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Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at El Morro Elementary?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
404
Elementary
DISTRICT 470 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·LAGUNA BEACH UNIFIED·NCES 062037002453
El Morro Elementary
8681 North Coast Hwy., Laguna Beach, CA 92651 · (949) 497-7780 · Orange County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL404 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 82% of California public elementary schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A-Beats 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
21.3:1
19 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 20.6:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
25%
99 students
DISTRICT 19% · 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
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 79 | 20% |
| Grade 1 | 57 | 14% |
| Grade 2 | 51 | 13% |
| Grade 3 | 61 | 15% |
| Grade 4 | 72 | 18% |
| Grade 5 | 84 | 21% |
This year's kindergarten class (79) is 6% smaller than its 5th grade class (84).
Student demographics
48%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 47% · 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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Based on grade levels within Laguna Beach Unified. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
CAASPP 2024-25 . % met or exceeded standardEnglish Language Arts
75.8%
CA avg 49.1% . +1.8pp since 2014
Math
67.8%
CA avg 37.7% . -0.2pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 76 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 68 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all California schools, those numbers are about 49 and 38. Reading and writing scores are up about 2 points since 2014, while math scores have held steady.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 44.2% | 31.6% | 14.9% | 9.3% |
| Math | 39.3% | 28.5% | 23.4% | 8.9% |
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 | 75.8% | 67.8% |
| 2023-24 | 77.9% | 73.2% |
| 2022-23 | 77.9% | 74.4% |
| 2021-22 | 79.0% | 71.3% |
| 2018-19 | 86.5% | 79.7% |
| 2017-18 | 85.9% | 77.7% |
| 2016-17 | 77.3% | 73.8% |
| 2015-16 | 75.0% | 69.0% |
| 2014-15 | 74.0% | 68.0% |
% 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
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
73.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
65.2%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+8.7pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 74% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 65% 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 El Morro Elementary
El Morro Elementary's state test result (73.9% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| El Morro Elementary this school | 404 | 24.5% | 73.9% |
| Sinsheimer Elementary San Luis Obispo | 401 | 26.4% | 69.8% |
| Yerba Buena Elementary Agoura Hills | 372 | 22.6% | 69.5% |
| Loomis Elementary Loomis | 438 | 21.2% | 59.5% |
| Blue Oak Elementary Cameron Park | 445 | 23.4% | 59.8% |
| Sequoia Elementary Santa Rosa | 414 | 22.7% | 54.2% |
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 El Morro Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Orange County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 73.9% | #468 of 5,151 | #71 of 381 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 67.8% | #698 of 5,172 ▼ 226 | #107 of 382 ▼ 39 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 75.8% | #455 of 5,172 ▼ 110 | #74 of 382 ▼ 19 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -3.4pp | #869 of 5,116 | #60 of 381 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 404 | #3,650 of 5,915 | #286 of 404 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 21.3:1 | #1,668 of 5,352 | #68 of 398 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 48.3% | #2,891 of 5,354 | #241 of 398 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 24.5% | #4,990 of 5,625 | #336 of 400 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -14.2% | #2,127 of 3,837 | #202 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 2024-25Enrollment
404
-19 (-4%) vs 2020
-27% since 1990-91, when it was 554
Student : Teacher
21.3:1
was 17.6:1
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 | 404 | 19 | 21.3:1 | 25% (99) |
| 2023-24 | 419 | 20 | 20.9:1 | 25% (104) |
| 2022-23 | 416 | 23 | 18.1:1 | 23% (97) |
| 2020-21 | 423 | 24 | 17.6:1 | 16% (67) |
| 2017-18 | 471 | 24 | 19.6:1 | 15% (72) |
| 2015-16 | 558 | 28 | 19.9:1 | 16% (87) |
| 2010-11 | 638 | N/A | N/A | 16% (103) |
| 2000-01 | 490 | 24 | 20.4:1 | 17% (85) |
| 1990-91 | 554 | 19 | 29.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for El Morro Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 14% (471 to 404); teachers down 21% (24 to 19).
About El Morro Elementary
El Morro Elementary is a mid-sized elementary school based in Laguna Beach, California. It has an enrollment of 404 students in kindergarten through 5.
A total of 4 schools make up Laguna Beach Unified, with 2,279 students enrolled.
More than half of the students at El Morro Elementary are White (70%). The remaining shares are 13% Hispanic, 10% multiracial, and 6% Asian. Census estimates put the White share of Orange County's population at about 43%. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, El Morro Elementary scores 48%.
On staff are 19 full-time-equivalent teachers; the student-to-teacher ratio is 21.3:1. Elementary schools in California have an average ratio of 22.3:1. About 25% of students at El Morro Elementary are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Public schools in Orange County average 55%.
On the allk12 Grade, El Morro Elementary lands at A-, ahead of 82% of California public elementary schools.
El Morro Elementary's average proficiency rate across its state test results of 73.9% is 8.7 points above the 65.2% the model predicts from its lunch-eligibility share.
For the population of Orange County, median household income comes to about $116,289, 44% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 7% of people live in poverty. Orange County's 649 public schools enroll about 430,458 students and include El Morro Elementary.
Newport Coast Elementary, about 2.9 miles away, is the closest public school. Within five miles of El Morro Elementary, there are at least 8 other public schools. El Morro Elementary is 6th of 9 nearby schools by average proficiency rate.
The school's locale code, Suburb: Large, means it is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
The 2020-21-to-2024-25 change in enrollment was a 4% decrease, from 423 to 404. Staffing shifted too: the ratio moved from 17.6:1 to 21.3:1.
On allk12, people connected to El Morro Elementary can post about pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Orange County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
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
Related schools
Other schools in Laguna Beach Unified
- Laguna Beach HighHigh · 815 students
- Top of the World ElementaryElementary · 536 students
- Thurston MiddleMiddle · 524 students
Other schools in Laguna Beach
- Laguna Beach HighHigh · 815 students
- Top of the World ElementaryElementary · 536 students
- Thurston MiddleMiddle · 524 students
Nearby schools
- Newport Coast Elementary2.9 mi · 429
- Laguna Beach High3.2 mi · 815
- Thurston Middle3.6 mi · 524
- Harbor View Elementary3.7 mi · 344
- Abraham Lincoln Elementary3.8 mi · 336
- Roy O. Andersen Elementary4.3 mi · 353
Frequently asked questions
About El Morro ElementaryHow many students attend El Morro Elementary?
El Morro Elementary enrolls approximately 404 students in grades KG-05.
What grades does El Morro Elementary serve?
El Morro Elementary serves grades KG-05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at El Morro Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at El Morro Elementary is approximately 21.3:1 (19 FTE teachers).
How diverse is El Morro Elementary?
El Morro Elementary reports a student body of 70% White, 13% Hispanic, 1% Black, 6% Asian, 10% Two or more.
What district is El Morro Elementary in?
El Morro Elementary is part of Laguna Beach Unified.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.