Fine Arts Academy

Fine Arts Academy is a tiny middle-grades school in Atascadero, California, part of Atascadero Unified. The school teaches 238 students in grades 4 through 8. That puts it 64% leaner than the typical public school in California, which averages around 659 students.

Atascadero Unified runs 12 schools in total, collectively educating 4,355 students. Fine Arts Academy is one of those campuses.

On the student-mix side, Fine Arts Academy records that White students make up the majority at 68%. Other groups include 20% Hispanic, 5% multiracial, 4% Asian. That mix tracks the wider county fairly closely.

On the resource side, Staff filings list 11 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 20.8:1 students per teacher. The state averages about 20.7:1, putting this campus right in line with peers. Around 35% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. That share is below San Luis Obispo County's rate of about 54%.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Fine Arts Academy performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 58.5%, the actual is 52.2%, a residual of -6.3 points.

In the area at large, community-level numbers for San Luis Obispo County indicate median household earnings sit near $97,446, about 40% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 6%. In all, San Luis Obispo County runs 83 public schools (combined enrollment of about 33,339 students), of which Fine Arts Academy is one.

Atascadero Middle is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.2 miles from this campus. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 7 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Fine Arts Academy ranks 2nd on composite proficiency, ahead of the local average of 43.8%.

The campus sits in a commuter-belt setting.

Five-year trend. Fine Arts Academy's enrollment has edged down 8% since 2018, when it stood at 259 (now 238). The student-to-teacher ratio pulled in from 23.4:1 in 2018 to 20.8:1 today.

On the community side, the feed for Fine Arts Academy typically covers classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.