Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Academy

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Academy is one of the reasonably sized K-5 schools in Salinas, California, overseen by Alisal Union, with 577 students on its rolls from grades K through 6. Compared to the state average of about 465 students per school, that is 24% bigger than typical.

Alisal Union runs 13 schools in total, collectively educating 7,303 students. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Academy is one of those campuses.

Looking at the student body, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Academy shows that nearly all students (100%) are Hispanic. The wider county runs roughly 62% Hispanic, putting the school's mix meaningfully more Hispanic than the area baseline.

On the resource side, Staff filings list 24 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 24.6:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 22.3:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. Around 96% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, often used as a Title I proxy. Set against Monterey County (around 76%), the school's rate is noticeably above typical.

After controlling for student poverty, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Academy sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 22.2%; this one delivers 20.9%.

In the area at large, census data for Monterey County shows median household earnings sit near $97,230, roughly 28% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Academy is one of 153 public schools in Monterey County (combined enrollment of about 73,845 students).

Nearest neighbor: Jesse G. Sanchez Elementary, around 0.1 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Academy. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Academy at 7th of 9; the average score across the group is 25.8%.

Geographically, the school is in a high-density area.

Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Academy has decreased 6%, going from 612 students in 2018 to 577 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio narrowed from 26.6:1 in 2018 to 24.6:1 today.

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