Enrollment
261
Elementary
DISTRICT 435 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·LUCIA MAR UNIFIED·NCES 062308003517
Branch Elementary
970 School Rd., Arroyo Grande, CA 93420 · (805) 474-3720 · San Luis Obispo County
GRADES KG–06ELEMENTARY41-RURALREGULAR SCHOOL261 STUDENTS
A+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 99% of California public elementary schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- ABeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- A+Three-year trend Change in reading and math proficiency over the last three test years.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded California public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
20.4:1
13 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 20.0:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
35%
92 students
DISTRICT 61% · STATE 65%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 58 | 22% |
| Grade 1 | 33 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 35 | 13% |
| Grade 3 | 34 | 13% |
| Grade 4 | 35 | 13% |
| Grade 5 | 37 | 14% |
| Grade 6 | 29 | 11% |
This year's kindergarten class (58) is 100% larger than its 6th grade class (29).
Student demographics
55%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 58% · STATE 62% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
CAASPP 2024-25 . % met or exceeded standardEnglish Language Arts
80.6%
CA avg 49.1% . +17.6pp since 2014
Math
72.9%
CA avg 37.7% . +14.9pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 81 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 73 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all California schools, those numbers are about 49 and 38. Reading and writing scores are up about 18 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 15 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 53.7% | 26.9% | 14.2% | 5.2% |
| Math | 51.9% | 21.1% | 14.3% | 12.8% |
Share of tested students at each CAASPP level. Each student counts in one level, so a row adds to about 100%.
CAASPP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 80.6% | 72.9% |
| 2023-24 | 78.1% | 66.7% |
| 2022-23 | 68.3% | 66.2% |
| 2021-22 | 63.2% | 50.0% |
| 2018-19 | 66.2% | 53.3% |
| 2017-18 | 68.6% | 61.3% |
| 2016-17 | 63.2% | 50.3% |
| 2015-16 | 64.0% | 59.0% |
| 2014-15 | 63.0% | 58.0% |
% met or exceeded standard, all students and all tested grades.
Source: CAASPP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of CA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
74.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
58.9%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+15.3pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 74% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 59% typical for California schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 15 points, placing it in California's top 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Branch Elementary
Branch Elementary's state test result (74.2% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 3 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Branch Elementary this school | 261 | 35.2% | 74.2% |
| Woodland Star Charter Glen Ellen | 244 | 34.8% | N/A |
| River Oak Charter Ukiah | 245 | 38.4% | N/A |
| Pacific Beach Elementary San Diego | 312 | 34.9% | 65.6% |
| Harold Ambuehl Elementary San Juan Capistrano | 324 | 35.2% | 56.6% |
| Old Adobe Elementary Charter Petaluma | 278 | 34.5% | 49.3% |
Matched among California elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Branch Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In San Luis Obispo County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 74.2% | #458 of 5,151 | #1 of 37 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 72.9% | #484 of 5,172 ▲ 261 | #1 of 37 ▲ 3 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 80.6% | #238 of 5,172 ▲ 99 | #1 of 37 ▲ 1 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +20.2pp | #60 of 5,116 | #1 of 37 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 261 | #5,055 of 5,915 | #35 of 45 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 20.4:1 | #1,138 of 5,352 | #10 of 37 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 55.4% | #2,300 of 5,354 | #16 of 37 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 35.2% | #4,541 of 5,625 | #30 of 40 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -18.7% | #1,563 of 3,837 | #9 of 20 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
261
+21 (+9%) vs 2020
-1% since 1990-91, when it was 264
Student : Teacher
20.4:1
was 21.8:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 261 | 12.8 | 20.4:1 | 35% (92) |
| 2023-24 | 254 | 12.1 | 21.0:1 | 33% (84) |
| 2022-23 | 244 | 11.2 | 21.8:1 | 36% (89) |
| 2020-21 | 240 | 11 | 21.8:1 | 37% (88) |
| 2017-18 | 321 | 14 | 22.9:1 | 23% (75) |
| 2015-16 | 335 | 13 | 25.8:1 | 21% (70) |
| 2010-11 | 298 | N/A | N/A | 24% (72) |
| 2000-01 | 287 | 14 | 20.5:1 | 20% (56) |
| 1990-91 | 264 | 11 | 24.0:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Branch Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 19% (321 to 261); teachers down 9% (14 to 12.8).
About Branch Elementary
Branch Elementary is a small elementary school found in Arroyo Grande, California. Enrollment is 261 students in 2024-25, and the school serves kindergarten through 6. The average for elementary schools in California is about 465 students, so this school is 44% smaller than average.
Lucia Mar Unified counts 9,590 students in its 19 schools, and Branch Elementary is one of them.
At Branch Elementary, White students make up 59% of the student body. The school is also 28% Hispanic and 11% multiracial. That is lower than the 69% White share among all San Luis Obispo County residents. The school's diversity index is 55%, meaning two students picked at random have a 55% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
Branch Elementary employs 12.8 full-time-equivalent teachers. That gives a ratio of about 20.4:1. The school has fewer students per teacher than the 22.3:1 average for elementary schools in California. Branch Elementary's free or reduced-price lunch eligibility rate is 35%. Public schools in San Luis Obispo County average 54%.
The allk12 Grade for Branch Elementary is A+. Compared with California public elementary schools, the school scored higher than 99% on a mix of test scores, poverty-adjusted results, and recent trend.
On BeatsExpectations, which compares test results with what a school's student poverty level would predict, Branch Elementary ranks in the top 10% in California. Its average proficiency rate on state tests is 74.2%, against a prediction of 58.9%.
In the county around the school, San Luis Obispo County, the median household income is $97,446, roughly 40% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 6% of residents live below the federal poverty line. There are 83 public schools in San Luis Obispo County, enrolling about 33,339 students in all.
The next-closest public school is Paulding Middle, about 2.7 miles away. The count of other public schools within five miles is 5. Among its closest neighbors with test data, Branch Elementary is 1st of 9 on proficiency.
The NCES locale for Branch Elementary is Rural: Fringe, which covers schools in rural territory close to an urban area.
Over 4 years, Branch Elementary's enrollment climbed 9%, to 261. The number of students per teacher fell from 21.8 to 20.4 over 4 years.
Questions about enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news can be posted here. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
San Luis Obispo County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
281,555
Census ACS
Median income
$97,446
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
40%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
83
33,339 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Lucia Mar Unified
- Arroyo Grande HighHigh · 2,012 students
- Nipomo HighHigh · 819 students
- Harloe ElementaryElementary · 619 students
- Dana ElementaryElementary · 612 students
- Lange (Dorothea) ElementaryElementary · 577 students
- Ocean View ElementaryElementary · 547 students
Other schools in Arroyo Grande
- Arroyo Grande HighHigh · 2,012 students
- Harloe ElementaryElementary · 619 students
- Ocean View ElementaryElementary · 547 students
- Paulding MiddleMiddle · 544 students
- Mesa MiddleMiddle · 474 students
- Pacific View AcademyCombined · 114 students
Other Branch Elementary schools
One other US public school is named Branch Elementary. Branch Elementary is the 2nd largest of the 2.
- Branch Elementary SchoolBranch, LA · 374 students
Nearby schools
- Paulding Middle2.7 mi · 544
- Arroyo Grande High3.5 mi · 2,012
- Harloe Elementary4.2 mi · 619
- Ocean View Elementary4.2 mi · 547
- Fairgrove Elementary5.0 mi · 365
- Grover Heights Elementary5.3 mi · 290
Frequently asked questions
About Branch ElementaryHow many students attend Branch Elementary?
Branch Elementary enrolls approximately 261 students in grades KG-06.
What grades does Branch Elementary serve?
Branch Elementary serves grades KG-06.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Branch Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Branch Elementary is approximately 20.4:1 (13 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Branch Elementary?
At Branch Elementary, the student body is approximately 59% White, 28% Hispanic, 0% Black, 0% Asian, 11% Two or more.
Who oversees Branch Elementary?
Branch Elementary is overseen by Lucia Mar Unified in San Luis Obispo County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.