John Kelley Elementary

John Kelley Elementary is an elementary campus of moderately sized scale in Thermal, California, operated by Coachella Valley Unified, serveing 505 students in grades K through 6.

Across the 21 schools in Coachella Valley Unified (15,817 students total), John Kelley Elementary accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

On the student-mix side, John Kelley Elementary reports that nearly all students (97%) are Hispanic. By comparison, Riverside County as a whole is about 51% Hispanic, so the school skews considerably more Hispanic than its surroundings.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Staff filings list 32 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 15.8:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 22.3:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Around 93% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. That share is higher than Riverside County's rate of about 74%.

With demographic context factored in, John Kelley Elementary performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 23.9%, the actual is 23.7%, a residual of -0.3 points.

In the area at large, census data for Riverside County shows median household earnings sit near $93,074, 26% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 8% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Riverside County runs 543 public schools (combined enrollment of about 424,872 students), of which John Kelley Elementary is one.

The closest other public school is La Familia Continuation High, roughly 0.2 miles away. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around John Kelley Elementary. Among the 7 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), John Kelley Elementary ranks 5th on composite proficiency, behind the local average of 28.9%.

The campus sits in an outer-ring setting.

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at John Kelley Elementary has ticked down 11%, going from 570 students in 2018 to 505 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 18.3:1 in 2018 to 15.8:1 today.

On allk12, the feed for John Kelley Elementary typically covers open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.