Jefferson Elementary

Jefferson Elementary is a middle-of-the-pack elementary-level community in Carlsbad, California, overseen by Carlsbad Unified. The school caters to 471 students in grades K through 5.

Within Carlsbad Unified, which oversees 16 schools and 10,678 students, Jefferson Elementary is one campus in the system.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Jefferson Elementary shows that the largest single group is Hispanic at 48%, but no single group is in the majority. Beyond that, the school logs 39% White, 8% multiracial, 2% Black. The wider county runs roughly 35% Hispanic, putting the school's mix noticeably more Hispanic than the area baseline.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Jefferson Elementary shows 23 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 20.2:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 22.3:1 average. About 54% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment.

With demographic context factored in, Jefferson Elementary performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 47.1%, the actual is 50.3%, a residual of +3.2 points.

Zooming out to the county, ACS estimates for San Diego County put median household earnings sit near $106,268, about 43% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 7%. In all, San Diego County runs 766 public schools (combined enrollment of about 467,437 students), of which Jefferson Elementary is one.

Nearest neighbor: Valley Middle, around 0.7 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Jefferson Elementary. Among the 7 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Jefferson Elementary ranks 6th on composite proficiency, below the local average of 62.0%.

The campus sits in a downtown setting.

Looking at the recent track record. Jefferson Elementary's enrollment has changed only slightly since 2018, when it stood at 479 (now 471). The Hispanic share of enrollment decreased from 57% to 48% over that span. Class-load math has tightened: from 25.3:1 in 2018 to 20.2:1 in 2025.

On allk12, members of the Jefferson Elementary community share and discuss school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. The community welcomes input from current and former families.