Fairview Elementary, Bakersfield CA

Original Research by School Decision on Fairview Elementary

Fairview Elementary is a small urban elementary school in Bakersfield serving kindergarten through fifth grade. Its enrollment is modest for the grade band, distributed fairly evenly across the six grades served. The school's student body is predominantly Hispanic, and nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, a reflection of the economic circumstances of the neighborhoods it serves on Bakersfield's East side.

State test results show academic performance below the midpoint for districts across Kern County. In English language arts, proficiency varies notably by grade. Third graders and fourth graders each show proficiency rates in the low to moderate range, while fifth graders perform noticeably stronger in ELA and carry the overall subject average. Mathematics proficiency is consistently lower across the school's tested grades. Fourth grade shows the lowest math performance, while fifth grade reaches a moderate level. Fifth grade science proficiency, the only grade tested in that subject, sits below ELA but above math. Taken together, these patterns suggest the school's fifth grade is performing somewhat better than its lower elementary grades, and ELA is a relative strength compared to math. A parent may want to ask the school directly about the instructional focus and support systems in place for math, where the school faces an opportunity for improvement.

The school is part of Greenfield Union, a district serving Bakersfield. Bakersfield itself is a rapidly growing city with a mixed commercial and residential character, anchored by a compact downtown and spreading suburban neighborhoods. The city's economy rests on agriculture, energy, and healthcare. Housing in the Bakersfield area is relatively affordable by California standards, and rents have been climbing modestly. The city's amenities include the Kern River Parkway, a long trail system for walking and cycling, downtown parks and cultural institutions, and a public library system. Transit is car-dependent for most errands across the city, though the downtown core is walkable. The area is adding housing and commercial development, with particular focus on downtown revitalization and southeast Bakersfield redevelopment.

Fairview Elementary's immediate context is East Bakersfield, a mixed-use neighborhood that combines residential and commercial spaces. The school sits in a part of the city where families face modest economic resources, and that reality shapes both the composition of the student body and the support needs the school addresses. For families seeking an elementary school with strong performance across all grade levels and subjects, Fairview's results suggest looking further. For families already in the neighborhood and seeking a school with community roots and engagement with the specific needs of East Bakersfield families, the school's work with a high-need population may be relevant to understand directly.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 325%

School 25% · District 35% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 418%

School 18% · District 31% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 537%

School 37% · District 25% · ▲ 11 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 328%

School 28% · District 38% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 428%

School 28% · District 41% · ▼ 13 pts below district

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

Grade 554%

School 54% · District 41% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Science

Grade 533%

School 33% · District 24% · ▲ 9 pts above district

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

This schoolGreenfield Union, 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.