Rio Vista Elementary

As a reasonably sized primary school in Cathedral City, California, Rio Vista Elementary instructs 637 students from grades K through 5, part of Palm Springs Unified. Compared to the state average of about 465 students per school, that is 37% bigger than typical.

Palm Springs Unified comprises 27 schools with combined enrollment of 20,007 students; Rio Vista Elementary is among them.

On the student-mix side, Rio Vista Elementary lists that 79% of the student body identifies as Hispanic. Beyond that, the school reports 10% White, 4% multiracial, 4% Asian. That is considerably more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 51%.

In terms of school funding signals, Staff filings list 31 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 20.8:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 22.3:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Around 91% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. Set against Riverside County (around 74%), the school's rate is meaningfully above typical.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Rio Vista Elementary sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 25.1%; this one delivers 34.7%.

Across the wider county, Riverside County reports that median household income runs about $93,074, roughly 26% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 8% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Rio Vista Elementary is one of 543 public schools in Riverside County (combined enrollment of about 424,872 students).

Landau Elementary is the nearest neighboring public school, about 1.6 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Rio Vista Elementary. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Rio Vista Elementary at 4th of 8; the average score across the group is 35.6%.

Geographically, the school is in a commuter-belt area.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count declined 11%: 718 students in 2018 compared to 637 in 2025. The White share of enrollment ticked down from 16% to 10% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio pulled in from 23.2:1 in 2018 to 20.8:1 today.

Within the allk12 community for this school, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. Members of the school community can share what they know.