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Best kept secret at Pioneer Drive Elementary?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
562
Elementary
DISTRICT 619 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BAKERSFIELD CITY·NCES 060363000315
Pioneer Drive Elementary
4404 Pioneer Dr., Bakersfield, CA 93306 · (661) 631-5450 · Kern County
GRADES KG–06ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL562 STUDENTS
C
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 33% of California public elementary schools
- C-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- B-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- AThree-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
19.8:1
28 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 19.7:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
96%
541 students
DISTRICT 88% · 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 | 92 | 16% |
| Grade 1 | 78 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 79 | 14% |
| Grade 3 | 77 | 14% |
| Grade 4 | 81 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 84 | 15% |
| Grade 6 | 71 | 13% |
This year's kindergarten class (92) is 30% larger than its 6th grade class (71).
Student demographics
13%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 30% · 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
Test scores
CAASPP 2024-25 . % met or exceeded standardEnglish Language Arts
28.9%
CA avg 49.1% . +10.9pp since 2014
Math
17.9%
CA avg 37.7% . +2.9pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 29 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 18 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all California schools, those numbers are about 49 and 38. Reading and writing scores are up about 11 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 3 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 7.8% | 21.1% | 21.1% | 50.0% |
| Math | 5.9% | 12.1% | 29.7% | 52.4% |
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 | 28.9% | 17.9% |
| 2023-24 | 28.0% | 18.1% |
| 2022-23 | 24.3% | 10.0% |
| 2021-22 | 18.3% | 8.7% |
| 2018-19 | 30.4% | 21.3% |
| 2017-18 | 31.3% | 24.3% |
| 2016-17 | 25.4% | 23.8% |
| 2015-16 | 24.0% | 16.0% |
| 2014-15 | 18.0% | 15.0% |
% 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
23.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
23.1%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+0.1pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 23% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 23% 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 Pioneer Drive Elementary
Pioneer Drive Elementary's state test result (23.2% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pioneer Drive Elementary this school | 562 | 96.3% | 23.2% |
| Hoover Street Elementary Los Angeles | 551 | 98.0% | 67.7% |
| Esperanza Elementary Los Angeles | 577 | 97.9% | 30.2% |
| Lytle Creek Elementary San Bernardino | 525 | 97.1% | 18.6% |
| Greenleaf Oakland | 613 | 96.2% | 17.4% |
| Graham Elementary Los Angeles | 522 | 97.7% | 19.9% |
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 Pioneer Drive Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Kern County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 23.2% | #4,267 of 5,151 | #99 of 148 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 17.9% | #4,489 of 5,172 ▼ 106 | #111 of 150 ▼ 11 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 28.9% | #4,087 of 5,172 ▼ 84 | #100 of 150 ▼ 5 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +9.9pp | #623 of 5,116 | #20 of 147 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 562 | #1,730 of 5,915 | #89 of 163 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 19.8:1 | #835 of 5,352 | #30 of 145 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 12.9% | #4,809 of 5,354 | #122 of 145 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 96.3% | #288 of 5,625 | #18 of 153 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -22.2% | #1,170 of 3,837 | #20 of 95 |
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
562
-67 (-11%) vs 2020
-14% since 1990-91, when it was 654
Student : Teacher
19.8:1
was 19.7:1
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 | 562 | 28.4 | 19.8:1 | 96% (541) |
| 2023-24 | 583 | 30 | 19.4:1 | 97% (564) |
| 2022-23 | 646 | 27 | 23.9:1 | 95% (616) |
| 2020-21 | 629 | 32 | 19.7:1 | 96% (606) |
| 2017-18 | 722 | 31 | 23.3:1 | 95% (685) |
| 2015-16 | 666 | 31 | 21.5:1 | 94% (628) |
| 2010-11 | 668 | N/A | N/A | 97% (651) |
| 2000-01 | 662 | 34 | 19.5:1 | 97% (641) |
| 1990-91 | 654 | 25 | 26.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Pioneer Drive Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 22% (722 to 562); teachers down 8% (31 to 28.4).
About Pioneer Drive Elementary
Pioneer Drive Elementary is an elementary school located in Bakersfield, California, in Kern County. Enrollment is 562 students in 2024-25, and the school serves kindergarten through 6. Against the 465-student average for elementary schools in California, enrollment here is 21% higher.
Pioneer Drive Elementary sits within Bakersfield City, which has 44 schools and 28,365 students.
Hispanic students are the large majority at Pioneer Drive Elementary, with 93% of enrollment. Enrollment also includes 3% Black and 3% White. Among people living in Kern County, the Hispanic share is about 57%. Pioneer Drive Elementary has a diversity index of 13%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
The school has about 19.8 students per teacher and 28.4 full-time-equivalent teachers. The average ratio among elementary schools in California is 22.3:1, higher than at this school. About 96% of enrolled students meet the income rules for free or reduced-price lunch. That is higher than the 76% average for public schools in Kern County.
The allk12 Grade for Pioneer Drive Elementary is C. Compared with California public elementary schools, the school scored higher than 33% on a mix of test scores, poverty-adjusted results, and recent trend.
On BeatsExpectations, Pioneer Drive Elementary is within a point of its prediction, a result in the middle 80% of California schools.
According to the American Community Survey, in Kern County, median household income is about $70,210, roughly 19% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 15% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Pioneer Drive Elementary is one of 279 public schools in Kern County, which together enroll about 197,431 students.
The closest public school to Pioneer Drive Elementary is Sierra Middle, about 0.9 miles away. Within five miles of Pioneer Drive Elementary, there are at least 8 other public schools. Among its closest neighbors with test data, Pioneer Drive Elementary is 3rd of 9 on proficiency.
For locale, NCES codes Pioneer Drive Elementary as Suburb: Large.
The student count in 2024-25 was 562, 11% below the 629 of 2020-21.
Discussion on this page can cover school safety, transportation, and start times. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
Kern County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
915,075
Census ACS
Median income
$70,210
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
19%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
15%
Below federal line
Schools in county
279
197,431 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Bakersfield City
- Curran MiddleMiddle · 973 students
- Colonel Howard Nichols ElementaryElementary · 960 students
- Voorhies ElementaryElementary · 915 students
- Walter Stiern MiddleMiddle · 891 students
- Horace Mann ElementaryElementary · 870 students
- Bessie E. Owens ElementaryElementary · 867 students
Other schools in Bakersfield
- Bakersfield HighHigh · 3,069 students
- Ridgeview HighHigh · 2,575 students
- Highland HighHigh · 2,530 students
- Stockdale HighHigh · 2,398 students
- Liberty HighHigh · 2,369 students
- East Bakersfield HighHigh · 2,331 students
Nearby schools
- Sierra Middle0.9 mi · 731
- Virginia Avenue Elementary0.9 mi · 644
- Ramon Garza Elementary1.0 mi · 658
- Voorhies Elementary1.0 mi · 915
- Foothill High1.1 mi · 2,043
- Hort Elementary1.2 mi · 590
Frequently asked questions
About Pioneer Drive ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at Pioneer Drive Elementary?
Pioneer Drive Elementary enrolls approximately 562 students in grades KG-06.
Is Pioneer Drive Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Pioneer Drive Elementary is an elementary school covering grades KG-06.
How many students per teacher at Pioneer Drive Elementary?
Approximately 19.8:1 students per teacher at Pioneer Drive Elementary.
How diverse is Pioneer Drive Elementary?
Pioneer Drive Elementary reports a student body of 3% White, 93% Hispanic, 3% Black, 0% Asian, 0% Two or more.
Is Pioneer Drive Elementary public or private?
Pioneer Drive Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Bakersfield City.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.