Bennett Valley Union School District

What Bennett Valley Union School District does

Bennett Valley Union School District (BVUSD) is a public TK-6 school district governed by an elected Board of Trustees and operating under the oversight of the Sonoma County Office of Education in California. It serves families residing in Southeast Santa Rosa through two campuses: Yulupa School (Transitional Kindergarten through 3rd grade) and Strawberry School (4th through 6th grade), with the current 6th-grade cohort numbering approximately 115 students. Effective the 2025-26 school year, the district executed a partial charter conversion approved by the State Board of Education in July 2025, with grades 1-6 now operating as Bennett Valley Charter while TK-K remain in the traditional BVUSD program, as a strategic response to declining enrollment and a reported $200,000 budget deficit.

The district's core technology stack is standard California K-12 administrative SaaS rather than proprietary infrastructure: Aeries as the Student Information System, ParentSquare for family communication (with Google and Microsoft 365 SSO), Google Classroom for digital learning, EdJoin for employment recruitment, and Simbli for board governance. Programs beyond classroom instruction include before/after school care, expanded learning, free meals, mental and behavioral health resources, and safety frameworks aligned with the Essential 5 protocol.

BVUSD is a government entity funded through California's Local Control Funding Formula rather than a commercial enterprise; no product pricing, revenue, or headcount figures are publicly disclosed on its website. Ancillary revenue streams include fees for before/after care, optional third-party student accident insurance through Myers Stevens Toohey and Pacific Educators, and annual family giving campaigns run by the Bennett Valley Education Foundation. The 2025-26 year also saw a leadership consolidation to a shared principal (Rachel Hankerson) and assistant principal (Casey Thornhill) across both school sites, designed to reduce administrative cost while preserving all certificated and classified staffing.

Name

Bennett Valley Union School District

Legal name

Bennett Valley Union School District

Website

https://bvusd.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Bennett Valley Union School District is a public TK-6 school district in Southeast Santa Rosa, California, operating two campuses (Yulupa TK-3 and Strawberry 4-6) and serving roughly 600-700 local families. It converted grades 1-6 to charter status in 2025 to address declining enrollment and a $200,000 budget deficit.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

K-6 Public Education

NAICS

Elementary and Secondary Schools (611110), Elementary and Secondary Schools (61111)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Elementary Schools (EDAJAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Public School Districts (K–12) (EDADABAA)

Keywords

• Public K-6 education
• Elementary school district
• Charter school programs
• Before after care
• Expanded learning programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Santa Rosa

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Public TK-6 elementary education in Southeast Santa Rosa, California, operating two campuses — Yulupa School (TK-3) and Strawberry School (4-6) — alongside the Bennett Valley Charter program and supplemental before/after school care and Expanded Learning programs serving local families.

Product overview

Bennett Valley Union School District is a public TK-6 school district operating two elementary campuses: Yulupa (TK-3rd) and Strawberry (4th-6th). Beginning the 2025-26 school year, the district transitioned to a partial charter conversion model where grades 1-6 operate as Bennett Valley Charter under district oversight, while TK-K remain as traditional BVUSD programs. The district provides educational services supported by Aeries (Student Information System), ParentSquare (family communication), and Google Classroom (digital learning).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Yulupa School Public elementary school campus serving transitional kindergarten through third grade (TK-3) students in Southeast Santa Rosa, California.
• Strawberry School Public elementary school campus serving fourth through sixth grade (4-6) students in Southeast Santa Rosa, California.
• Bennett Valley Charter Charter program within the district created through charter conversion to pursue equitable funding structures for K-6 students.
• Before & After School Care Fee-based before- and after-school care program for enrolled students, providing supervised care outside regular school hours.
• Expanded Learning Programs Fee-based supplemental learning programs offering extended educational enrichment for K-6 students beyond the standard school day.

Quantifiable outcome

• Fiscal recovery achieved while preserving all existing certificated and classified staffing
• +2 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• San Mateo's Big 5 (Essential 5)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Adopted the Big 5 safety framework developed by San Mateo County Coalition for Safe Schools and Communities in 2023. Sonoma County adapted this into The Essential 5 for county-aligned plan. BVUSD is the first district in Sonoma County to align with this comprehensive, research-based emergency response and school safety framework.
• Community MatterscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with globally recognized, locally based organization to strengthen school climate and culture through evidence-based programs promoting social-emotional learning, connectedness, and empowerment through an 'inside-out' approach. BVUSD staff have completed multiple full-day trainings with expanded access planned for all staff.
• I Love U Guys FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAdopted Standard Reunification Method from I Love U Guys Foundation, used by over 45,000 schools worldwide. Framework provides tested protocols for safely reuniting students with families after critical incidents. BVUSD has signage, supplies, staff roles, and parent communication tools prepared for reunification scenarios.
• Sonoma County Office of Education (SCOE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSCOE hosted candidate information session for trustee recruitment on June 15. SCOE provides oversight and support for district governance and charter petition processes.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Piner-Olivet Union School District: Sonoma County TK-6 public elementary district also serving the Santa Rosa area. Comparable in size, funding model, and student demographic, with similar challenges around enrollment and LCFF funding dynamics.
• Rincon Valley Union School District: Adjacent Sonoma County K-6 public elementary district serving northeast Santa Rosa. Directly comparable in grade range (TK-6), governance model, California funding dynamics, and rural-suburban residential catchment profile.
• Twin Hills Union School District: Small Sonoma County K-6 public elementary district. Comparable in enrollment scale, governance complexity, and exposure to California rural-district funding dynamics.
• Bellevue Union School District: Santa Rosa-area TK-6 public elementary district operating multiple school sites under a single district governance model — directly comparable to BVUSD's Yulupa/Strawberry two-campus structure.
• Wright Elementary School District: Sonoma County K-6 public elementary district with similar rural-residential demographics and two-school operational model — a near-perfect peer for benchmarking BVUSD's scale and per-pupil economics.
• Oak Grove Union School District: Sonoma County K-6 public elementary district with a similar small-district operating profile, rural-suburban residential catchment, and reliance on LCFF per-pupil funding.
• Roseland School District: Santa Rosa-based K-6 public elementary district serving a comparable urban-suburban catchment. Comparable in California state funding dynamics, governance structure, and operational scale.
• Sebastopol Union School District: West Sonoma County K-6 public elementary district with similar enrollment size and rural-suburban catchment — directly comparable on funding, staffing, and operational benchmarks.

Broad incumbents

• California Charter Schools Association: Industry association representing California's charter school sector. Relevant as the broader ecosystem and policy advocate for the charter conversion model BVUSD is adopting through Bennett Valley Charter.

Others

• Sonoma County Office of Education: County-level oversight and support agency for K-12 districts in Sonoma County, including BVUSD. Functions as the regulatory and governance counterpart — directly comparable as the institutional interface for charter petitions and district accountability.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/bennettvalleyusd
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bennett-valley-school-district

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Bennett Valley Union School District