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How has Parkmead Elementary changed in the last five years, for better or worse?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
478
Elementary
DISTRICT 443 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WALNUT CREEK ELEMENTARY·NCES 064125009461
Parkmead Elementary
1920 Magnolia Way, Walnut Creek, CA 94595 · (925) 944-6858 · Contra Costa County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL478 STUDENTS
B
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 55% of California public elementary schools
- A-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C+Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- FThree-year trend Change in reading and math proficiency over the last three test years.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded California public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
25.2:1
19 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 23.3:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
19%
90 students
DISTRICT 17% · STATE 65%
Community
6
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 | 115 | 24% |
| Grade 1 | 66 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 75 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 82 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 68 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 72 | 15% |
This year's kindergarten class (115) is 60% larger than its 5th grade class (72).
Student demographics
69%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 70% · 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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Parkmead Elementary→Walnut Creek Intermediate
Based on grade levels within Walnut Creek Elementary. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
CAASPP 2024-25 . % met or exceeded standardEnglish Language Arts
63.5%
CA avg 49.1% . -18.5pp since 2014
Math
63.5%
CA avg 37.7% . -7.5pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 63 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 64 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 19 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 7 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 35.6% | 27.9% | 21.5% | 15.1% |
| Math | 31.5% | 32.0% | 23.4% | 13.1% |
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 | 63.5% | 63.5% |
| 2023-24 | 67.9% | 67.2% |
| 2022-23 | 68.5% | 75.3% |
| 2021-22 | 73.9% | 72.6% |
| 2018-19 | 73.6% | 74.2% |
| 2017-18 | 69.2% | 70.4% |
| 2016-17 | 67.8% | 65.4% |
| 2015-16 | 76.0% | 68.0% |
| 2014-15 | 82.0% | 71.0% |
% 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
65.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
68.5%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-2.6pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 66% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 69% 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 Parkmead Elementary
Parkmead Elementary's state test result (65.9% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parkmead Elementary this school | 478 | 18.8% | 65.9% |
| Morello Park Elementary Martinez | 496 | 20.4% | 67.3% |
| Murwood Elementary Walnut Creek | 451 | 22.0% | 66.5% |
| Sunset Ranch Elementary Rocklin | 554 | 19.9% | 69.1% |
| Valle Verde Elementary Walnut Creek | 485 | 15.9% | 71.9% |
| Overland Avenue Elementary Los Angeles | 485 | 14.0% | 88.8% |
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 Parkmead Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Contra Costa County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 65.9% | #842 of 5,151 | #44 of 149 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 63.5% | #898 of 5,172 ▼ 174 | #47 of 153 ▼ 6 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 63.5% | #1,119 of 5,172 ▼ 296 | #51 of 153 ▼ 11 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -9.8pp | #146 of 5,116 | #6 of 150 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 478 | #2,706 of 5,915 | #83 of 164 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 25.2:1 | #4,507 of 5,352 | #134 of 162 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 68.9% | #769 of 5,354 | #60 of 162 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 18.8% | #5,189 of 5,625 | #116 of 158 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +3.0% | #889 of 1,139 | #33 of 42 |
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
478
+43 (+10%) vs 2020
+33% since 1990-91, when it was 360
Student : Teacher
25.2:1
was 21.8:1
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 | 478 | 19 | 25.2:1 | 19% (90) |
| 2023-24 | 444 | 19 | 23.4:1 | 14% (63) |
| 2022-23 | 415 | 18 | 23.1:1 | 12% (49) |
| 2020-21 | 435 | 20 | 21.8:1 | 11% (50) |
| 2017-18 | 464 | 20.2 | 23.0:1 | 8% (35) |
| 2015-16 | 423 | 19 | 22.3:1 | 5% (20) |
| 2010-11 | 508 | N/A | N/A | 8% (39) |
| 2000-01 | 496 | 25 | 19.8:1 | 4% (22) |
| 1990-91 | 360 | 14 | 25.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Parkmead Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students up 3% (464 to 478); teachers down 6% (20.2 to 19).
About Parkmead Elementary
Families in Walnut Creek, California, are served by Parkmead Elementary, a mid-sized elementary school. There are 478 students enrolled, covering kindergarten through 5.
Walnut Creek Elementary runs Parkmead Elementary along with 6 other schools, enrolling 3,597 students in total.
The biggest share of students at Parkmead Elementary, 48%, is White. Beyond that, enrollment is 18% multiracial, 17% Asian, 15% Hispanic, and 2% Black. Measured by the diversity index, the student body scores 69%.
There are about 25.2 students for every full-time-equivalent teacher at Parkmead Elementary, which has 19. By comparison, the average for elementary schools in California is 22.3:1. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility at Parkmead Elementary is about 19%. The gap from the 45% average for public schools in Contra Costa County is 26 points.
Parkmead Elementary holds a B allk12 Grade, placing it above 55% of California public elementary schools.
Parkmead Elementary is 2.6 points below its predicted average proficiency rate across its state test results (65.9% versus 68.5%), which places it in neither the top nor the bottom 10% in California.
For Contra Costa County, Census Bureau data show median household income comes to about $127,229, about 45% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 6% of residents are in poverty. There are 280 public schools in the county, enrolling about 167,423, Parkmead Elementary among them.
Of the public schools around it, Parkmead Elementary is closest to Tice Creek, less than a tenth of a mile away. There are at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Local comparison: Parkmead Elementary ranks 7th of 8 nearby schools, at 65.9% versus a 70.8% average.
In the federal locale system, Parkmead Elementary is coded Suburb: Large, for schools in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
In 2024-25, the school enrolled 478, up from 435 in 2020-21. From 2020-21 to 2024-25, the ratio increased from 21.8:1 to 25.2:1.
Anyone can start a thread about open houses, carpools, and field trips at Parkmead Elementary. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
Contra Costa County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
1,165,012
Census ACS
Median income
$127,229
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
45%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
280
167,423 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Walnut Creek Elementary
- Walnut Creek IntermediateMiddle · 940 students
- Buena Vista ElementaryElementary · 495 students
- Murwood ElementaryElementary · 451 students
- Tice CreekElementary · 451 students
- Walnut Heights ElementaryElementary · 427 students
- Indian Valley ElementaryElementary · 355 students
Other schools in Walnut Creek
- Las Lomas HighHigh · 1,577 students
- Northgate HighHigh · 1,546 students
- Foothill MiddleMiddle · 1,005 students
- Walnut Creek IntermediateMiddle · 940 students
- Walnut Acres ElementaryElementary · 689 students
- Bancroft ElementaryElementary · 672 students
Nearby schools
- Tice Creek0.1 mi · 451
- Las Lomas High0.7 mi · 1,577
- Acalanes Center for Independent Study0.8 mi · 61
- Murwood Elementary1.1 mi · 451
- Walnut Creek Intermediate1.7 mi · 940
- Walnut Heights Elementary1.7 mi · 427
Frequently asked questions
About Parkmead ElementaryHow large is Parkmead Elementary?
Parkmead Elementary enrolls approximately 478 students in grades KG-05.
What grades does Parkmead Elementary serve?
Parkmead Elementary serves grades KG-05.
How many teachers does Parkmead Elementary have?
Parkmead Elementary employs 19 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 25.2:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Parkmead Elementary?
At Parkmead Elementary, the student body is approximately 48% White, 15% Hispanic, 2% Black, 17% Asian, 18% Two or more.
Is Parkmead Elementary public or private?
Parkmead Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Walnut Creek Elementary.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.