Pine Ridge

Pine Ridge is one of the tiny K-5 schools in Magalia, California, operated by Paradise Unified, with 179 students on its rolls from grades K through 6. Enrollment runs roughly 62% smaller than the state mean of about 465.

Paradise Unified runs 7 schools in total, collectively educating 1,733 students. Pine Ridge is one of those campuses.

In terms of who attends, Pine Ridge logs that White students make up the majority at 72%. The remainder reads as 13% Hispanic, 8% multiracial, 3% Asian, 2% Native American. That composition is broadly in line with Butte County as a whole.

Looking at school resources, On paper, Pine Ridge has 12 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 14.8:1. The state averages around 22.3:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. An estimated 83% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Butte County (around 63%), the school's rate is somewhat above typical.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Pine Ridge tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 29.9% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 21.7%.

In the broader community, census data for Butte County shows median household income runs about $67,928, about 32% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 12%. Pine Ridge is one of 96 public schools in Butte County (combined enrollment of about 29,730 students).

The closest other public school is Children's Community Charter, roughly 2.3 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, Pine Ridge comes 4th of 4 in the immediate cluster, behind the nearby-schools average of 29.1%.

Geographically, the school is in a low-density area.

Trend over the last 7 years. Pine Ridge's enrollment has fell 62% since 2018, when it stood at 473 (now 179). The White share of enrollment declined from 76% to 72% over that span. Class-load math has fell: from 26.6:1 in 2018 to 14.8:1 in 2025.

On the community side, the feed for Pine Ridge typically covers fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.