Gold Oak Elementary

Gold Oak Elementary operates as a cozy elementary-level community in Placerville, California, part of Gold Oak Union Elementary. Current enrollment sits at 270 students spanning grades K through 5. Compared to the state average of about 465 students per school, that is 42% leaner than typical.

Within Gold Oak Union Elementary, which oversees 2 schools and 387 students, Gold Oak Elementary is one campus in the system.

On demographics, Gold Oak Elementary reports that the largest single group is White, at 77% of enrollment. Other groups include 20% Hispanic, 3% multiracial. That mix tracks the wider county fairly closely.

Looking at school resources, Staff filings list 14 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 19.2:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 22.3:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Around 40% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, often used as a Title I proxy.

With demographic context factored in, Gold Oak Elementary is in the bottom 10% of California public schools. The BeatsExpectations model predicts schools with this FRL share to land around 55.9%; Gold Oak Elementary posts 34.7%, -21.2 points below that line.

Zooming out to the county, community-level numbers for El Dorado County indicate the typical household earns roughly $108,845 per year, roughly 40% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 5% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Gold Oak Elementary is one of 69 public schools in El Dorado County (combined enrollment of about 34,706 students).

Nearest neighbor: Pleasant Valley Middle, around 2.0 miles off. Within five miles, there are 5 other public schools. Among the 6 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Gold Oak Elementary ranks 4th on composite proficiency, beneath the local average of 36.4%.

The campus sits in a rural setting.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count decreased 18%: 331 students in 2018 compared to 270 in 2025. Over the same period, the Hispanic share climbed from 11% to 20%. Class-load math has narrowed: from 23.6:1 in 2018 to 19.2:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, members of the Gold Oak Elementary community share and discuss open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.