Enrollment
247
Elementary
DISTRICT 178 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PENN VALLEY UNION ELEMENTARY·NCES 060142700722
Williams Ranch Elementary
14804 Pleasant Valley Rd., Penn Valley, CA 95946 · (530) 432-7300 · Nevada County
GRADES KG–03ELEMENTARY42-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL247 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 91% of California public elementary schools
- A-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- ABeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- B-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
22.4:1
11 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 16.5:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
57%
140 students
DISTRICT 60% · 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 | 82 | 33% |
| Grade 1 | 58 | 23% |
| Grade 2 | 53 | 21% |
| Grade 3 | 54 | 22% |
Student demographics
48%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 47% · 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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Williams Ranch Elementary→Ready Springs Elementary
Based on grade levels within Penn Valley Union Elementary. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
CAASPP 2024-25 . % met or exceeded standardEnglish Language Arts
56.0%
CA avg 49.1% . +31.0pp since 2014
Math
54.0%
CA avg 37.7% . +5.0pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 56 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 54 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all California schools, those numbers are about 49 and 38. Reading and writing scores are up about 31 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 5 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 14.0% | 42.0% | 32.0% | 12.0% |
| Math | 14.0% | 40.0% | 34.0% | 12.0% |
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 | 56.0% | 54.0% |
| 2023-24 | 73.5% | 66.3% |
| 2022-23 | 55.2% | 64.6% |
| 2021-22 | 56.7% | 49.5% |
| 2020-21 | 46.0% | 34.9% |
| 2018-19 | 58.8% | 49.0% |
| 2017-18 | 62.3% | 53.5% |
| 2016-17 | 67.5% | 80.0% |
| 2015-16 | 44.0% | 42.0% |
| 2014-15 | 25.0% | 49.0% |
% 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
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of CA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
65.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
46.3%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+18.9pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 65% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 46% typical for California schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 19 points, placing it in California's top 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 Williams Ranch Elementary
Williams Ranch Elementary's state test result (65.2% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Williams Ranch Elementary this school | 247 | 56.7% | 65.2% |
| Redding STEM Academy Redding | 253 | 59.3% | N/A |
| Shaffer Elementary Litchfield | 246 | 61.0% | 31.6% |
| Wasuma Elementary Ahwahnee | 270 | 61.1% | 33.1% |
| Copperopolis Elementary Copperopolis | 216 | 59.7% | 28.6% |
| Georgetown Elementary Georgetown | 229 | 52.0% | 28.2% |
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 Williams Ranch Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Nevada County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 65.2% | #869 of 5,151 | #2 of 14 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 54.0% | #1,359 of 5,172 ▼ 600 | #5 of 14 ▼ 3 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 56.0% | #1,612 of 5,172 ▼ 1,072 | #5 of 14 ▼ 4 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +1.9pp | #2,668 of 5,116 | #7 of 14 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 247 | #5,133 of 5,915 | #11 of 20 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 22.4:1 | #2,547 of 5,352 | #9 of 14 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 47.9% | #2,922 of 5,354 | #5 of 14 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 56.7% | #3,614 of 5,625 | #4 of 17 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +21.1% | #228 of 1,139 | #1 of 6 |
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
247
+54 (+28%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
22.4:1
was 21.4:1
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 | 247 | 11 | 22.4:1 | 57% (140) |
| 2023-24 | 185 | 8 | 23.1:1 | 49% (91) |
| 2022-23 | 197 | 10 | 19.7:1 | 46% (91) |
| 2020-21 | 193 | 9 | 21.4:1 | 45% (86) |
| 2017-18 | 204 | 9 | 22.7:1 | 46% (93) |
| 2015-16 | 186 | 6 | 31.0:1 | 45% (83) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Williams Ranch Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students up 21% (204 to 247); teachers up 22% (9 to 11).
About Williams Ranch Elementary
Federal records list Williams Ranch Elementary as an elementary school in Penn Valley, California. It offers kindergarten through 3 and has 247 students enrolled. That is 47% below the average of about 465 students for elementary schools in California.
Penn Valley Union Elementary has 535 students spread across 3 schools.
At Williams Ranch Elementary, 69% of students are White. The remaining students are 19% Hispanic, 8% multiracial, and 2% Native American. Census figures show Nevada County is about 84% White. Measured by the diversity index, the student body scores 48%.
The school had 11 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25. Its student-to-teacher ratio is 22.4:1. The ratio is within a point of the 22.3:1 average for elementary schools in California. The eligibility rate for free or reduced-price meals is 57%. That is higher than the 43% average for public schools in Nevada County.
Among California public elementary schools, Williams Ranch Elementary outscored 91%, which works out to an A on the allk12 Grade.
BeatsExpectations places Williams Ranch Elementary in the top 10% of California schools. The measure fits a line through proficiency and free or reduced-price lunch share for each state, and this school sits 18.9 points above it (65.2% actual, 46.3% predicted).
Looking at the county, Nevada County, median household income comes to about $89,882, about 42% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and roughly 7% of residents are in poverty. There are 46 public schools in the county, enrolling about 13,561, Williams Ranch Elementary among them.
Nevada City School of the Arts is about 3.5 miles away, making it the nearest public school. Within five miles of Williams Ranch Elementary, there are 3 other public schools. Williams Ranch Elementary is 1st of 6 nearby schools by average proficiency rate.
NCES lists the school's locale as Rural: Distant. That means it sits in rural territory some distance from an urban area.
In 2024-25, the school enrolled 247, up from 193 in 2020-21. From 2020-21 to 2024-25, the ratio increased from 21.4:1 to 22.4:1.
This page collects posts and questions about Williams Ranch Elementary, such as open houses, carpools, and field trips. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Nevada County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
102,481
Census ACS
Median income
$89,882
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
42%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
46
13,561 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Penn Valley Union Elementary
- Ready Springs ElementaryMiddle · 255 students
- Vantage Point CharterCombined · 33 students
- Penn Valley Union Special Education PreschoolElementary
Other schools in Penn Valley
- Ready Springs ElementaryMiddle · 255 students
- Vantage Point CharterCombined · 33 students
- Penn Valley Union Special Education PreschoolElementary
Nearby schools
- Nevada City School of the Arts3.5 mi · 477
- Vantage Point Charter4.3 mi · 33
- Ready Springs Elementary4.3 mi · 255
- Yuba River Charter6.5 mi · 323
- Margaret G. Scotten Elementary6.9 mi · 357
- Lyman Gilmore Middle7.1 mi · 464
Frequently asked questions
About Williams Ranch ElementaryHow large is Williams Ranch Elementary?
Williams Ranch Elementary enrolls approximately 247 students in grades KG-03.
Is Williams Ranch Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Williams Ranch Elementary is an elementary school covering grades KG-03.
How many teachers does Williams Ranch Elementary have?
Williams Ranch Elementary employs 11 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 22.4:1.
How diverse is Williams Ranch Elementary?
Williams Ranch Elementary reports a student body of 69% White, 19% Hispanic, 0% Black, 2% Asian, 8% Two or more.
What district is Williams Ranch Elementary in?
Williams Ranch Elementary is part of Penn Valley Union Elementary.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.