Montara Elementary

Set in Barstow, California, Montara Elementary is a mid-sized elementary-level community, one of the schools within Barstow Unified. It caters to 403 students across grades K through 5.

Montara Elementary is one of 13 schools operated by Barstow Unified, a district that hosts 6,118 students overall.

In terms of who attends, Montara Elementary logs that 60% of the student body identifies as Hispanic. Other groups include 15% Black, 12% White, 11% multiracial.

On the income-and-resources front, Montara Elementary shows 17 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 23.9:1. That figure is higher than the state norm's 22.3:1 average. An estimated 84% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. Set against San Bernardino County (around 74%), the school's rate is somewhat above typical.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Montara Elementary tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 30.4% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 16.6%.

Around the school, the surrounding county (San Bernardino County) records that median household income runs about $85,478, roughly 23% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 11%. In all, San Bernardino County runs 583 public schools (combined enrollment of about 393,648 students), of which Montara Elementary is one.

Nearest neighbor: Barstow Junior High, around 0.9 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Montara Elementary. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Montara Elementary at 4th of 7; the average score across the group is 14.6%.

Montara Elementary operates from a town-center location.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count shrank 41%: 682 students in 2018 compared to 403 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 17% to 12% across the same window. Class-load math has narrowed: from 27.3:1 in 2018 to 23.9:1 in 2025.

On this page, recent activity here tends to focus on fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.