Carson Elementary

As a tight-knit primary school in San Diego, California, Carson Elementary caters to 336 students from grades K through 5, part of San Diego Unified. That puts it 28% below the typical public school in California, which averages around 465 students.

San Diego Unified comprises 174 schools with combined enrollment of 94,828 students; Carson Elementary is among them.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Carson Elementary records that 65% of the student body identifies as Hispanic. Other groups include 12% Asian, 10% White, 6% Black, 6% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 35% Hispanic, putting the school's mix considerably more Hispanic than the area baseline.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Carson Elementary records 14 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 24.4:1. That figure is higher than the state norm's 22.3:1 average. An estimated 88% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. Set against San Diego County (around 54%), the school's rate is noticeably above typical.

With demographic context factored in, Carson Elementary performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 27.2%, the actual is 22.7%, a residual of -4.5 points.

Around the school, San Diego County reports that median household income runs about $106,268, roughly 43% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 7%. In all, San Diego County runs 766 public schools (combined enrollment of about 467,437 students), of which Carson Elementary is one.

Nearest neighbor: Twain High, around 0.6 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Carson Elementary. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Carson Elementary at 4th of 5; the average score across the group is 40.2%.

Carson Elementary operates from a downtown location.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count fell 14%: 392 students in 2018 compared to 336 in 2025. Asian enrollment moved from 22% to 12% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio rose from 21.8:1 in 2018 to 24.4:1 today.

On the community side, recent activity here tends to focus on fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.