Joe Stefani

Located at 2768 Ranchero Ln., in Merced, California, Joe Stefani is a middle-of-the-pack elementary school that works with 641 students (grades 3 through 6), operated by Merced City Elementary. By comparison, California's public schools average about 465 students each, so Joe Stefani sits 38% above that benchmark.

Within Merced City Elementary, which oversees 19 schools and 11,108 students, Joe Stefani is one campus in the system.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Joe Stefani logs that Hispanic students make up the majority at 63%. The remainder breaks down as 19% Asian, 9% White, 4% multiracial, 4% Black. That composition is broadly in line with Merced County as a whole.

Looking at school resources, Staff filings list 23 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 27.6:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 22.3:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. About 88% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Joe Stefani performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 27.1%, the actual is 28.4%, a residual of +1.4 points.

In the area at large, the surrounding county (Merced County) reports that the typical household earns roughly $65,510 per year, 15% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 16%. Joe Stefani is one of 117 public schools in Merced County (combined enrollment of about 59,456 students).

Nearest neighbor: Franklin Elementary, around 0.3 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Joe Stefani. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Joe Stefani at 3rd of 9; the average score across the group is 29.1%.

Geographically, the school is in a bedroom-community area.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Joe Stefani has rose 9%, going from 588 students in 2018 to 641 in 2025. The Hispanic share of enrollment expanded from 59% to 63% over that span.

On the community side, the feed for Joe Stefani typically covers science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.