Donald E. Suburu, Bakersfield CA

Original Research by School Decision on Donald E. Suburu

Donald E. Suburu is a kindergarten through fifth-grade school in southwest Bakersfield, part of the Lakeside Union district, serving a diverse student body in a neighborhood shaped by affordable housing growth. The school enrolls students across all six grade levels, with a student composition that is predominantly Hispanic, followed by white, Asian, and multiracial students. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the area's economic makeup.

The school sits in a region experiencing sustained enrollment growth driven by new affordable housing developments attractive to first-time buyers. Bakersfield itself is among California's fastest-growing large cities, and Lakeside Union has been adding students as families move into southwest neighborhoods. The district is conducting facility-planning studies to manage this growth and guide future capital improvements. This context matters for families considering the area: the school is in a period of expansion and community investment, and housing costs in the Bakersfield area remain notably affordable compared to much of California, though current rents are slightly elevated from a year prior.

On state assessments in 2024-25, students at Donald E. Suburu show proficiency rates that fall below the midpoint among Kern County districts. In mathematics, proficiency ranges from roughly one in ten students in fifth grade to roughly three in ten in third grade. In English language arts, proficiency hovers in the low-to-mid twenties across grades three through five. In fifth-grade science, roughly one in seven students met proficiency standards. These results reflect significant academic challenges across the tested subjects and grades. A parent would want to look into the school's support structures, instructional approaches, and any targeted interventions the school has in place to understand how these results are being addressed.

The school does not report on chronic absenteeism or other attendance patterns, so prospective families cannot assess that dimension from available data. Information on the share of students receiving special education services or classified as English learners was not available in the reporting.

Lakeside Union offers a distinctive educational option through its foreign-language immersion programs in Spanish and Mandarin, with a trilingual model available to students as early as age four. This is the only such program in Kern County and represents a durable curriculum choice for families prioritizing language development. However, Donald E. Suburu itself does not appear to house an immersion program; those are located at other schools in the district such as Riverview and Winter Gardens. Families interested in immersion pathways would need to explore choice enrollment if the district permits it.

The immediate neighborhood is car-dependent, as is most of Bakersfield, though the city's Kern River Parkway to the east provides a long network of walking and cycling trails, and a county library system and bus network serve the area. Downtown Bakersfield, with its civic center, arts venues, and walkable core, lies a short distance away.

For families weighing enrollment here, the academic performance data shows a school working with students facing significant proficiency gaps. The growth and investment in the southwest Bakersfield area suggest a neighborhood on a development trajectory, and the school's place within a district offering distinctive language programs broadens potential options over time, even if not all programs are housed at this school.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 330%

School 30% · District 34% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

Grade 420%

School 20% · District 19% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Grade 511%

School 11% · District 13% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 325%

School 25% · District 26% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

Grade 428%

School 28% · District 29% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

Grade 524%

School 24% · District 28% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Science

Grade 514%

School 14% · District 14% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

This schoolLakeside 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income23%Higher-income29%7 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income22%Higher-income42%20 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income21%Higher-income34%14 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income28%Higher-income34%6 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income12%Higher-income39%27 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income10%Higher-income11%1 pp gap