The top reported proficiency rate is 45% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on William A. Bailey Elementary
William A. Bailey Elementary is a small public school serving kindergarten through second grade on Edwards Air Force Base in Kern County. The school is part of the Muroc Joint Unified School District and sits within a specialized community shaped by the base's military mission and geographic isolation in the western Mojave Desert.
The Edwards area is essentially on-base housing for one of the nation's premier aerospace research installations, home to the Air Force Test Center, the Test Pilot School, and NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center. Life there centers on base facilities rather than a civilian downtown—families shop at the commissary and base exchange, use the base library and recreation amenities, and navigate a tight-knit community of military families who are geographically isolated together. There is no conventional public transit; driving is the norm, though on-base commutes are short. The wider region includes the towns of Lancaster and Palmdale in the Antelope Valley, each requiring a drive from the base.
Bailey Elementary serves a student body of mostly military families' children. Enrollment is small, in the mid-range for its grade band. The student population includes a roughly equal split between Hispanic and white students, with a substantial share identifying as two or more races, and smaller numbers of Black and Asian students. Fewer than a small share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the employed military families the school predominantly serves.
On state testing, the school's results are modest. In the most recent year with available data, third graders—the single grade level tested—showed a proficiency rate in math that sits in the top quartile among Kern County districts, though the absolute performance indicates that less than half of tested students met grade-level standards in either math or English language arts. The school's overall proficiency index places it above the median across county districts, a strength relative to its local peers, but a parent may want to look into current performance trends and support structures in literacy and numeracy with the school directly.
The community context includes property values considerably below state and national benchmarks, making housing more affordable than in many California regions, though the base's severe housing shortage has required some military families to live in RVs or seek housing off-base in the Antelope Valley. Measure B, a school facilities bond approved in 2022 by district voters, funds long-term repairs and upgrades to schools in the district and adds a modest ongoing property tax obligation. All district schools, including Bailey, have earned California's Purple Star designation, recognizing their commitment to supporting military-connected students and families with dedicated transition and support services.
The school occupies space within a recently rebuilt on-base K-12 educational complex that received a substantial federal investment in new facilities. This infrastructure reflects the district and base's recognition of the educational needs of the military population it serves. A parent moving to Edwards with school-age children would be choosing a small, specialized elementary school embedded in a military community with modest standardized test proficiency but peer-strength among its county neighbors and explicit institutional commitment to military family support.
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