The top reported proficiency rate is 33% in English language arts. The lowest is 24% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Horace Mann Elementary
Horace Mann Elementary sits on Niles Street in East Bakersfield, serving kindergarten through sixth grade as part of Bakersfield City School District, publicly reported as the largest elementary district in California. The school is a regular public school with no charter or magnet designation.
The student body is large for an elementary campus, heavily Hispanic, and serves a community with deep economic need. Nearly all enrolled students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, which places this among the highest economic-need schools in the state by that measure. IEP and English learner rates were not available in the data.
State testing results come from the CAASPP Smarter Balanced assessment, given in grades three through six. In English language arts, proficiency rates vary noticeably across grades, with fifth grade performing the strongest among tested years, while third grade rates are considerably lower. In math, the picture is weaker overall: the highest grade-level result falls in fourth grade, while third and sixth grade math rates are the lowest reported. The fifth-grade California Science Test result lands roughly in the same range as the school's math scores. Across tested subjects and grades combined, the school's overall proficiency index places it above the midpoint among districts in Kern County, which is a useful piece of context for families comparing options within the county. That said, proficiency rates across most grade-subject combinations are below where many families would hope to see them, and parents may want to ask the school directly about what supports are in place for students who are not yet meeting grade-level standards. Only one year of testing data was available, so trend direction cannot be assessed.
Because Horace Mann serves only kindergarten through sixth grade, graduation rate data does not apply, and chronic absenteeism data was not available in the data provided.
At the district level, Bakersfield City has publicly reported several changes worth knowing. The board approved a resolution supporting the development of ethnic studies coursework intended to be integrated across subjects and connected to students' cultural backgrounds, a curriculum direction that will shape instruction in coming years. A new smartphone restriction policy is set to take effect before the fall of next year, in line with California's Phone-Free Schools Act. The board also revised its policy in response to a U.S. Supreme Court decision to allow parents to opt children out of instruction or activities that conflict with their religious beliefs.
The surrounding neighborhood sits within East Bakersfield, a mixed residential and commercial part of the city anchored by the historic Sumner business district. The broader city is largely car-dependent, though the downtown core and a handful of older neighborhoods have more walkable street grids. Bakersfield itself is among California's fastest-growing large cities, with significant new housing development concentrated both on the city's northern edges and in planned projects in historically underinvested southeast Bakersfield. Home values in the zip code are well below the California statewide median, and rental costs remain moderate relative to most of the state, which makes the area accessible for working families. Rent-to-income ratios here sit at a reasonable level relative to national norms.
Horace Mann is a neighborhood school serving a predominantly low-income, predominantly Hispanic community in a part of Bakersfield that is evolving. Academic results tell a story of a school where most students are not yet scoring at proficiency on state assessments, though the school's standing relative to peers in Kern County is not at the bottom of that comparison. Families considering this school who are focused on academic attainment will want to have a direct conversation with school staff about instructional programming, intervention supports, and how the school tracks progress for individual students across the grade span.
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