1
What's the vibe like in the hallways at La Costa Heights Elementary right now?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
552
Elementary
DISTRICT 478 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·ENCINITAS UNION ELEMENTARY·NCES 061275008830
La Costa Heights Elementary
3035 Levante St., Carlsbad, CA 92009 · (760) 944-4375 · San Diego County
GRADES KG–06ELEMENTARY12-CITYREGULAR SCHOOL552 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 89% 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.
- B+Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- BThree-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
24.0:1
23 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 23.8:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
14%
80 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 | 65 | 12% |
| Grade 1 | 71 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 82 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 65 | 12% |
| Grade 4 | 95 | 17% |
| Grade 5 | 94 | 17% |
| Grade 6 | 80 | 14% |
This year's kindergarten class (65) is 19% smaller than its 6th grade class (80).
Student demographics
51%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 54% · 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
79.6%
CA avg 49.1% . +6.6pp since 2014
Math
74.3%
CA avg 37.7% . +0.3pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 80 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. Reading and writing scores are up about 7 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 | 47.4% | 32.2% | 11.5% | 9.0% |
| Math | 51.7% | 22.6% | 17.6% | 8.1% |
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 | 79.6% | 74.3% |
| 2023-24 | 82.2% | 74.1% |
| 2022-23 | 77.3% | 76.1% |
| 2021-22 | 74.9% | 71.5% |
| 2018-19 | 81.5% | 80.2% |
| 2017-18 | 83.4% | 80.3% |
| 2016-17 | 78.7% | 78.0% |
| 2015-16 | 75.0% | 72.0% |
| 2014-15 | 73.0% | 74.0% |
% 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
77.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
71.0%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+6.5pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 78% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 71% 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 La Costa Heights Elementary
La Costa Heights Elementary's state test result (77.5% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| La Costa Heights Elementary this school | 552 | 14.5% | 77.5% |
| Chaparral Elementary Calabasas | 614 | 14.7% | 68.2% |
| Brook Knoll Elementary Santa Cruz | 498 | 13.9% | 68.9% |
| Top of the World Elementary Laguna Beach | 536 | 16.4% | 80.6% |
| California Montessori Project-Shingle Springs Campus Shingle Springs | 543 | 16.8% | N/A |
| Westlake Elementary Westlake Village | 512 | 11.1% | 70.6% |
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 La Costa Heights Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In San Diego County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 77.5% | #333 of 5,151 | #43 of 392 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 74.3% | #443 of 5,172 ▲ 2 | #55 of 393 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 79.6% | #293 of 5,172 ▼ 128 | #36 of 393 ▼ 15 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +3.7pp | #2,056 of 5,116 | #134 of 387 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 552 | #1,836 of 5,915 | #132 of 453 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 24.0:1 | #3,749 of 5,352 | #273 of 418 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 51.0% | #2,694 of 5,354 | #271 of 418 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 14.5% | #5,334 of 5,625 | #403 of 442 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -20.0% | #1,425 of 3,837 | #97 of 279 |
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
552
-47 (-8%) vs 2020
-13% since 1990-91, when it was 631
Student : Teacher
24.0:1
was 22.2:1
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 | 552 | 23 | 24.0:1 | 14% (80) |
| 2023-24 | 593 | 25 | 23.7:1 | 12% (69) |
| 2022-23 | 634 | 28 | 22.6:1 | 14% (86) |
| 2020-21 | 599 | 27 | 22.2:1 | 9% (55) |
| 2017-18 | 690 | 28 | 24.6:1 | 9% (65) |
| 2015-16 | 711 | 29 | 24.5:1 | 7% (47) |
| 2010-11 | 630 | N/A | N/A | 6% (36) |
| 2000-01 | 632 | 31 | 20.4:1 | 5% (33) |
| 1990-91 | 631 | 28 | 22.5:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for La Costa Heights Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 20% (690 to 552); teachers down 18% (28 to 23).
About La Costa Heights Elementary
La Costa Heights Elementary is an elementary school in Carlsbad, California, according to federal school records. It serves 552 students in kindergarten through 6.
Encinitas Union Elementary, which runs La Costa Heights Elementary, has 9 schools and 4,298 students.
Roughly 67% of students at La Costa Heights Elementary are White. The rest of enrollment is 15% Hispanic, 14% multiracial, and 4% Asian. Among all residents of San Diego County, the White share is about 48%. La Costa Heights Elementary's diversity index is 51%, against a US figure of 70%.
At La Costa Heights Elementary, 23 full-time-equivalent teachers work with students, a ratio of about 24.0:1. On average, elementary schools in California have 22.3:1, compared with 24.0:1 here. Students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch make up 14% of enrollment. The gap from the 54% average for public schools in San Diego County is 40 points.
La Costa Heights Elementary is graded A by allk12, scoring above 89% of California public elementary schools once test results, poverty-adjusted performance, and the recent trend are combined.
The allk12 BeatsExpectations score for La Costa Heights Elementary is +6.5 points: 77.5% actual, 71.0% predicted.
Recent Census Bureau figures for San Diego County show that the median household income is $106,268, about 43% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 7%. Besides La Costa Heights Elementary, San Diego County has 765 other public schools.
The nearest public school is Mission Estancia Elementary, at about 0.6 miles. Around the school, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Among the 9 closest schools with test data, this one included, La Costa Heights Elementary ranks 3rd on average proficiency.
The school's locale code, City: Mid-size, means it is inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000.
La Costa Heights Elementary's enrollment dropped from 599 in 2020-21 to 552 in 2024-25. Over the same period, the student-to-teacher ratio rose to 24.0:1, from 22.2:1.
Community posts for La Costa Heights Elementary can cover enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
San Diego County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
3,288,774
Census ACS
Median income
$106,268
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
43%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
766
467,437 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Encinitas Union Elementary
- Capri ElementaryElementary · 613 students
- Paul Ecke-Central ElementaryElementary · 569 students
- Olivenhain Pioneer ElementaryElementary · 520 students
- Ocean Knoll ElementaryElementary · 479 students
- Park Dale Lane ElementaryElementary · 424 students
- El Camino Creek ElementaryElementary · 409 students
Other schools in Carlsbad
- Carlsbad HighHigh · 2,336 students
- La Costa Canyon HighHigh · 1,774 students
- Sage Creek HighHigh · 1,289 students
- Aviara Oaks MiddleMiddle · 991 students
- Valley MiddleMiddle · 807 students
- Carrillo ElementaryElementary · 725 students
Nearby schools
- Mission Estancia Elementary0.6 mi · 355
- La Costa Canyon High1.0 mi · 1,774
- El Camino Creek Elementary1.0 mi · 409
- Olivenhain Pioneer Elementary1.3 mi · 520
- Diegueno Middle1.5 mi · 737
- La Costa Meadows Elementary1.6 mi · 725
Frequently asked questions
About La Costa Heights ElementaryHow large is La Costa Heights Elementary?
La Costa Heights Elementary enrolls approximately 552 students in grades KG-06.
What age range does La Costa Heights Elementary serve?
La Costa Heights Elementary serves students from grade KG through grade 06.
How many teachers does La Costa Heights Elementary have?
La Costa Heights Elementary employs 23 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 24.0:1.
What is the student diversity at La Costa Heights Elementary?
Student demographics at La Costa Heights Elementary are roughly 67% White, 15% Hispanic, 0% Black, 4% Asian, 14% Two or more.
Who oversees La Costa Heights Elementary?
La Costa Heights Elementary is overseen by Encinitas Union Elementary in San Diego County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.