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SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SADDLEBACK VALLEY UNIFIED·NCES 063386010043

Cielo Vista Elementary

21811 Avenida De Los Fundadores, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688 · (949) 589-7456 · Orange County
GRADES KG–06ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL487 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 46% of California public elementary schools
  • B-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
  • C+Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
  • B-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

Enrollment
487
Elementary
DISTRICT 529 · STATE 465
Student : Teacher
23.5:1
21 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 23.4:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
65%
318 students
DISTRICT 49% · STATE 65%
Community
6
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

GradeStudentsShare
Kindergarten12926%
Grade 1357%
Grade 27515%
Grade 36413%
Grade 45211%
Grade 57014%
Grade 66213%

This year's kindergarten class (129) is 108% larger than its 6th grade class (62).

Student demographics
58%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 68% · STATE 62% · US 70%
White
11423%
DISTRICT 37% · STATE 20% · US 43%
Hispanic
28959%
DISTRICT 39% · STATE 56% · US 30%
Black
20%
DISTRICT 1% · STATE 5% · US 15%
Asian
5110%
DISTRICT 13% · STATE 12% · US 6%
Two+
316%
DISTRICT 9% · STATE 6% · US 5%
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
Male
25552%
Female
23248%

Discussions

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Test scores

CAASPP 2024-25 . % met or exceeded standard
English Language Arts
42.3%
CA avg 49.1% . -9.7pp since 2014
Math
34.0%
CA avg 37.7% . -4.0pp since 2014

What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 42 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 34 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 10 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 4 points.

Performance levels, 2024-25

SubjectStandard ExceededStandard MetStandard Nearly MetStandard Not Met
English Language Arts17.4%24.9%26.6%31.1%
Math12.9%21.2%31.9%34.0%
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 yearEnglish Language ArtsMath
2024-2542.3%34.0%
2023-2444.3%41.3%
2022-2339.8%36.0%
2021-2239.3%33.0%
2018-1954.0%43.2%
2017-1854.9%40.1%
2016-1752.0%39.4%
2015-1654.0%41.0%
2014-1552.0%38.0%
% 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 · methodology
Tier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
40.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
41.3%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-1.1pp
below demographic expectation

What this means: About 40% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 41% typical for California schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among California's top nor bottom 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 Cielo Vista Elementary

Cielo Vista Elementary's state test result (40.2% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.

SchoolStudentsLow-incomeProficient
Cielo Vista Elementary this school48765.3%40.2%
Lomarena Elementary
Laguna Hills
48769.0%46.5%
Stockard Coffee Elementary
Modesto
46162.9%40.1%
Loma Vista Elementary
Santa Ana
43361.2%44.4%
James Earl Carter Elementary
Palm Desert
48763.2%55.2%
Sherwood Elementary
Modesto
48968.9%36.0%
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 Cielo Vista Elementary ranks

Among elementary schools
MeasureThis schoolIn CaliforniaIn Orange County
State test proficiency
ranked highest first
40.2%#2,465 of 5,151#262 of 381
Math proficiency
ranked highest first
34.0%#2,830 of 5,172
▼ 741
#280 of 382
▼ 38
Reading proficiency
ranked highest first
42.3%#2,705 of 5,172
▼ 383
#272 of 382
▼ 20
3-year test score change
ranked biggest gain first
+2.0pp#2,652 of 5,116#194 of 381
Enrollment
ranked largest first
487#2,611 of 5,915#199 of 404
Students per teacher
ranked fewest first
23.5:1#3,343 of 5,352#176 of 398
Diversity index
ranked most diverse first
57.8%#2,040 of 5,354#169 of 398
Free and reduced lunch
ranked highest share first
65.3%#3,215 of 5,625#190 of 400
Enrollment change since 2017-18
ranked steepest decline first
-37.2%#218 of 3,837#21 of 324
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 2024-25
Enrollment
487
-145 (-23%) vs 2020
-16% since 1990-91, when it was 583
Student : Teacher
23.5:1
was 25.3:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data

Enrollment and staffing by year

School yearStudentsTeachers (FTE)Students per teacherFree and reduced lunch
2024-2548720.823.5:165% (318)
2023-2448822.321.9:161% (298)
2022-2352624.121.8:164% (337)
2020-216322525.3:143% (273)
2017-1877627.628.1:147% (362)
2015-167612827.2:141% (310)
2010-11930N/AN/A39% (364)
2000-011,1775521.4:111% (126)
1990-915832226.5:1N/A
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Cielo Vista Elementary.

Since 2017-18: students down 37% (776 to 487); teachers down 25% (27.6 to 20.8).

About Cielo Vista Elementary

Cielo Vista Elementary is a medium-sized elementary school found in Rancho Santa Margarita, California. School enrollment was 487 students in 2024-25, in kindergarten through 6.

Cielo Vista Elementary sits within Saddleback Valley Unified, which has 33 schools and 22,646 students.

Cielo Vista Elementary's enrollment is 59% Hispanic. The remaining shares are 23% White, 10% Asian, and 6% multiracial. Census estimates put the Hispanic share of Orange County's population at about 34%. By the diversity index, Cielo Vista Elementary comes in at 58%.

The count of teachers at Cielo Vista Elementary is 20.8 full-time equivalents, for a ratio of 23.5:1. The average ratio among elementary schools in California is 22.3:1, lower than at this school. Around 65% of the school's students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. By comparison, the figure for public schools in Orange County is 55%.

Cielo Vista Elementary is graded B- by allk12, scoring above 46% of California public elementary schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.

Cielo Vista Elementary's actual average proficiency rate on state tests (40.2%) and its predicted rate (41.3%) put it outside the top and bottom 10% of California schools.

Across Orange County, median household income is about $116,289, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 44%, and roughly 7% of residents are in poverty. Cielo Vista Elementary is among the 649 public schools in Orange County.

Rancho Santa Margarita Intermediate is located about 0.3 miles from Cielo Vista Elementary. A five-mile radius around the school includes at least 8 other public schools. Cielo Vista Elementary's average proficiency of 40.2% compares with 64.6% for its nearest scored neighbors.

Locale: Suburb: Large. In NCES terms, the school is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.

Enrollment was 632 in 2020-21 and 487 in 2024-25, a decrease of 145 students. Federal data show the ratio falling from 25.3:1 to 23.5:1.

Posts about sports tryouts, band and choir, and theater are welcome on this page. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.

Orange County at a glance

View full county profile
Population
3,165,820
Census ACS
Median income
$116,289
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
44%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
649
430,458 students

Quick facts

School name
Cielo Vista Elementary
District
Saddleback Valley Unified
Address
21811 Avenida De Los Fundadores, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688
Phone
(949) 589-7456
County
Orange County
Level
Elementary
Grade range
KG–06
Total enrollment
487
Teachers (FTE)
21
Student–teacher ratio
23.5:1
Free and reduced lunch
318 (65%)
Locale
21-Suburb: Large
NCES ID
063386010043
Charter school
No
Virtual school
No

Related schools

Other schools in Saddleback Valley Unified
Other schools in Rancho Santa Margarita
Other Cielo Vista Elementary schools

One other US public school is named Cielo Vista Elementary. Cielo Vista Elementary is the largest of the 2.

Nearby schools

Frequently asked questions

About Cielo Vista Elementary
What is the total enrollment at Cielo Vista Elementary?
Cielo Vista Elementary enrolls approximately 487 students in grades KG-06.
Is Cielo Vista Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Cielo Vista Elementary is an elementary school covering grades KG-06.
How many teachers does Cielo Vista Elementary have?
Cielo Vista Elementary employs 21 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 23.5:1.
What is the student diversity at Cielo Vista Elementary?
Student demographics at Cielo Vista Elementary are roughly 23% White, 59% Hispanic, 0% Black, 10% Asian, 6% Two or more.
Is Cielo Vista Elementary public or private?
Cielo Vista Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Saddleback Valley Unified.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.
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