Elk Hills Elementary, Tupman CA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Elk Hills Elementary

Elk Hills Elementary serves kindergarten through eighth grade in Tupman, a very small rural community in western Kern County about twenty miles west of Bakersfield. The school is the sole school in the Elk Hills Elementary School District, making it the civic anchor of a sparse settlement that grew around oil operations in the surrounding Elk Hills.

The student body is small, around that size typical for a standalone K-8 rural school. Most students are white; a minority share are Hispanic. More than half of the enrollment qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the blue-collar, oil-and-agriculture-based economy of the area. Tupman itself is car-dependent, with no public transit; students travel by personal vehicle or bus. The community has remained essentially stable in population and housing stock, with few new developments.

On state assessments in 2024-25, proficiency rates across math and English language arts cluster in the low to mid range. In math, the school shows variation by grade: third grade runs somewhat higher, sixth grade (at a moderate level) outpaces most other grades, while fourth and eighth grades fall quite low. English language arts shows a similar shape, with sixth grade notably stronger and third grade quite low. Science results, tested in fifth and eighth grades, fall in a comparable band. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index places it above the median for districts across Kern County, though this reflects the relatively low baseline across the county rather than high absolute performance. A parent should understand that fewer than four in ten students are meeting proficiency benchmarks on average, with substantial grade-to-grade variation. The school has only one year of current data, so trend analysis is not yet available.

The school offers the standard elementary and middle-school curriculum for a regular public school. No magnet, charter, or alternative designation applies. Title I status was not reported in available data. Data on special education enrollment rates, English learner populations, specific course offerings, and teacher staffing levels were not available.

Tupman itself offers limited infrastructure beyond the school. The nearest library and high school are elsewhere in Kern County. The community is anchored by a U.S. Post Office and sits near the Tule Elk State Natural Reserve. The local economy rests on oil and gas extraction, regional agriculture, and a handful of manufacturers. Housing is predominantly single-family homes and mobile homes built in earlier decades, with very few recent additions.

For families in or moving to this rural area, Elk Hills Elementary is the only local K-8 option. Students will need to transition out of district for high school. The school's academic performance sits below state averages and reflects resource and demographic realities common to rural Kern County. A parent's choice to remain in or move to this community will rest primarily on economic ties to local employment, family connections, or a preference for rural life rather than school performance relative to more urban or suburban alternatives.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 331%

School 31% · District 31%

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 417%

School 17% · District 17%

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 522%

School 22% · District 22%

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 644%

School 44% · District 44%

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

Grade 735%

School 35% · District 35%

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 826%

School 26% · District 26%

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 314%

School 14% · District 14%

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Grade 439%

School 39% · District 39%

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 530%

School 30% · District 30%

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 656%

School 56% · District 56%

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Grade 735%

School 35% · District 35%

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 832%

School 32% · District 32%

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Science

Grade 530%

School 30% · District 30%

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 837%

School 37% · District 37%

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 821%

School 21% · District 21%

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

This schoolElk Hills Elementary, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.