McSwain Elementary

McSwain Elementary operates as an expansive elementary school in Merced, California, operated by McSwain Union Elementary. Current enrollment sits at 912 students spanning grades K through 8. That puts it 96% larger than the typical public school in California, which averages around 465 students.

Operationally, McSwain Elementary answers to McSwain Union Elementary, which sets policy, hires staff, and reports enrollment to the state.

Looking at the student body, McSwain Elementary shows that the most-represented group is Hispanic (51%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups; the rest comes out to 39% White, 6% Asian, 4% multiracial. That is visibly less Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 63%.

On the income-and-resources front, The school currently runs with 44 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 20.9:1. The state averages around 22.3:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. About 35% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. That share is noticeably below Merced County's rate of about 81%.

With demographic context factored in, McSwain Elementary is in the bottom 10% of California public schools. The BeatsExpectations model predicts schools with this FRL share to land around 58.6%; McSwain Elementary posts 43.6%, -15.0 points below that line.

In the area at large, the surrounding county (Merced County) logs that the typical household earns roughly $65,510 per year, about 15% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 16%. In all, Merced County runs 117 public schools (combined enrollment of about 59,456 students), of which McSwain Elementary is one.

The closest other public school is Franklin Elementary, roughly 2.4 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, McSwain Elementary comes 1st of 8 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 30.3%.

The school occupies a countryside site.

Five-year trend. McSwain Elementary's enrollment has rose 9% since 2018, when it stood at 837 (now 912). The Hispanic share of enrollment increased from 42% to 51% over that span.

On allk12, the feed for McSwain Elementary typically covers science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.