Central Elementary

Located at 1290 Ebony Ave., in Imperial Beach, California, Central Elementary is a compact primary school that teaches 350 students (grades K through 6), one of the schools within South Bay Union. Enrollment runs roughly 25% below the state mean of about 465.

South Bay Union comprises 12 schools with combined enrollment of 5,513 students; Central Elementary is among them.

In terms of who attends, Central Elementary logs that 84% of students identify as Hispanic, making the school strongly Hispanic-majority. Beyond that, the school lists 5% multiracial, 5% White, 4% Black. By comparison, San Diego County as a whole is about 35% Hispanic, so the school skews visibly more Hispanic than its surroundings.

Looking at school resources, Staff filings list 13 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 26.9:1 students per teacher. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 22.3:1, putting Central Elementary higher than the state norm the norm. Roughly 74% of students at Central Elementary qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. That share is higher than San Diego County's rate of about 54%.

After controlling for student poverty, Central Elementary falls in the UNDERPERFORMING tier of the BeatsExpectations residual. Given its student profile, a typical campus would land near 35.6%; this one comes in at 16.4%, -19.2 points off the demographic line.

Across the wider county, census data for San Diego County shows the typical household earns roughly $106,268 per year, roughly 43% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 7%. Central Elementary is one of 766 public schools in San Diego County (combined enrollment of about 467,437 students).

Oneonta Elementary is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.5 miles from this campus. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Central Elementary comes 9th of 9 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 28.2%.

The campus sits in a commuter-belt setting.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count decreased 37%: 552 students in 2018 compared to 350 in 2025. The Hispanic share of enrollment expanded from 78% to 84% over that span. Class-load math has widened: from 24.0:1 in 2018 to 26.9:1 in 2025.

On this page, members of the Central Elementary community share and discuss classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.