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What advice would you give to incoming students at Tamarisk Elementary?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
664
Elementary
DISTRICT 551 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PALMDALE ELEMENTARY·NCES 062958004576
Tamarisk Elementary
1843 East Ave. Q5, Palmdale, CA 93550 · (661) 225-9647 · Los Angeles County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL664 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
26.3:1
25 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 23.2:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
93%
620 students
DISTRICT 84% · 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 | 128 | 19% |
| Grade 1 | 76 | 11% |
| Grade 2 | 102 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 122 | 18% |
| Grade 4 | 114 | 17% |
| Grade 5 | 122 | 18% |
This year's kindergarten class (128) is about the same size as its 5th grade class (122).
Student demographics
48%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 37% · 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
12.8%
CA avg 49.1% . -0.2pp since 2014
Math
8.7%
CA avg 37.7% . +2.7pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 13 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 9 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all California schools, those numbers are about 49 and 38. Reading and writing scores have held steady 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 | 4.4% | 8.4% | 12.8% | 74.4% |
| Math | 2.3% | 6.4% | 16.5% | 74.9% |
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 | 12.8% | 8.7% |
| 2023-24 | 17.0% | 11.7% |
| 2022-23 | 19.0% | 10.1% |
| 2021-22 | 19.8% | 8.8% |
| 2018-19 | 15.3% | 5.4% |
| 2017-18 | 19.2% | 15.0% |
| 2016-17 | 15.0% | 9.0% |
| 2015-16 | 16.0% | 10.0% |
| 2014-15 | 13.0% | 6.0% |
% 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
12.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
24.8%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-12.3pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 12% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 25% 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 Tamarisk Elementary
Tamarisk Elementary's state test result (12.5% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tamarisk Elementary this school | 664 | 93.4% | 12.5% |
| Mariposa Elementary Lancaster | 732 | 94.4% | 15.5% |
| Kornblum Hawthorne | 566 | 93.5% | 29.6% |
| Columbia Elementary Lancaster | 620 | 88.5% | 17.8% |
| Jack Northrop Elementary Lancaster | 645 | 89.3% | 18.2% |
| Stella I. Hills Elementary Bakersfield | 670 | 98.1% | 10.2% |
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 Tamarisk Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Los Angeles County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 12.5% | #5,041 of 5,151 | #1,123 of 1,126 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 8.7% | #5,092 of 5,172 ▼ 161 | #1,126 of 1,129 ▼ 13 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 12.8% | #5,101 of 5,172 ▼ 165 | #1,128 of 1,129 ▼ 15 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -3.5pp | #846 of 5,116 | #134 of 1,116 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 664 | #930 of 5,915 | #165 of 1,300 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 26.3:1 | #4,943 of 5,352 | #1,115 of 1,213 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 48.5% | #2,876 of 5,354 | #475 of 1,214 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 93.4% | #656 of 5,625 | #299 of 1,276 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -14.5% | #2,094 of 3,837 | #631 of 947 |
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
664
-40 (-6%) vs 2020
-13% since 1990-91, when it was 764
Student : Teacher
26.3:1
was 25.1:1
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 | 664 | 25.3 | 26.3:1 | 93% (620) |
| 2023-24 | 738 | 28.3 | 26.1:1 | 91% (672) |
| 2022-23 | 737 | 29.3 | 25.2:1 | 92% (681) |
| 2020-21 | 704 | 28 | 25.1:1 | 99% (694) |
| 2017-18 | 777 | 29.3 | 26.5:1 | 98% (762) |
| 2015-16 | 831 | 30 | 27.7:1 | 99% (824) |
| 2000-01 | 1,000 | 53 | 18.9:1 | 81% (807) |
| 1990-91 | 764 | 31 | 24.6:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Tamarisk Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 15% (777 to 664); teachers down 14% (29.3 to 25.3).
About Tamarisk Elementary
In Palmdale, California, Tamarisk Elementary is a medium-sized elementary school. The school counts 664 students across kindergarten through 5. The school's enrollment is 43% bigger than the 465 average for elementary schools in California.
Tamarisk Elementary is in Palmdale Elementary, a district with 17,941 students across 29 schools.
At Tamarisk Elementary, Hispanic students make up 67% of the student body. It is also 25% Black, 4% White, and 3% multiracial. For comparison, the population of Los Angeles County is roughly 48% Hispanic. Pick two students at random and there is a 48% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
The school has about 26.3 students per teacher and 25.3 full-time-equivalent teachers. The school has more students per teacher than the 22.3:1 average for elementary schools in California. About 93% of enrolled students meet the income rules for free or reduced-price lunch. The rate at public schools in Los Angeles County averages 70%, lower than here.
The BeatsExpectations prediction for Tamarisk Elementary is 24.8%, and its average proficiency rate on state tests is 12.5%.
Los Angeles County has about 9,808,667 residents, and the median household income is $90,112, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 36% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 10%. In all, Los Angeles County has 2,244 public schools and roughly 1,265,907 students.
Space Aeronautics Gateway to Exploration Magnet Academy is the public school closest to Tamarisk Elementary, about 0.7 miles away. There are at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Tamarisk Elementary's average proficiency of 12.5% compares with 19.2% for its nearest scored neighbors.
Locale data from NCES put Tamarisk Elementary in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more (Suburb: Large).
Tamarisk Elementary's enrollment declined from 704 in 2020-21 to 664 in 2024-25. Students per teacher rose from 25.1 in 2020-21 to 26.3 in 2024-25.
The discussion area below is open to posts about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Los Angeles County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
9,808,667
Census ACS
Median income
$90,112
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
36%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
10%
Below federal line
Schools in county
2,244
1,265,907 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Palmdale Elementary
- Los Amigos - Dual ImmersionElementary · 1,027 students
- Palmdale Academy CharterCombined · 989 students
- David G. Millen Law and Government Magnet AcademyMiddle · 952 students
- Desert Willow Fine Arts Sci and Tech Magnet AcadMiddle · 948 students
- Dos Caminos Dual ImmersionElementary · 945 students
- Cactus Medical Health and Technology Magnet AcademyMiddle · 822 students
Other schools in Palmdale
- Highland HighHigh · 2,706 students
- William J. (Pete) Knight HighHigh · 2,349 students
- Palmdale Aerospace AcademyCombined · 2,259 students
- Palmdale HighHigh · 2,208 students
- Hillview MiddleMiddle · 1,100 students
- Antelope Valley Learning AcademyCombined · 1,059 students
Nearby schools
- Space Aeronautics Gateway to Exploration Magnet Academy0.7 mi · 747
- Palmdale High0.7 mi · 2,208
- Tumbleweed Elementary1.3 mi · 502
- Desert Rose Elementary1.3 mi · 614
- R. Rex Parris High1.4 mi · 469
- Manzanita Elementary1.5 mi · 644
Frequently asked questions
About Tamarisk ElementaryHow many students attend Tamarisk Elementary?
Tamarisk Elementary enrolls approximately 664 students in grades KG-05.
Is Tamarisk Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Tamarisk Elementary is an elementary school covering grades KG-05.
How many teachers does Tamarisk Elementary have?
Tamarisk Elementary employs 25 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 26.3:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Tamarisk Elementary?
At Tamarisk Elementary, the student body is approximately 4% White, 67% Hispanic, 25% Black, 0% Asian, 3% Two or more.
Is Tamarisk Elementary public or private?
Tamarisk Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Palmdale Elementary.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.