Waukena Joint Union Elementary

Set in Tulare, California, Waukena Joint Union Elementary is an intimate primary school, run under Waukena Joint Union Elementary. It enrolls 220 students across grades K through 8. By comparison, California's public schools average about 465 students each, so Waukena Joint Union Elementary sits 53% leaner than that benchmark.

Waukena Joint Union Elementary is a school of Waukena Joint Union Elementary, the district that handles curriculum, staffing, and budget for the campus.

Looking at the student body, Waukena Joint Union Elementary lists that 92% of students identify as Hispanic, making the school strongly Hispanic-majority. Beyond that, the school lists 8% White. By comparison, Tulare County as a whole is about 67% Hispanic, so the school skews noticeably more Hispanic than its surroundings.

In terms of school funding signals, Staff filings list 10 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 22.0:1 students per teacher. The state averages about 22.3:1, putting this campus right in line with peers. Roughly 84% of students at Waukena Joint Union Elementary qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Waukena Joint Union Elementary performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 29.4%, the actual is 29.6%, a residual of +0.2 points.

Around the school, the surrounding county (Tulare County) reports that the typical household earns roughly $71,300 per year, about 17% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 15%. In all, Tulare County runs 196 public schools (combined enrollment of about 101,494 students), of which Waukena Joint Union Elementary is one.

Nearest neighbor: John Muir Middle, around 3.9 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Waukena Joint Union Elementary. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Waukena Joint Union Elementary at 2nd of 5; the average score across the group is 28.0%.

Geographically, the school is in a countryside area.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count showed little movement: 219 students in 2018 compared to 220 in 2025. Hispanic enrollment moved from 86% to 92% across the same window.

Within the allk12 community for this school, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.