Tompkins Elementary

Tompkins Elementary, a reasonably sized primary school in Tehachapi, California, one of the schools within Tehachapi Unified, caters to 615 students, covering grades K through 5. Enrollment runs roughly 32% above the state mean of about 465.

Across the 7 schools in Tehachapi Unified (4,156 students total), Tompkins Elementary accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

In terms of who attends, Tompkins Elementary reports that the most-represented group is Hispanic (47%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. Beyond that, the school lists 40% White, 8% multiracial, 2% Asian. By comparison, Kern County as a whole is about 57% Hispanic, so the school skews considerably less Hispanic than its surroundings.

On the income-and-resources front, The school currently runs with 25 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 24.5:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 22.3:1, putting Tompkins Elementary higher than the state norm the norm. An estimated 52% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Kern County (around 76%), the school's rate is meaningfully below typical.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Tompkins Elementary falls in the UNDERPERFORMING tier of the BeatsExpectations residual. Given its student profile, a typical campus would land near 48.8%; this one comes in at 29.0%, -19.8 points off the demographic line.

In the broader community, ACS estimates for Kern County put median household earnings sit near $70,210, 19% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 15%. In all, Kern County runs 279 public schools (combined enrollment of about 197,431 students), of which Tompkins Elementary is one.

The closest other public school is Tehachapi High, roughly 0.8 miles away. 6 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, Tompkins Elementary comes 3rd of 6 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 32.3%.

The school occupies an outlying site.

Trend over the last 7 years. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Tompkins Elementary has declined 18%, going from 749 students in 2018 to 615 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 52% to 40% across the same window. Class-load math has narrowed: from 26.0:1 in 2018 to 24.5:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, 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.