Ready Springs Elementary

Set in Penn Valley, California, Ready Springs Elementary is a very small middle school, one of the schools within Penn Valley Union Elementary. It enrolls 255 students across grades 4 through 8. That puts it 61% below the typical public school in California, which averages around 659 students.

Within Penn Valley Union Elementary, which oversees 3 schools and 535 students, Ready Springs Elementary is one campus in the system.

On demographics, Ready Springs Elementary lists that 71% of the student body identifies as White. The remainder reads as 18% Hispanic, 9% multiracial. By comparison, Nevada County as a whole is about 84% White, so the school skews noticeably less White than its surroundings.

In terms of school funding signals, On paper, Ready Springs Elementary has 14 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 18.6:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 20.7:1, putting Ready Springs Elementary tighter than the state norm the norm. An estimated 57% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. Set against Nevada County (around 43%), the school's rate is somewhat above typical.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Ready Springs Elementary tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 45.6% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 37.9%.

In the broader community, community-level numbers for Nevada County indicate the typical household earns roughly $89,882 per year, 42% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 7%. In all, Nevada County runs 46 public schools (combined enrollment of about 13,561 students), of which Ready Springs Elementary is one.

The closest other public school is Vantage Point Charter, roughly 0.0 miles away. 4 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Ready Springs Elementary at 3rd of 5; the average score across the group is 44.8%.

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

Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Ready Springs Elementary has edged down 20%, going from 320 students in 2018 to 255 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 76% to 71% across the same window. Class-load math has fell: from 22.9:1 in 2018 to 18.6:1 in 2025.

Inside the community feed, posts here usually surface around science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.