Enrollment
350
Elementary
DISTRICT 459 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SOUTH BAY UNION·NCES 063738006317
Central Elementary
1290 Ebony Ave., Imperial Beach, CA 91932 · (619) 628-5000 · San Diego County
GRADES KG–06ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL350 STUDENTS
F
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 3% of California public elementary schools
- DTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- FBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- C+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
26.9:1
13 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 24.7:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
74%
258 students
DISTRICT 70% · 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 | 74 | 21% |
| Grade 1 | 53 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 32 | 9% |
| Grade 3 | 60 | 17% |
| Grade 4 | 45 | 13% |
| Grade 5 | 45 | 13% |
| Grade 6 | 41 | 12% |
This year's kindergarten class (74) is 80% larger than its 6th grade class (41).
Student demographics
29%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 25% · 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
19.0%
CA avg 49.1% . -3.0pp since 2014
Math
10.8%
CA avg 37.7% . +1.8pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 19 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 11 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all California schools, those numbers are about 49 and 38. Reading and writing scores are down about 3 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 2 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 4.3% | 14.7% | 29.4% | 51.6% |
| Math | 3.8% | 7.0% | 19.9% | 69.3% |
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 | 19.0% | 10.8% |
| 2023-24 | 22.0% | 11.1% |
| 2022-23 | 23.2% | 10.1% |
| 2021-22 | 18.3% | 9.9% |
| 2020-21 | 21.9% | 10.4% |
| 2018-19 | 22.4% | 16.1% |
| 2017-18 | 23.2% | 13.3% |
| 2016-17 | 17.9% | 13.7% |
| 2015-16 | 20.0% | 15.0% |
| 2014-15 | 22.0% | 9.0% |
% 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
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of CA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
15.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
36.4%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-20.6pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 16% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 36% typical for California schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
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 Central Elementary
Central Elementary's state test result (15.8% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central Elementary this school | 350 | 73.7% | 15.8% |
| Oak Park Elementary Fontana | 340 | 74.1% | 48.1% |
| Verde Elementary Richmond | 341 | 72.4% | 9.7% |
| Seventh Street Elementary Arts Integration Magnet San Pedro | 306 | 73.5% | 46.0% |
| Loretta Lampton Elementary Norwalk | 406 | 73.4% | 45.6% |
| D. D. Johnston Elementary Norwalk | 361 | 73.4% | 44.0% |
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 Central Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In San Diego County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 15.8% | #4,896 of 5,151 | #382 of 392 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 10.8% | #5,012 of 5,172 ▼ 38 | #387 of 393 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 19.0% | #4,901 of 5,172 ▼ 331 | #380 of 393 ▼ 14 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +0.8pp | #3,101 of 5,116 | #217 of 387 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 350 | #4,281 of 5,915 | #342 of 453 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 26.9:1 | #5,097 of 5,352 | #403 of 418 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 28.7% | #4,002 of 5,354 | #347 of 418 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 73.7% | #2,714 of 5,625 | #142 of 442 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -36.6% | #233 of 3,837 | #9 of 279 |
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
350
-44 (-11%) vs 2020
-59% since 1990-91, when it was 853
Student : Teacher
26.9:1
was 24.6:1
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 | 350 | 13 | 26.9:1 | 74% (258) |
| 2023-24 | 379 | 16 | 23.7:1 | 64% (243) |
| 2022-23 | 395 | 16 | 24.7:1 | 73% (289) |
| 2020-21 | 394 | 16 | 24.6:1 | 56% (220) |
| 2017-18 | 552 | 23 | 24.0:1 | 82% (453) |
| 2015-16 | 568 | 20 | 28.4:1 | 72% (410) |
| 2010-11 | 601 | N/A | N/A | 84% (505) |
| 2000-01 | 750 | 38 | 19.7:1 | 56% (421) |
| 1990-91 | 853 | 34 | 25.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Central Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 37% (552 to 350); teachers down 43% (23 to 13).
About Central Elementary
Central Elementary is a public elementary school run by South Bay Union in Imperial Beach, California. The school counts 350 students across kindergarten through 6. The school's enrollment is 25% smaller than the 465 average for elementary schools in California.
South Bay Union is the district for Central Elementary. It has 12 schools and 5,513 students.
Central Elementary enrolls a student body that is 84% Hispanic. It is also 5% multiracial, 5% White, and 4% Black. For comparison, the population of San Diego County is roughly 35% Hispanic. By the diversity index, Central Elementary comes in at 29%.
Central Elementary counts 13 full-time-equivalent teachers, about 26.9 students for each one. Among elementary schools in California, the typical ratio is 22.3:1. About 74% of enrolled students meet the income rules for free or reduced-price lunch. The average for public schools in San Diego County is 54%.
Measured against California public elementary schools, Central Elementary receives an F. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
Central Elementary is in the bottom 10% of California schools on the allk12 BeatsExpectations measure. Based on its free or reduced-price lunch share, the model predicts an average proficiency rate on state tests of 36.4%. The school's actual rate is 15.8%, 20.6 points lower.
Central Elementary is located in San Diego County, where median household income is about $106,268, roughly 43% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Federal data list 766 public schools in San Diego County, with a combined enrollment of about 467,437.
The closest other public school is Oneonta Elementary, about 0.5 miles away. There are at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Nearby schools average 28.6% on proficiency, and Central Elementary is below that at 15.8%.
The school's federal locale classification is Suburb: Large.
Federal counts put enrollment at 394 in 2020-21 and 350 in 2024-25, an 11% decrease. Staffing shifted too: the ratio moved from 24.6:1 to 26.9:1.
The allk12 site hosts a discussion page for Central Elementary covering things like enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
San Diego County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
3,288,774
Census ACS
Median income
$106,268
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
43%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
766
467,437 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in South Bay Union
- Nestor Language Academy CharterElementary · 1,079 students
- Imperial Beach CharterElementary · 724 students
- George Nicoloff ElementaryElementary · 616 students
- Teofilo MendozaElementary · 468 students
- Oneonta ElementaryElementary · 434 students
- Howard Pence ElementaryElementary · 419 students
Other schools in Imperial Beach
- Mar Vista Senior HighHigh · 1,216 students
- Imperial Beach CharterElementary · 724 students
- Oneonta ElementaryElementary · 434 students
- Bayside STEAM AcademyElementary · 362 students
- SBUSD Virtual AcademyElementary · 65 students
- San Diego County Special EducationCombined · 28 students
Other Central Elementary schools
151 other US public schools in 35 states are named Central Elementary. Central Elementary is the 83rd largest of the 152.
- Central ElementaryBanning, CA · 782 students
- Central ElementaryFresno, CA · 762 students
- Central ElementaryEscondido, CA · 575 students
- Central ElementarySan Diego, CA · 497 students
- Central ElementaryTracy, CA · 491 students
Nearby schools
- Oneonta Elementary0.5 mi · 434
- Mar Vista Academy0.6 mi · 462
- Imperial Beach Charter0.8 mi · 724
- Bayside STEAM Academy0.8 mi · 362
- Emory Elementary0.8 mi · 399
- Mar Vista Senior High0.9 mi · 1,216
Frequently asked questions
About Central ElementaryHow large is Central Elementary?
Central Elementary enrolls approximately 350 students in grades KG-06.
Is Central Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Central Elementary is an elementary school covering grades KG-06.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Central Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Central Elementary is approximately 26.9:1 (13 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Central Elementary?
At Central Elementary, the student body is approximately 5% White, 84% Hispanic, 4% Black, 1% Asian, 5% Two or more.
Is Central Elementary public or private?
Central Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by South Bay Union.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.