Elementary school (grades K-5) · Bakersfield, CA

Stella I. Hills Elementary

Federal NCES profile for Stella I. Hills Elementary, including enrollment, faculty, free-lunch eligibility, demographics, and resource indicators - Resource Investment Index 31/100.

2024-25 NCES dataElementary school (grades K-5)NCES 060363009713
0/100100/10031/100
👥 S:T ratio
24
🌟 Gifted program
70
📋 Attendance
0
Scored 0–100 from federal NCES and CRDC indicators, resource allocation, not test scores. Full methodology →

The verdict

Stella I. Hills Elementary earns 31/100 on the Resource Investment Index, even as it posts class sizes smaller than 72% of California schools.

#25 of 97
elementary schools in Bakersfield · Resource Index
31
Resource Index · Lower
19.1:1
small classes for California
94.4%
free-lunch eligible

Stella I. Hills Elementary has class sizes smaller than 72% of California schools. Computed live against every California school reporting to NCES.

By Resource Investment Index, Stella I. Hills Elementary ranks #25 of 97 elementary schools in Bakersfield, CA.

School address

Enrollment

670

California · 2024-25 NCES data

Teachers (FTE)

35.0

Federal CCD staff survey

Students per teacher

19.1:1

vs 21.5:1 California avg

-11% vs state

Free-lunch eligible

94.4%

vs 55.5% California avg

+70% vs state

Student-teacher ratio in context

How Stella I. Hills Elementary compares with California and U.S. medians

Smaller classes than state median

Source: NCES Common Core of Data As of 2024-25 federal staff survey Total enrollment ÷ full-time-equivalent classroom teachers

What stands out at Stella I. Hills Elementary

Stella I. Hills Elementary is a high-poverty, mid-sized elementary school in Bakersfield, California, enrolling 670 students.

Class sizes run a bit leaner than typical: 19.1:1 puts it in the smaller third of California schools by student-teacher ratio.

Economic need is high: 94.4% of students qualify for free meals, 70% above the California average, a Title I-weighted population that federal funding formulas prioritise.

Enrollment of 670 puts it in the larger third of California schools by headcount.

Its Resource Investment Index sits near the middle of the pack among 9,998 scored California schools.

Against 962 statewide peers matched on enrollment and economic need, it ranks in the upper tier at #274.

Its student body is led by Hispanic or Latino (63%) and African American (24%) (diversity index 54/100).

Chronic absenteeism is elevated: 86.1% of students missed 10% or more of school days (2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection).

Its district draws 15.7% of revenue from federal sources, an above-typical federal share that tends to track a higher-need student population.

Among Bakersfield's elementary schools, it stands alongside Dolores S. Whitley Tk-8 (1,151 students): Stella I. Hills Elementary is smaller than that campus by headcount and runs leaner classes (19.1:1 vs 25.6:1).

Bakersfield City also operates Curran Middle (973 students) and Colonel Howard Nichols Elementary (960 students) alongside Stella I. Hills Elementary.

Sourced from NCES CCD, CRDC, and F-33 (federal records, not a quality verdict). How we source and compute this.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data + CRDC + F-33 · 2024-25

How Stella I. Hills Elementary compares

Stella I. Hills Elementary on the metrics families compare, against California and U.S. means.

Metric This school vs California California avg U.S. avg
Students per teacher 19.1:1 ▼ 11% 21.5:1 15.7:1
Free-lunch eligible 94.4% ▲ 70% 55.5% 51.7%
Enrollment 670 top 26% - -

Source: NCES Common Core of Data School-level CCD + state/national means from Public School Universe · 2024-25

19.1:1
Leaner classes than 19% of US schools, heavier class loads than most.
670
Bigger than 78% of US schools by enrollment, mid-sized for the country.

Equity indicators (what these measure)

Economic need
94.4%
free-lunch eligible - 70% above the California average of 55.5%
Well above the 40% Title I schoolwide threshold, among the highest-need profiles in the state; federal funds support the whole school, not individual students.
Staffing depth
19.1:1
students per teacher - 11% below state mean
Top 28% in California - lower ratio than 72% of state schools
Between 16:1 and 20:1, squarely in the typical U.S. public-school staffing range.
Engagement
86.1%
chronically absent (missed 10%+ of school days)
At or above 20%, the commonly used threshold for "high" chronic absenteeism, signaling significant barriers to regular attendance.
Funding equity
$17,295
per pupil, district-wide - above California avg of $16,509
Close to the U.S. public-school average per-pupil spend.
Support staff
Counselors0.0 FTE
Student-support staffing from the Civil Rights Data Collection.
Discipline context
0
in-school suspensions + 29 out-of-school
Suspension rate: 0.0 per 100 students. Combined in-school and out-of-school rate: 4.3 per 100 students. Reported via the Civil Rights Data Collection.

Overview

  • Common Core of Data (June 2026): enrollment, staffing, and the student-teacher ratio above.
  • Civil Rights Data Collection: discipline counts and program access (AP, gifted, special education).
  • F-33 School District Finance Survey: the district-wide per-pupil spending figures below.

Three separate federal collections, each on its own reporting cadence - which is why this school's numbers line up on a consistent basis against every other school and state on this site, rather than mixing figures pulled from different survey years.

Student demographics

Hispanic or Latino 63.4%
African American 23.7%
White 8.1%
Two or More 2.2%
Asian 1.5%
American Indian / Alaska Native 1.0%

Largest group: Hispanic or Latino at 63.4% of enrollment.

Student-body diversity index 53.5/100

Simpson diversity index - at 53.5, Stella I. Hills Elementary is more mixed than the California school average of 46.0.

Programs

Gifted & talented Yes

Funding & spending

District-wide per-pupil expenditure for Bakersfield City, which includes Stella I. Hills Elementary.

$17,295
Per student
+5%
vs California
Avg $16,509
+4%
vs U.S.
Avg $16,593
Revenue mix
Local 6.5%
State 77.8%
Federal 15.7%

Source: NCES F-33 School District Finance Survey District-level finance · FY 2021-22 Per-pupil expenditure reflects the district-wide average. Individual school budgets are not reported at the federal level.

How Stella I. Hills Elementary Compares to District-Mates

School Enrollment Economic Profile Student-Teacher Ratio
Curran Middle Larger Similar economic need Higher S:T ratio
Colonel Howard Nichols Elementary Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
Voorhies Elementary Larger Lower economic need Similar S:T ratio
Walter Stiern Middle Larger Lower economic need Higher S:T ratio
Horace Mann Elementary Larger Similar economic need Higher S:T ratio

Comparisons are relative to Stella I. Hills Elementary's own figures; each column derives from NCES Common Core of Data.

Other Schools in This District

Bakersfield City · 5 sibling schools

View district profile

Similar elementary schools in Bakersfield

6 comparable elementary schools (grades K-5) serving the same city.

Similar elementary schools statewide

Matched by enrollment size and by staffing ratio across all of California, not just this city - a different peer set than the local comparisons above.

Next steps

Verify locally before acting on Stella I. Hills Elementary's federal record.

Federal record (CCD 2024-25, CRDC 2021-22) - PlainSchools assigns no subjective rating; the composite quality score is a transparent, reproducible index computed from this cited federal data.

Frequently asked questions about Stella I. Hills Elementary

How many students attend Stella I. Hills Elementary?

Stella I. Hills Elementary has 670 students enrolled. It is an elementary school in Bakersfield, CA.

What is the student-teacher ratio at Stella I. Hills Elementary?

The student-teacher ratio at Stella I. Hills Elementary is 19.1:1, which is 11% lower than the California average of 21.5:1 and 22% higher than the national average of 15.7:1. Lower ratios generally mean more individual attention per student.

What percentage of students receive free lunch at Stella I. Hills Elementary?

94.4% of students at Stella I. Hills Elementary are eligible for free lunch, compared to the California average of 55.5%.

What is the racial and ethnic makeup of Stella I. Hills Elementary?

The largest demographic group at Stella I. Hills Elementary is Hispanic or Latino at 63.4% of enrollment, in Bakersfield, CA. Its student body is more racially and ethnically mixed than most US schools, with a diversity index of 53.5/100.

What is the Resource Investment Index for Stella I. Hills Elementary?

Stella I. Hills Elementary has a Resource Investment Index of 31/100 (lower reported resources relative to schools nationally) based on 3 factors: student-teacher ratio, attendance rates. Not a test-score or academic measure (national median ~41/100, see methodology).

How does Stella I. Hills Elementary rank among elementary schools in Bakersfield?

By Resource Investment Index, Stella I. Hills Elementary ranks #25 of 97 elementary schools in Bakersfield, CA. This compares federal resource and staffing data among local peers; it is not a test-score or academic ranking. See all elementary schools in Bakersfield on the city page.

Is Stella I. Hills Elementary a good school?

Stella I. Hills Elementary earns 31/100 on the Resource Investment Index, even as it posts class sizes smaller than 72% of California schools. This is a resource snapshot, not an academic rating; see the Resource Investment Index question above for what the number does and doesn't measure.

What other schools are in Bakersfield City?

Besides Stella I. Hills Elementary, Bakersfield City also operates Curran Middle (973 students), Colonel Howard Nichols Elementary (960 students), and Voorhies Elementary (915 students). See the Bakersfield City district page for the complete list.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) CCD + Public School Universe (2024-25), CRDC (2021-22), F-33 District Finance Survey (FY 2021-22) · 2024-25 Data as of the 2024-25 school year. Coverage from U.S. Department of Education NCES Common Core of Data. Varies by entity type; administrative districts and certain charter networks may report only a subset of fields.

All federal data sources used on this page

Full source list and how we compute each figure: methodology page.

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Every figure on PlainSchools is rendered directly from the source NCES, CRDC and F-33 federal records, no number is typed in by an editor. Each school's figures reflect its most recent NCES/CRDC submission on file. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of June 2026.