McDowell Elementary

McDowell Elementary, a close-knit elementary-level community in Petaluma, California, operated by Petaluma City Elementary, works with 329 students, covering grades K through 6. Compared to the state average of about 465 students per school, that is 29% below typical.

Within Petaluma City Elementary, which oversees 7 schools and 2,182 students, McDowell Elementary is one campus in the system.

In terms of who attends, McDowell Elementary reports that 83% of students identify as Hispanic, making the school strongly Hispanic-majority. The remainder comes out to 6% White, 3% Asian, 2% Black. The wider county runs roughly 30% Hispanic, putting the school's mix noticeably more Hispanic than the area baseline.

On the income-and-resources front, The school employs 14 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 23.5:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 22.3:1, putting McDowell Elementary higher than the state norm the norm. An estimated 86% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. Set against Sonoma County (around 51%), the school's rate is somewhat above typical.

After controlling for student poverty, McDowell Elementary performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 28.3%, the actual is 20.3%, a residual of -8.0 points.

Across the wider county, ACS estimates for Sonoma County put the typical household earns roughly $104,674 per year, about 39% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 5%. In all, Sonoma County runs 184 public schools (combined enrollment of about 63,389 students), of which McDowell Elementary is one.

Dual Language Immersion Academy Charter is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.0 miles from this campus. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Among the 5 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), McDowell Elementary ranks 5th on composite proficiency, below the local average of 50.9%.

Geographically, the school is in an urban area.

Trend over the last 7 years. McDowell Elementary's enrollment has climbed 30% since 2018, when it stood at 254 (now 329). Over the same period, the Hispanic share ticked down from 89% to 83%. Class-load math has grew: from 21.2:1 in 2018 to 23.5:1 in 2025.

On this page, the feed for McDowell Elementary typically covers open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.