELEMENTARYElementary · 1,177 students
- Bruce (Robert) ElementaryElementary · 1,050 students
- Alvin ElementaryElementary · 998 students
Other Fairlawn Elementary schools
4 other US public schools in 4 states are named Fairlawn Elementary. Fairlawn Elementary is the largest of the 5.
- FAIRLAWN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLFORT PIERCE, FL · 653 students
- FAIRLAWN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLMIAMI, FL · 493 students
- Fairlawn Elementary SchoolEvansville, IN · 450 students
- Fairlawn Elementary SchoolSidney, OH · 268 students
Nearby schools
- Bruce (Robert) Elementary0.5 mi · 1,050
- El Camino Junior High0.6 mi · 830
- Oakley (Calvin C.) Elementary0.9 mi · 849
- Alvin Elementary0.9 mi · 998
- Santa Maria High1.0 mi · 3,143
- Sanchez (David J.) Elementary1.0 mi · 654
Frequently asked questions
About Fairlawn ElementaryHow large is Fairlawn Elementary?
Fairlawn Elementary enrolls approximately 716 students in grades KG-06.
What age range does Fairlawn Elementary serve?
Fairlawn Elementary serves students from grade KG through grade 06.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Fairlawn Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Fairlawn Elementary is approximately 20.9:1 (34 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Fairlawn Elementary?
At Fairlawn Elementary, the student body is approximately 1% White, 98% Hispanic, 1% Asian.
Is Fairlawn Elementary public or private?
Fairlawn Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Santa Maria-Bonita.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.