Williams Ranch Elementary

Located at 14804 Pleasant Valley Rd., in Penn Valley, California, Williams Ranch Elementary is a cozy elementary campus that works with 247 students (grades K through 3), run under Penn Valley Union Elementary. Enrollment runs roughly 47% below the state mean of about 465.

Penn Valley Union Elementary runs 3 schools in total, collectively educating 535 students. Williams Ranch Elementary is one of those campuses.

In terms of who attends, Williams Ranch Elementary lists that White students make up the majority at 69%. Beyond that, the school records 19% Hispanic, 8% multiracial, 2% Native American. By comparison, Nevada County as a whole is about 84% White, so the school skews considerably less White than its surroundings.

Looking at the economic backdrop, On paper, Williams Ranch Elementary has 11 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 22.4:1. That tracks the state average closely. Around 57% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. That share is higher than Nevada County's rate of about 43%.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Williams Ranch Elementary ranks in the top 10% of California public schools. The BeatsExpectations model, a per-state regression of composite proficiency on FRL share, predicts schools with this student profile to land around 45.7%; Williams Ranch Elementary posts 70.4%, +24.6 points above that line.

In the area at large, community-level numbers for Nevada County indicate median household income runs about $89,882, about 42% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and roughly 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Williams Ranch Elementary is one of 46 public schools in Nevada County (combined enrollment of about 13,561 students).

Nearest neighbor: Nevada City School of the Arts, around 3.5 miles off. 3 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 5 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Williams Ranch Elementary ranks 1st on composite proficiency, ahead of the local average of 39.2%.

Geographically, the school is in an outlying area.

Trend over the last 7 years. Williams Ranch Elementary's enrollment has edged up 21% since 2018, when it stood at 204 (now 247). White enrollment moved from 75% to 69% across the same window.

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