Palm Avenue Middle

Palm Avenue Middle is an average-sized intermediate school in Wasco, California, one of the schools within Wasco Union Elementary. The school caters to 631 students in grades 6 through 8.

Wasco Union Elementary runs 6 schools in total, collectively educating 3,473 students. Palm Avenue Middle is one of those campuses.

On demographics, Palm Avenue Middle lists that nearly all students (97%) are Hispanic. The wider county runs roughly 57% Hispanic, putting the school's mix meaningfully more Hispanic than the area baseline.

In terms of school funding signals, Palm Avenue Middle shows 29 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 21.4:1. That figure is higher than the state norm's 20.7:1 average. An estimated 89% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. That share is above Kern County's rate of about 76%.

With demographic context factored in, Palm Avenue Middle sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 26.4%; this one delivers 26.9%.

Across the wider county, the surrounding county (Kern County) reports that median household income runs about $70,210, roughly 19% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 15%. In all, Kern County runs 279 public schools (combined enrollment of about 197,431 students), of which Palm Avenue Middle is one.

Nearest neighbor: Wasco High, around 0.4 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 7 other public schools cluster around Palm Avenue Middle. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Palm Avenue Middle at 6th of 8; the average score across the group is 30.5%.

Palm Avenue Middle operates from a town-based location.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count ticked down 16%: 750 students in 2018 compared to 631 in 2025. Class-load math has fell: from 23.4:1 in 2018 to 21.4:1 in 2025.

On the community side, posts here usually surface around sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.