Imperial Beach Charter

Imperial Beach Charter is one of the well-populated elementary schools in Imperial Beach, California, one of the schools within South Bay Union, with 724 students on its rolls from grades K through 8. By comparison, California's public schools average about 465 students each, so Imperial Beach Charter sits 56% above that benchmark.

South Bay Union comprises 12 schools with combined enrollment of 5,513 students; Imperial Beach Charter is among them.

On the student-mix side, Imperial Beach Charter records that the largest single group is Hispanic, at 71% of enrollment. Other groups include 17% White, 7% multiracial, 3% Asian. By comparison, San Diego County as a whole is about 35% Hispanic, so the school skews meaningfully more Hispanic than its surroundings.

In terms of school funding signals, Staff filings list 29 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 25.0:1 students per teacher. That figure is higher than the state norm's 22.3:1 average. Roughly 63% of students at Imperial Beach Charter qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. By comparison, San Diego County runs at roughly 54%, so the school's eligibility rate is somewhat above the surrounding baseline.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Imperial Beach Charter tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 42.1% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 28.4%.

Around the school, ACS estimates for San Diego County put median household earnings sit near $106,268, 43% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 7%. Imperial Beach Charter is one of 766 public schools in San Diego County (combined enrollment of about 467,437 students).

Nearest neighbor: Mar Vista Senior High, around 0.1 miles off. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Imperial Beach Charter at 3rd of 8; the average score across the group is 27.2%.

Geographically, the school is in a commuter-belt area. Imperial Beach Charter is a charter school, which puts it inside the public-school system but outside the standard district-managed model.

Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Imperial Beach Charter has fell 22%, going from 923 students in 2018 to 724 in 2025. Over the same period, the Hispanic share ticked up from 63% to 71%.

Inside the community feed, posts here usually surface around enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. The community welcomes input from current and former families.