Enrollment
329
Elementary
DISTRICT 342 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PETALUMA CITY ELEMENTARY·NCES 063023004719
McDowell Elementary
421 South McDowell Blvd., Petaluma, CA 94954 · (707) 778-4745 · Sonoma County
GRADES KG–06ELEMENTARY13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL329 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
23.5:1
14 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 24.0:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
86%
283 students
DISTRICT 48% · STATE 65%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 76 | 23% |
| Grade 1 | 38 | 12% |
| Grade 2 | 52 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 41 | 12% |
| Grade 4 | 49 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 32 | 10% |
| Grade 6 | 41 | 12% |
This year's kindergarten class (76) is 85% larger than its 6th grade class (41).
Student demographics
30%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 61% · STATE 62% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
CAASPP 2024-25 . % met or exceeded standardEnglish Language Arts
18.7%
CA avg 49.1% . -11.3pp since 2014
Math
12.7%
CA avg 37.7% . -2.3pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 19 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 13 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all California schools, those numbers are about 49 and 38. Reading and writing scores are down about 11 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 2 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 5.2% | 13.6% | 20.0% | 61.3% |
| Math | 5.5% | 7.3% | 24.2% | 63.0% |
Share of tested students at each CAASPP level. Each student counts in one level, so a row adds to about 100%.
CAASPP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 18.7% | 12.7% |
| 2023-24 | 23.8% | 17.0% |
| 2022-23 | 15.8% | 11.8% |
| 2021-22 | 21.2% | 16.5% |
| 2018-19 | 28.8% | 25.5% |
| 2017-18 | 25.0% | 28.0% |
| 2016-17 | 17.1% | 28.4% |
| 2015-16 | 21.0% | 20.0% |
| 2014-15 | 30.0% | 15.0% |
% met or exceeded standard, all students and all tested grades.
Source: CAASPP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
18.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
29.1%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-11.1pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 18% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 29% typical for California schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among California's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like McDowell Elementary
McDowell Elementary's state test result (18.0% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| McDowell Elementary this school | 329 | 86.0% | 18.0% |
| Gault Street Elementary Lake Balboa | 298 | 87.9% | 38.1% |
| Pacific Avenue Academy of Music Jurupa Valley | 352 | 83.2% | 20.4% |
| Las Lomas Elementary La Habra | 345 | 86.4% | 31.6% |
| Nevada Avenue Elementary West Hills | 379 | 87.3% | 31.4% |
| Park View Elementary Simi Valley | 319 | 85.9% | 24.1% |
Matched among California elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where McDowell Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Sonoma County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 18.0% | #4,743 of 5,151 | #72 of 79 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 12.7% | #4,907 of 5,172 ▼ 406 | #75 of 79 ▼ 7 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 18.7% | #4,914 of 5,172 ▼ 497 | #74 of 79 ▼ 4 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -3.1pp | #942 of 5,116 | #15 of 79 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 329 | #4,487 of 5,915 | #50 of 105 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 23.5:1 | #3,369 of 5,352 | #54 of 76 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 30.5% | #3,922 of 5,354 | #68 of 76 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 86.0% | #1,559 of 5,625 | #8 of 89 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +29.5% | #136 of 1,139 | #7 of 22 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
329
+101 (+44%) vs 2020
-15% since 1990-91, when it was 386
Student : Teacher
23.5:1
was 22.8:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 329 | 14 | 23.5:1 | 86% (283) |
| 2023-24 | 296 | 14 | 21.1:1 | 85% (252) |
| 2022-23 | 245 | 12 | 20.4:1 | 84% (206) |
| 2020-21 | 228 | 10 | 22.8:1 | 85% (193) |
| 2017-18 | 254 | 12 | 21.2:1 | 91% (232) |
| 2015-16 | 235 | 12 | 19.6:1 | 99% (232) |
| 2010-11 | 323 | N/A | N/A | 90% (290) |
| 2000-01 | 457 | 24 | 19.0:1 | 44% (201) |
| 1990-91 | 386 | 17 | 22.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for McDowell Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students up 30% (254 to 329); teachers up 17% (12 to 14).
About McDowell Elementary
Families in Petaluma, California, are served by McDowell Elementary, a small elementary school. The school serves 329 students in kindergarten through 6 in 2024-25. For comparison, elementary schools in California average about 465 students.
The 7 schools in Petaluma City Elementary enroll 2,182 students altogether, McDowell Elementary among them.
The large majority of students at McDowell Elementary, 83%, are Hispanic. The rest of enrollment is 6% White, 3% Asian, and 2% Black. Among all residents of Sonoma County, the Hispanic share is about 30%. The chance that two students picked at random at McDowell Elementary belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 30%.
Teachers at the school number 14 full-time equivalents, and the ratio is 23.5:1. Among elementary schools in California, the typical ratio is 22.3:1. The school's lunch program data list 86% of students as eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Among public schools in Sonoma County, the average eligibility rate is 51%.
Compared with California schools that have similar shares of low-income students, McDowell Elementary's results are 11.1 points below predicted: 18.0% against 29.1%.
Sonoma County census figures show that median household income is about $104,674, about 39% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 5%. A total of 184 public schools operate in Sonoma County, serving about 63,389 students.
The school nearest to McDowell Elementary is Dual Language Immersion Academy Charter, at a distance of less than a tenth of a mile. Within five miles of McDowell Elementary, there are at least 8 other public schools. McDowell Elementary is 5th of 5 nearby schools by average proficiency rate.
Locale data from NCES put McDowell Elementary inside a principal city with a population under 100,000 (City: Small).
Federal counts for McDowell Elementary: 228 students in 2020-21, 329 in 2024-25. A gap this wide can follow a change in the grades offered.
Questions about sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week can be posted here. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Sonoma County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
485,040
Census ACS
Median income
$104,674
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
39%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
5%
Below federal line
Schools in county
184
63,389 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Petaluma City Elementary
- Penngrove ElementaryElementary · 472 students
- Grant ElementaryElementary · 386 students
- McKinley ElementaryElementary · 368 students
- McNear ElementaryElementary · 343 students
- Valley Vista ElementaryElementary · 155 students
- South County ConsortiumCombined · 129 students
Other schools in Petaluma
- Casa Grande HighHigh · 1,653 students
- Petaluma HighHigh · 1,193 students
- Kenilworth Junior HighMiddle · 812 students
- Heartwood CharterCombined · 739 students
- Mary Collins Charter School at Cherry ValleyElementary · 494 students
- Petaluma Junior HighMiddle · 454 students
Other McDowell Elementary schools
One other US public school is named McDowell Elementary. McDowell Elementary is the largest of the 2.
- McDowell Elementary SchoolChicago, IL · 112 students
Nearby schools
- Dual Language Immersion Academy Charter0.0 mi · 31
- La Tercera Elementary0.6 mi · 295
- Live Oak Charter0.7 mi · 271
- Loma Vista Immersion Academy0.7 mi · 451
- McKinley Elementary0.7 mi · 368
- Petaluma Accelerated Charter0.7 mi · 115
Frequently asked questions
About McDowell ElementaryHow many students attend McDowell Elementary?
McDowell Elementary enrolls approximately 329 students in grades KG-06.
What grades does McDowell Elementary serve?
McDowell Elementary serves grades KG-06.
How many teachers does McDowell Elementary have?
McDowell Elementary employs 14 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 23.5:1.
How diverse is McDowell Elementary?
McDowell Elementary reports a student body of 6% White, 83% Hispanic, 2% Black, 3% Asian, 2% Two or more.
Who oversees McDowell Elementary?
McDowell Elementary is overseen by Petaluma City Elementary in Sonoma County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.