Enrollment
349
Middle
DISTRICT 689 · STATE 659
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CAPISTRANO UNIFIED·NCES 060744014392
Esencia Middle
5 Aprender St., Rancho Mission Viejo, CA 92694 · (949) 234-9900 · Orange County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL349 STUDENTS
A+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 99% of California public middle schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- ABeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- AThree-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 middle schools
Student : Teacher
21.6:1
16 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 21.2:1 · STATE 20.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
22%
78 students
DISTRICT 37% · STATE 65%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 130 | 37% |
| Grade 7 | 120 | 34% |
| Grade 8 | 99 | 28% |
Student demographics
63%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 64% · 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
79.2%
CA avg 49.1%
Math
73.5%
CA avg 37.7%
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 79 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 74 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all California schools, those numbers are about 49 and 38.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 38.5% | 40.7% | 15.7% | 5.1% |
| Math | 46.8% | 26.8% | 17.2% | 9.3% |
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 | 79.2% | 73.5% |
| 2023-24 | 77.7% | 77.7% |
| 2022-23 | 78.4% | 67.8% |
| 2021-22 | 69.2% | 59.6% |
% 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
77.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
66.4%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+10.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 77% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 66% 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 Esencia Middle
Esencia Middle's state test result (77.2% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Esencia Middle this school | 349 | 22.3% | 77.2% |
| Arroyo Vista Middle Rancho Santa Margarita | 329 | 19.8% | 77.6% |
| Olympus Junior High Roseville | 439 | 19.1% | 69.9% |
| Excelsior Elementary Roseville | 469 | 22.2% | 67.7% |
| Pacific Grove Middle Pacific Grove | 439 | 15.9% | 63.8% |
| Diablo View Middle Clayton | 514 | 23.5% | 63.4% |
Matched among California middle 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 Esencia Middle ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Orange County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 77.2% | #57 of 1,224 | #4 of 85 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 73.5% | #69 of 1,227 ▼ 36 | #9 of 85 ▼ 8 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 79.2% | #77 of 1,227 ▲ 12 | #9 of 85 ▲ 5 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +12.0pp | #35 of 1,214 | #1 of 84 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 349 | #1,143 of 1,377 | #86 of 88 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 21.6:1 | #740 of 1,279 | #31 of 87 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 63.4% | #334 of 1,278 | #31 of 87 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 22.3% | #1,200 of 1,329 | #75 of 88 |
Ranked against other public middle 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
349
+220 (+171%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
21.6:1
was 21.5:1
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 | 349 | 16.1 | 21.6:1 | 22% (78) |
| 2023-24 | 284 | 15.4 | 18.5:1 | 21% (59) |
| 2022-23 | 229 | 12.8 | 17.9:1 | 20% (46) |
| 2020-21 | 129 | 6 | 21.5:1 | 16% (20) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Esencia Middle.
About Esencia Middle
Esencia Middle is a public middle-grades school in Rancho Mission Viejo, California. It is open to students in grades 6 through 8 and enrolls 349 students. By comparison, middle schools in California enroll about 659 students on average.
A total of 58 schools make up Capistrano Unified, with 40,251 students enrolled.
More than half of enrollment at Esencia Middle is White: 55%. Enrollment also includes 16% Hispanic, 16% Asian, and 11% multiracial. The school's White share is 12 points above the 43% share among Orange County residents. The diversity index for Esencia Middle is 63%. For US public schools as a whole it is 70%.
Esencia Middle lists 16.1 full-time-equivalent teachers; that is about 21.6 students per teacher. Across middle schools in California, the average ratio is 20.7:1. Free or reduced-price lunch covers 22% of the student body. That is 33 points below the 55% average for public schools in Orange County.
On the allk12 Grade, Esencia Middle lands at A+, ahead of 99% of California public middle schools.
After adjusting for student poverty, Esencia Middle lands between the top and bottom 10% of California schools. Its average proficiency rate across its state test results is 77.2%; the prediction is 66.4%.
Census data for Orange County show the median household earns about $116,289 a year, roughly 44% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 7%. Public schools in Orange County number 649, with about 430,458 students.
Straight-line distance to the nearest public school, Esencia, is less than a tenth of a mile. Within five miles are at least 8 other public schools. The average proficiency across nearby scored schools is 77.4%; Esencia Middle's is 77.2%, ranking 6th of 9.
The school's setting, by NCES definition, is Suburb: Large: in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
In 2020-21, federal data counted 129 students at Esencia Middle; in 2024-25, 349. The grades served may not have been the same in both years.
You can use this page to share news and ask questions about fundraisers, report cards, and school supplies. 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 Capistrano Unified
- San Clemente HighHigh · 2,740 students
- San Juan Hills HighHigh · 2,641 students
- Aliso Niguel HighHigh · 2,563 students
- Tesoro HighHigh · 2,030 students
- Capistrano Valley HighHigh · 1,991 students
- Dana Hills HighHigh · 1,725 students
Nearby schools
- Esencia0.0 mi · 996
- Oso Grande Elementary2.5 mi · 867
- Ladera Ranch Elementary2.6 mi · 580
- Ladera Ranch Middle2.6 mi · 1,064
- San Juan Hills High2.8 mi · 2,641
- Chaparral Elementary2.8 mi · 604
Frequently asked questions
About Esencia MiddleWhat is the total enrollment at Esencia Middle?
Esencia Middle enrolls approximately 349 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Esencia Middle serve?
Esencia Middle serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Esencia Middle?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Esencia Middle is approximately 21.6:1 (16 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Esencia Middle?
At Esencia Middle, the student body is approximately 55% White, 16% Hispanic, 1% Black, 16% Asian, 11% Two or more.
Is Esencia Middle public or private?
Esencia Middle is a public K-12 school, overseen by Capistrano Unified.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.