Is Buena Vista Elementary a good school?

Buena Vista Elementary ranks 1713 th of 5862 California elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 4 stars out of 5.

How many students attend Buena Vista Elementary?

In the 2023-24 school year, 720 students attended Buena Vista Elementary.

What is the racial makeup of Buena Vista Elementary?

Students at Buena Vista Elementary are 54% Hispanic, 18% White, 17% Asian, 7% African American, 3% Two or more races.

What schools do graduates of Buena Vista Elementary attend?

Students who attend Buena Vista Elementary usually go on to attend: Middle : Earl Warren Junior High High : Independence High

Buena Vista Elementary

Summary:

Buena Vista Elementary is a public elementary school in Bakersfield, California, serving 718 students in grades K-6. It is part of the Panama-Buena Vista Union School District, which is ranked 790 out of 1,568 districts in the state.

Buena Vista Elementary consistently outperforms the district and state averages in Smarter Balanced Assessments for English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics across all grade levels. Its African American and Hispanic student groups also perform better than their respective state averages, with the school's English Language Learner students ranking in the top 150 out of 3,311 California elementary schools. However, the school's White and Special Education student groups tend to perform below the state averages. Buena Vista Elementary has seen a significant increase in chronic absenteeism, from 6.7% in 2018-2019 to 32.1% in 2021-2022, which is higher than the district and state averages. The school also has a high percentage of students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch, ranging from 52.62% to 66.39% over the past few years.

Compared to nearby schools within the same district, such as Ronald Reagan Elementary, Douglas J. Miller Elementary, and Bill L. Williams Elementary, Buena Vista Elementary's academic performance is generally stronger. However, Highgate Elementary, also within the same district, has outperformed Buena Vista Elementary in several academic areas, particularly in English Language Arts/Literacy. The high chronic absenteeism rate and the socioeconomic challenges faced by Buena Vista Elementary's student population may be areas that require further attention and targeted interventions to ensure continued academic success.

Detail:

Public K-6

6547 Buena Vista Rd.
Bakersfield, CA 93311-9792

(661) 831-0818

District: Panama-Buena Vista Union

SchoolDigger Rank:
1713^th of 5,862 California Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $10,106

Students who attend Buena Vista Elementary usually attend:

Middle:	Earl Warren Junior High
High:	Independence High

Student/teacher ratio: 25.2

Number of students: 720

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

54.2%

White:

17.9%

Asian:

17.4%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 70.4%

See top rated California elementary schools

Compare Buena Vista Elementary to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Buena Vista Elementary ranks better than 70.8% of elementary schools in California. It also ranks 4^th among 18 ranked elementary schools in the Panama-Buena Vista Union School District. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 67.29. (See more...)

Chronic absenteeism in a school refers to a situation where students repeatedly miss school, with the threshold often defined as missing 10% or more of school days for any reason, excused or unexcused.

Student Body

Compare Details Student population at Buena Vista Elementary is diverse. Racial makeup is: Hispanic (54.2%), White (17.9%), Asian (17.4%). (See more...)

Compare Details 70.4% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Compare Details (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Buena Vista Elementary is 25.2. 10 elementary schools in the Panama-Buena Vista Union School District have better student/teacher ratios. (See more...)

Compare Buena Vista Elementary employs 28.5 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Buena Vista Elementary is $10,106, which is the lowest among 18 elementary schools in the Panama-Buena Vista Union School District!

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Buena Vista Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks Buena Vista Elementary 1713^th of 5862 California public elementary schools. (See Buena Vista Elementary in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

Special Education students:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Male students:

Asian students:

African American students:

Hispanic students:

White students:

Panama-Buena Vista Union:

SchoolDigger ranks Panama-Buena Vista Union 790^th of 1568 California school districts. (See district ranking list.)

Average Parent Rating:

Read all reviews and ratings detail for Buena Vista Elementary.

What do you think?

Your rating for Buena Vista Elementary?

(Ranking FAQ)

Rank History for Buena Vista Elementary

Compare

Rank History for all students at Buena Vista Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2004	76.92	1037^th	4809	78.4%
2005	76.35	1078^th	4822	77.6%
2006	59.66	1751^st	4818	63.7%
2007	59.60	1847^th	5113	63.9%
2008	44.65	2682^nd	5113	47.5%
2009	56.41	2103^rd	5193	59.5%
2010	51.56	2485^th	5314	53.2%
2011	52.61	2443^rd	5377	54.6%
2012	48.48	2714^th	5390	49.6%
2013	46.13	2918^th	5530	47.2%
2015	51.76	2355^th	5611	58.0%
2016	66.07	1712^th	5614	69.5%
2017	55.31	2260^th	5692	60.3%
2018	57.00	2185^th	5662	61.4%
2019	62.19	1960^th	5789	66.1%
2022	71.94	1537^th	5883	73.9%
2023	68.37	1656^th	5874	71.8%
2024	67.29	1713^th	5862	70.8%

See the entire list of California Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Buena Vista Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2018	60.30	837^th	3246	74.2%
2022	91.23	150^th	3311	95.5%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Buena Vista Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	37.09	1325^th	2420	45.2%
2024	48.13	1019^th	2634	61.3%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Buena Vista Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	55.24	2021^st	5084	60.2%
2019	68.94	1242^nd	5173	76.0%
2022	84.34	584^th	5264	88.9%
2023	79.14	805^th	5374	85.0%
2024	72.85	1140^th	5511	79.3%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Buena Vista Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	61.11	1925^th	5413	64.4%
2019	67.60	1625^th	5492	70.4%
2022	71.84	1447^th	5635	74.3%
2023	68.24	1584^th	5617	71.8%
2024	69.04	1532^nd	5605	72.7%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Disabled students at Buena Vista Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	49.14	797^th	2128	62.5%
2019	53.65	878^th	2585	66.0%
2022	23.70	1819^th	2227	18.3%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Disabled Students!

Rank History for Male students at Buena Vista Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	51.92	2341^st	5431	56.9%
2019	54.26	2243^rd	5510	59.3%
2022	69.35	1562^nd	5663	72.4%
2023	66.03	1681^st	5650	70.2%
2024	62.76	1856^th	5636	67.1%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Asian students at Buena Vista Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	54.38	619^th	1071	42.2%
2019	49.34	714^th	1149	37.9%
2022	46.54	758^th	1154	34.3%
2023	50.82	738^th	1190	38.0%
2024	62.12	577^th	1203	52.0%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Asian Students!

Rank History for African American students at Buena Vista Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2018	62.06	205^th	700	70.7%
2024	83.36	61^st	593	89.7%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for African American Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Buena Vista Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	60.46	1599^th	4830	66.9%
2019	68.41	1239^th	4963	75.0%
2022	81.43	689^th	5084	86.4%
2023	78.09	829^th	5098	83.7%
2024	76.52	873^rd	5102	82.9%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for White students at Buena Vista Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	42.05	1759^th	2737	35.7%
2019	46.05	1674^th	2834	40.9%
2022	48.52	1507^th	2726	44.7%
2023	38.82	1753^rd	2662	34.1%
2024	43.90	1593^rd	2647	39.8%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: California Department of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Data source: California Department of Education

Review counts

All ratings (Avg rating: 5)

100%

Reviews:
No reviews have been submitted!

Enrollment information for Buena Vista Elementary

Compare

Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	24	2	0	9	0	n/a	n/a	0	35
1989	32	1	0	5	0	n/a	n/a	0	38
1990	58	1	0	17	2	n/a	n/a	0	78
1991	74	2	2	16	1	n/a	n/a	0	95
1992	110	2	6	16	5	n/a	n/a	0	139
1993	125	5	8	18	0	n/a	n/a	0	156
1994	156	10	21	30	0	n/a	n/a	0	217
1995	223	18	37	131	3	n/a	n/a	0	412
1996	223	18	37	131	3	n/a	n/a	0	412
1997	213	20	36	133	4	n/a	n/a	0	406
1998	229	33	30	136	6	n/a	n/a	0	434
1999	239	30	43	118	7	n/a	n/a	0	437
2000	266	37	37	79	7	n/a	n/a	0	426
2001	259	28	30	74	6	n/a	n/a	0	397
2002	290	47	40	116	9	n/a	n/a	0	502
2003	290	47	40	116	9	n/a	n/a	0	502
2004	303	54	41	123	9	n/a	n/a	0	530
2005	355	70	63	207	14	n/a	n/a	3	712
2006	394	76	95	322	13	n/a	n/a	3	903
2007	401	88	138	453	13	n/a	n/a	5	1098
2008	282	111	159	503	11	n/a	n/a	0	1066
2009	283	65	136	433	9	2	4	0	932
2010	272	62	129	395	7	1	0	0	866
2011	271	61	130	408	6	3	2	0	881
2012	271	60	125	409	7	8	4	0	884
2013	286	57	125	407	4	9	19	0	907
2014	287	55	131	425	5	9	22	0	934
2015	254	55	121	456	4	8	19	0	917
2016	239	56	110	456	2	7	23	0	893
2017	251	56	95	492	1	5	24	0	924
2018	225	57	112	518	1	3	30	0	946
2019	230	58	113	492	5	3	39	0	940
2020	213	63	118	493	4	4	40	0	935
2021	199	59	123	488	4	5	38	0	916
2022	150	39	99	408	1	2	18	0	717
2023	135	45	116	403	1	2	16	0	718
2024	129	50	125	390	0	1	25	0	720

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Buena Vista Elementary

Compare

Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	35	2.0	17.5	n/a
1989	38	2.0	19.0	n/a
1990	78	4.5	17.3	n/a
1991	95	5.0	19.0	n/a
1992	139	5.1	27.2	5.8
1993	156	7.0	22.3	3.8
1994	217	8.0	27.1	15.7
1995	412	16.5	25.0	24.5
1996	412	16.5	25.0	24.5
1997	406	21.0	19.3	22.7
1998	434	22.5	19.3	20.7
1999	437	22.0	19.9	18.1
2000	426	19.0	22.4	12
2001	397	20.0	19.9	9.6
2002	502	24.0	20.9	14.7
2003	502	24.0	20.9	14.7
2004	530	25.9	20.5	5.8
2005	712	36.0	19.8	25.5
2006	903	45.9	19.7	26.9
2007	1098	51.5	21.3	30.5
2008	1066	52.5	20.3	37.1
2009	932	47.6	18.1	38.8
2010	866	34.4	25.1	41.1
2011	881	n/a	n/a	45.5
2012	884	27.0	32.6	40.5
2013	907	31.7	28.5	44.3
2014	934	31.6	29.4	43.7
2015	917	38.0	24.1	43.1
2016	893	30.0	29.7	46.9
2017	924	31.5	29.3	49.6
2018	946	32.5	29.1	56.2
2019	940	29.0	32.4	57.1
2020	935	n/a	n/a	58.8
2021	916	34.5	26.5	52.6
2022	717	30.5	23.5	66.4
2023	718	29.5	24.3	63.6
2024	720	28.5	25.2	70.4

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Buena Vista Elementary

Compare

Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	35	2.0	17.5	n/a
1989	38	2.0	19.0	n/a
1990	78	4.5	17.3	n/a
1991	95	5.0	19.0	n/a
1992	139	5.1	27.2	5.8
1993	156	7.0	22.3	3.8
1994	217	8.0	27.1	15.7
1995	412	16.5	25.0	24.5
1996	412	16.5	25.0	24.5
1997	406	21.0	19.3	22.7
1998	434	22.5	19.3	20.7
1999	437	22.0	19.9	18.1
2000	426	19.0	22.4	12
2001	397	20.0	19.9	9.6
2002	502	24.0	20.9	14.7
2003	502	24.0	20.9	14.7
2004	530	25.9	20.5	5.8
2005	712	36.0	19.8	25.5
2006	903	45.9	19.7	26.9
2007	1098	51.5	21.3	30.5
2008	1066	52.5	20.3	37.1
2009	932	47.6	18.1	38.8
2010	866	34.4	25.1	41.1
2011	881	n/a	n/a	45.5
2012	884	27.0	32.6	40.5
2013	907	31.7	28.5	44.3
2014	934	31.6	29.4	43.7
2015	917	38.0	24.1	43.1
2016	893	30.0	29.7	46.9
2017	924	31.5	29.3	49.6
2018	946	32.5	29.1	56.2
2019	940	29.0	32.4	57.1
2020	935	n/a	n/a	58.8
2021	916	34.5	26.5	52.6
2022	717	30.5	23.5	66.4
2023	718	29.5	24.3	63.6
2024	720	28.5	25.2	70.4

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.

Kindergarten Immunization Rates