Is Buena Terra Elementary a good school?

Yes. Buena Terra Elementary ranks in the top 7.0% of California elementary schools.

How many students attend Buena Terra Elementary?

In the 2023-24 school year, 634 students attended Buena Terra Elementary.

What is the racial makeup of Buena Terra Elementary?

Students at Buena Terra Elementary are 38% Hispanic, 33% Asian, 18% White, 7% Two or more races, 2% African American, 1% Pacific Islander.

Buena Terra Elementary

Summary:

Buena Terra Elementary is a public elementary school located in Buena Park, California, serving grades K-6 with a total enrollment of 644 students. It is part of the Centralia Elementary District, which is ranked 382 out of 1,568 districts in California and has a 4-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Buena Terra Elementary consistently ranks among the top 10% of California elementary schools, with a statewide ranking between 408-439 out of 5,862-5,874 schools in the past 4 years. The school's students perform significantly better than the district and state averages in Smarter Balanced Assessments for English Language Arts and Mathematics across all grade levels. For example, in 2023-2024, 73.95% of Buena Terra students were proficient or better in ELA, compared to 57.54% for the Centralia district and 47.04% for California. In Mathematics, 77.01% of Buena Terra students were proficient or better, compared to 57.16% for the district and 35.54% for the state. Buena Terra's performance is particularly strong in the Hispanic student subgroup, ranking among the top 3% of California elementary schools in this category.

Buena Terra Elementary has maintained relatively low chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 3.5% to 15.2% over the past 5 years, which is significantly lower than the district and state averages. The school also has a high percentage of students (56.21% in 2022-2023) who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a relatively high proportion of students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds. When compared to nearby schools within the Centralia Elementary District, such as Glen H. Dysinger Senior Elementary and George B. Miller Elementary, Buena Terra consistently outperforms them in both ELA and Mathematics proficiency rates. This exceptional performance, particularly among its Hispanic student population, is a testament to the dedication and effectiveness of Buena Terra's educators.

Detail:

Public K-6

8299 Holder St.
Buena Park, CA 90620-2957

(714) 228-3220

District: Centralia Elementary

SchoolDigger Rank:
408^th of 5,862 California Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $8,002

Student/teacher ratio: 26.4

Number of students: 634

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

38.2%

Asian:

32.6%

White:

18.3%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 58.5%

See top rated California elementary schools

Compare Buena Terra Elementary to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Buena Terra Elementary ranks better than 93% of elementary schools in California. It also ranks 2^nd among 8 ranked elementary schools in the Centralia Elementary School District. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 94.28. (See more...)

Chronic absenteeism in a school refers to a situation where students repeatedly miss school, with the threshold often defined as missing 10% or more of school days for any reason, excused or unexcused.

Student Body

Compare Details Buena Terra Elementary has the largest elementary school student body size in the Centralia Elementary School District. Student population at Buena Terra Elementary is diverse. Racial makeup is: Hispanic (38.2%), Asian (32.6%), White (18.3%). (See more...)

Compare Details 58.5% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Compare Details (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Buena Terra Elementary is 26.4, which is the highest among 8 elementary schools in the Centralia Elementary School District! (See more...)

Compare Buena Terra Elementary employs 24 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Buena Terra Elementary is $8,002. 6 elementary schools in the Centralia Elementary School District spend more per student.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Buena Terra Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks Buena Terra Elementary 408^th of 5862 California public elementary schools. (See Buena Terra Elementary in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Male students:

Asian students:

Hispanic students:

White students:

Centralia Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks Centralia Elementary 382^nd of 1568 California school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Rank History for Buena Terra Elementary

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Rank History for all students at Buena Terra Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2004	58.44	1783^rd	4809	62.9%
2005	61.40	1682^nd	4822	65.1%
2006	55.64	1931^st	4818	59.9%
2007	52.94	2161^st	5113	57.7%
2008	49.03	2429^th	5113	52.5%
2009	47.45	2637^th	5193	49.2%
2010	57.65	2130^th	5314	59.9%
2011	69.87	1494^th	5377	72.2%
2012	71.69	1430^th	5390	73.5%
2013	75.39	1303^rd	5530	76.4%
2015	85.98	826^th	5611	85.3%
2016	90.45	589^th	5614	89.5%
2017	87.37	793^rd	5692	86.1%
2018	84.76	903^rd	5662	84.1%
2019	86.31	830^th	5789	85.7%
2022	93.73	461^st	5883	92.2%
2023	93.91	439^th	5874	92.5%
2024	94.28	408^th	5862	93.0%

See the entire list of California Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Buena Terra Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	91.63	152^nd	3246	95.3%
2019	75.47	401^st	3275	87.8%
2023	98.13	44^th	3250	98.6%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Buena Terra Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	88.55	339^th	5084	93.3%
2019	93.19	194^th	5173	96.2%
2022	97.87	84^th	5264	98.4%
2023	98.15	74^th	5374	98.6%
2024	97.26	138^th	5511	97.5%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Buena Terra Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	86.91	720^th	5413	86.7%
2019	87.69	678^th	5492	87.7%
2022	93.06	445^th	5635	92.1%
2023	93.12	430^th	5617	92.3%
2024	93.36	410^th	5605	92.7%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Disabled students at Buena Terra Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2018	81.82	260^th	2128	87.8%
2019	55.29	835^th	2585	67.7%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Disabled Students!

Rank History for Male students at Buena Terra Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	81.20	1010^th	5431	81.4%
2019	82.24	953^rd	5510	82.7%
2022	92.55	476^th	5663	91.6%
2023	92.09	493^rd	5650	91.3%
2024	93.05	418^th	5636	92.6%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Asian students at Buena Terra Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2022	79.28	166^th	1154	85.6%
2023	65.66	502^nd	1190	57.8%
2024	75.00	291^st	1203	75.8%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Asian Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Buena Terra Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	89.92	308^th	4830	93.6%
2019	89.76	312^th	4963	93.7%
2022	96.57	134^th	5084	97.4%
2023	98.33	56^th	5098	98.9%
2024	97.22	89^th	5102	98.3%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for White students at Buena Terra Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	66.59	947^th	2737	65.4%
2019	62.91	1098^th	2834	61.3%
2022	76.94	560^th	2726	79.5%
2023	74.94	620^th	2662	76.7%
2024	71.37	771^st	2647	70.9%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: California Department of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Data source: California Department of Education

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Enrollment information for Buena Terra Elementary

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	362	13	43	100	1	n/a	n/a	0	519
1989	323	19	62	89	3	n/a	n/a	0	496
1990	321	19	75	76	5	n/a	n/a	0	496
1991	320	16	81	80	4	n/a	n/a	0	501
1992	338	34	84	65	6	n/a	n/a	0	527
1993	341	29	99	81	5	n/a	n/a	0	555
1994	365	15	95	64	2	n/a	n/a	0	541
1995	310	19	107	77	2	n/a	n/a	0	515
1996	310	19	107	77	2	n/a	n/a	0	515
1997	317	23	102	82	2	n/a	n/a	0	526
1998	293	15	96	82	2	n/a	n/a	0	488
1999	290	11	95	98	1	n/a	n/a	0	495
2000	314	14	93	109	3	n/a	n/a	0	533
2001	269	10	91	121	3	n/a	n/a	0	494
2002	217	11	84	116	8	n/a	n/a	5	441
2003	217	11	84	116	8	n/a	n/a	5	441
2004	188	10	90	121	6	n/a	n/a	18	433
2005	151	8	88	120	6	n/a	n/a	49	422
2006	123	9	93	154	8	n/a	n/a	43	430
2007	139	10	84	150	7	n/a	n/a	40	430
2008	119	9	80	148	4	n/a	n/a	0	360
2009	116	8	72	141	2	2	51	0	392
2010	113	11	71	182	2	3	10	0	392
2011	141	17	85	255	2	2	29	0	531
2012	124	17	95	254	2	2	15	0	509
2013	122	12	94	269	2	4	22	0	525
2014	120	13	97	249	3	6	28	0	516
2015	119	21	100	242	2	5	23	0	512
2016	125	8	110	233	2	6	21	0	505
2017	126	13	132	230	1	5	24	0	531
2018	134	21	141	240	0	5	15	0	556
2019	132	24	155	240	0	5	18	0	574
2020	125	20	169	278	0	6	27	0	625
2021	119	17	170	246	0	5	37	0	594
2022	128	16	166	225	0	4	31	0	570
2023	122	18	194	262	0	8	40	0	644
2024	116	15	207	242	1	9	44	0	634

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Buena Terra Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	519	19.0	27.3	n/a
1989	496	19.0	26.1	n/a
1990	496	19.0	26.1	n/a
1991	501	19.0	26.3	n/a
1992	527	19.3	27.3	12.7
1993	555	20.0	27.8	19.8
1994	541	19.0	28.5	19.6
1995	515	17.0	30.3	21.7
1996	515	17.0	30.3	21.7
1997	526	22.0	23.9	24.5
1998	488	21.0	23.2	24
1999	495	22.0	22.5	30.1
2000	533	22.0	24.2	27.4
2001	494	23.0	21.5	26.3
2002	441	21.0	21.0	16.3
2003	441	21.0	21.0	16.3
2004	433	22.0	19.7	19.5
2005	422	20.6	20.5	32.2
2006	430	18.6	23.1	22.7
2007	430	19.0	22.6	31.8
2008	360	18.0	20.0	32.8
2009	392	16.0	23.1	22.2
2010	392	17.0	23.0	29.6
2011	531	n/a	n/a	42.2
2012	509	19.0	26.7	n/a
2013	525	19.0	27.6	46.9
2014	516	20.0	25.8	49.8
2015	512	21.0	24.3	55.1
2016	505	20.0	25.2	52.1
2017	531	18.0	29.5	53.7
2018	556	19.0	29.2	48.6
2019	574	21.0	27.3	46.9
2020	625	n/a	n/a	47.5
2021	594	23.1	25.7	48.5
2022	570	23.0	24.7	59.3
2023	644	25.0	25.7	56.2
2024	634	24.0	26.4	58.5

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Buena Terra Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	519	19.0	27.3	n/a
1989	496	19.0	26.1	n/a
1990	496	19.0	26.1	n/a
1991	501	19.0	26.3	n/a
1992	527	19.3	27.3	12.7
1993	555	20.0	27.8	19.8
1994	541	19.0	28.5	19.6
1995	515	17.0	30.3	21.7
1996	515	17.0	30.3	21.7
1997	526	22.0	23.9	24.5
1998	488	21.0	23.2	24
1999	495	22.0	22.5	30.1
2000	533	22.0	24.2	27.4
2001	494	23.0	21.5	26.3
2002	441	21.0	21.0	16.3
2003	441	21.0	21.0	16.3
2004	433	22.0	19.7	19.5
2005	422	20.6	20.5	32.2
2006	430	18.6	23.1	22.7
2007	430	19.0	22.6	31.8
2008	360	18.0	20.0	32.8
2009	392	16.0	23.1	22.2
2010	392	17.0	23.0	29.6
2011	531	n/a	n/a	42.2
2012	509	19.0	26.7	n/a
2013	525	19.0	27.6	46.9
2014	516	20.0	25.8	49.8
2015	512	21.0	24.3	55.1
2016	505	20.0	25.2	52.1
2017	531	18.0	29.5	53.7
2018	556	19.0	29.2	48.6
2019	574	21.0	27.3	46.9
2020	625	n/a	n/a	47.5
2021	594	23.1	25.7	48.5
2022	570	23.0	24.7	59.3
2023	644	25.0	25.7	56.2
2024	634	24.0	26.4	58.5

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.

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