Jefferson Elementary

Jefferson Elementary is a K-5 school of compact scale in Taft, California, operated by Taft City, works with 271 students in grades K through 3. By comparison, California's public schools average about 465 students each, so Jefferson Elementary sits 42% leaner than that benchmark.

Taft City runs 6 schools in total, collectively educating 2,404 students. Jefferson Elementary is one of those campuses.

Demographically, Jefferson Elementary shows that the student body is overwhelmingly Hispanic (94%). Beyond that, the school lists 5% White. That is noticeably more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 57%.

On the resource side, Jefferson Elementary reports 12 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 22.6:1. That tracks the state average closely. Around 97% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Kern County (around 76%), the school's rate is meaningfully above typical.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Jefferson Elementary sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 21.7%; this one delivers 18.4%.

In the surrounding community, ACS estimates for Kern County put median household income runs about $70,210, about 19% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and roughly 15% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Jefferson Elementary is one of 279 public schools in Kern County (combined enrollment of about 197,431 students).

Nearest neighbor: Buena Vista High (Continuation), around 0.5 miles off. 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), Jefferson Elementary ranks 7th on composite proficiency, below the local average of 29.0%.

The school occupies a small-town site.

Over the past 7-year window. Jefferson Elementary's enrollment has increased 17% since 2018, when it stood at 232 (now 271). Over the same period, the Hispanic share edged up from 73% to 94%. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 29.0:1 in 2018 to 22.6:1 today.

On the community side, posts here usually surface around fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.