Garfield Elementary

Garfield Elementary is one of the moderately sized K-5 schools in Santa Ana, California, run under Santa Ana Unified, with 428 students on its rolls from grades K through 5.

Garfield Elementary is one of 51 schools operated by Santa Ana Unified, a district that educates 35,993 students overall.

In terms of who attends, Garfield Elementary reports that nearly all students (97%) are Hispanic. That is visibly more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 34%.

On the income-and-resources front, The school reports having 19 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 22.5:1. That tracks the state average closely. About 93% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. That share is higher than Orange County's rate of about 55%.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Garfield Elementary performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 24.2%, the actual is 26.4%, a residual of +2.2 points.

Zooming out to the county, census data for Orange County shows the typical household earns roughly $116,289 per year, 44% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 7%. In all, Orange County runs 649 public schools (combined enrollment of about 430,458 students), of which Garfield Elementary is one.

Nearest neighbor: Edward B. Cole Academy, around 0.4 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Garfield Elementary. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Garfield Elementary at 2nd of 4; the average score across the group is 27.2%.

Garfield Elementary operates from a downtown location.

Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Garfield Elementary has fell 44%, going from 770 students in 2018 to 428 in 2025. Class-load math has narrowed: from 28.5:1 in 2018 to 22.5:1 in 2025.

On the community side, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. The community welcomes input from current and former families.