Tom Kitayama Elementary

Tom Kitayama Elementary, a reasonably sized K-5 school in Union City, California, run under New Haven Unified, enrolls 653 students, covering grades K through 5. By comparison, California's public schools average about 465 students each, so Tom Kitayama Elementary sits 40% bigger than that benchmark.

Tom Kitayama Elementary is one of 13 schools operated by New Haven Unified, a district that serves 10,056 students overall.

On demographics, Tom Kitayama Elementary records that 50% of students identify as Asian, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. Beyond that, the school records 31% Hispanic, 8% multiracial, 6% White, 3% Black. The wider county runs roughly 33% Asian, putting the school's mix visibly more Asian than the area baseline.

On the resource side, On paper, Tom Kitayama Elementary has 25 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 26.1:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 22.3:1, putting Tom Kitayama Elementary higher than the state norm the norm. An estimated 53% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator.

With demographic context factored in, Tom Kitayama Elementary sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 47.8%; this one delivers 58.4%.

Around the school, community-level numbers for Alameda County indicate median household earnings sit near $129,367, roughly 52% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 6%. Across Alameda County's 394 public schools (combined enrollment of about 210,511 students), Tom Kitayama Elementary is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: Cesar Chavez Middle, around 0.5 miles off. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Tom Kitayama Elementary comes 1st of 7 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 37.3%.

The campus sits in a residential setting.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count decreased 19%: 811 students in 2018 compared to 653 in 2025. Over the same period, the Hispanic share fell from 39% to 31%.

On this page, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.