Enrollment
319
Elementary
DISTRICT 143 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·NEEDLES UNIFIED·NCES 062676004059
Vista Colorado Elementary
700 Bailey Ave., Needles, CA 92363 · (760) 326-2167 · San Bernardino County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY31-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL319 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 10% of California public elementary schools
- DTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- C-Three-year trend Change in reading and math proficiency over the last three test years.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded California public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
21.1:1
15 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 19.2:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
82%
262 students
DISTRICT 87% · STATE 65%
Community
0
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 | 52 | 16% |
| Grade 1 | 50 | 16% |
| Grade 2 | 51 | 16% |
| Grade 3 | 50 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 45 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 71 | 22% |
This year's kindergarten class (52) is 27% smaller than its 5th grade class (71).
Student demographics
63%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 68% · 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
31.2%
CA avg 49.1% . -1.8pp since 2014
Math
19.4%
CA avg 37.7% . -5.6pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 31 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 19 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all California schools, those numbers are about 49 and 38. Reading and writing scores are down about 2 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 6 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 9.4% | 21.8% | 26.5% | 42.4% |
| Math | 5.9% | 13.5% | 32.4% | 48.2% |
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 | 31.2% | 19.4% |
| 2023-24 | 17.1% | 21.1% |
| 2022-23 | 23.0% | 27.6% |
| 2021-22 | 31.4% | 25.0% |
| 2018-19 | 29.9% | 33.0% |
| 2017-18 | 34.5% | 34.5% |
| 2016-17 | 31.6% | 25.6% |
| 2015-16 | 25.0% | 22.0% |
| 2014-15 | 33.0% | 25.0% |
% 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
21.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
31.4%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-9.6pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 22% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 31% 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 Vista Colorado Elementary
Vista Colorado Elementary's state test result (21.8% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vista Colorado Elementary this school | 319 | 82.1% | 21.8% |
| Coyle Avenue Elementary Carmichael | 331 | 81.9% | 14.3% |
| Grand Oaks Elementary Citrus Heights | 348 | 78.7% | 23.6% |
| Shasta Meadows Elementary Redding | 320 | 80.3% | 37.1% |
| Webster Elementary Pasadena | 277 | 76.2% | 40.6% |
| Lucerne Elementary Lucerne | 282 | 84.4% | 24.8% |
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 Vista Colorado Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In San Bernardino County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 21.8% | #4,411 of 5,151 | #241 of 318 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 19.4% | #4,356 of 5,172 ▼ 302 | #236 of 321 ▼ 28 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 31.2% | #3,857 of 5,172 ▲ 1,069 | #200 of 321 ▲ 95 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -2.9pp | #985 of 5,116 | #36 of 318 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 319 | #4,592 of 5,915 | #311 of 340 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 21.1:1 | #1,593 of 5,352 | #72 of 328 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 63.0% | #1,499 of 5,354 | #45 of 328 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 82.1% | #1,964 of 5,625 | #168 of 331 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -24.2% | #977 of 3,837 | #52 of 246 |
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
319
-43 (-12%) vs 2020
-29% since 1990-91, when it was 452
Student : Teacher
21.1:1
was 21.3:1
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 | 319 | 15.1 | 21.1:1 | 82% (262) |
| 2023-24 | 327 | 15.3 | 21.4:1 | 83% (270) |
| 2022-23 | 321 | 15 | 21.4:1 | 83% (265) |
| 2020-21 | 362 | 17 | 21.3:1 | 81% (295) |
| 2017-18 | 421 | 18.2 | 23.2:1 | 79% (334) |
| 2015-16 | 452 | 17 | 26.6:1 | 79% (356) |
| 2010-11 | 282 | N/A | N/A | 75% (212) |
| 2000-01 | 284 | 15 | 18.9:1 | 68% (194) |
| 1990-91 | 452 | 18 | 25.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Vista Colorado Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 24% (421 to 319); teachers down 17% (18.2 to 15.1).
About Vista Colorado Elementary
Vista Colorado Elementary is a public low-enrollment elementary school in Needles, California. Students in kindergarten through 5 attend, and enrollment is 319 students. The typical figure for elementary schools in California is about 465 students.
Needles Unified runs 7 schools with a combined 921 students. Vista Colorado Elementary is one of them.
Federal enrollment data show White students as the largest group at Vista Colorado Elementary, at 48%. Other groups make up 36% Hispanic, 6% Black, 5% multiracial, and 3% Native American. County-wide, 33% of San Bernardino County residents are White. The school's diversity index is 63%, meaning two students picked at random have a 63% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
A ratio of 21.1:1 comes from the school's 15.1 full-time-equivalent teachers. That is 1.2 students per teacher below the 22.3:1 average for elementary schools in California. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility was 82% in 2024-25. That is 8 points above the 74% average for public schools in San Bernardino County.
allk12 grades Vista Colorado Elementary a D. The grade compares the school only with California public elementary schools, because each state gives its own test.
Vista Colorado Elementary's average proficiency rate on state tests of 21.8% is 9.6 points below the 31.4% the model predicts from its lunch-eligibility share.
Vista Colorado Elementary is located in San Bernardino County, where the median household income is $85,478, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 23%, and roughly 11% of residents are in poverty. Besides Vista Colorado Elementary, San Bernardino County has 582 other public schools.
Needles Middle is the nearest neighboring public school, less than a tenth of a mile away. The five-mile area around Vista Colorado Elementary holds 7 other public schools.
Vista Colorado Elementary is coded as Town: Fringe in federal locale data.
Compared with 2020-21, the school had 43 fewer students in 2024-25.
Parents and students can post about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater at Vista Colorado Elementary. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
San Bernardino County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
2,197,104
Census ACS
Median income
$85,478
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
23%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
11%
Below federal line
Schools in county
583
393,648 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Needles Unified
- Needles HighHigh · 269 students
- Needles MiddleMiddle · 196 students
- Monument PeakElementary · 70 students
- Chemehuevi Valley ElementaryElementary · 40 students
- Needles Community DayHigh · 18 students
- Educational Training CenterHigh · 9 students
Other schools in Needles
- Needles HighHigh · 269 students
- Needles MiddleMiddle · 196 students
- Needles Community DayHigh · 18 students
- Educational Training CenterHigh · 9 students
Nearby schools
- Needles Middle0.0 mi · 196
- Educational Training Center0.2 mi · 9
- Needles High0.2 mi · 269
- Needles Community Day0.8 mi · 18
- Pillar Academy of Business & Finance1.7 mi · 6
- River Valley High School4.7 mi · 585
Frequently asked questions
About Vista Colorado ElementaryHow large is Vista Colorado Elementary?
Vista Colorado Elementary enrolls approximately 319 students in grades KG-05.
Is Vista Colorado Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Vista Colorado Elementary is an elementary school covering grades KG-05.
How many teachers does Vista Colorado Elementary have?
Vista Colorado Elementary employs 15 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 21.1:1.
How diverse is Vista Colorado Elementary?
Vista Colorado Elementary reports a student body of 48% White, 36% Hispanic, 6% Black, 1% Asian, 5% Two or more.
Who oversees Vista Colorado Elementary?
Vista Colorado Elementary is overseen by Needles Unified in San Bernardino County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.