Van Buren Elementary

Van Buren Elementary is an elementary campus of moderately sized scale in Placentia, California, overseen by Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified, educateing 538 students in grades K through 6.

Across the 34 schools in Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified (22,665 students total), Van Buren Elementary accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

Demographically, Van Buren Elementary records that the most-represented group is Hispanic (47%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups; the rest breaks down as 29% White, 14% Asian, 8% multiracial. By comparison, Orange County as a whole is about 34% Hispanic, so the school skews visibly more Hispanic than its surroundings.

Looking at school resources, Staff filings list 26 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 20.4:1 students per teacher. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 22.3:1, putting Van Buren Elementary tighter than the state norm the norm. About 43% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. Set against Orange County (around 55%), the school's rate is somewhat below typical.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Van Buren Elementary tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 53.9% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 61.7%.

In the broader community, the surrounding county (Orange County) reports that the typical household earns roughly $116,289 per year, about 44% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 7%. Van Buren Elementary is one of 649 public schools in Orange County (combined enrollment of about 430,458 students).

Nearest neighbor: Yorba Linda Middle, around 0.6 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Van Buren Elementary. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Van Buren Elementary at 5th of 8; the average score across the group is 67.5%.

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

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count edged down 23%: 700 students in 2018 compared to 538 in 2025. Hispanic enrollment moved from 33% to 47% across the same window. Class-load math has fell: from 28.0:1 in 2018 to 20.4:1 in 2025.

Within the allk12 community for this school, recent activity here tends to focus on science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.