Lairon College Preparatory Academy

Lairon College Preparatory Academy is one of the tiny 6-8 campuss in San Jose, California, run under Franklin-McKinley Elementary, with 253 students on its rolls from grades 4 through 8. Compared to the state average of about 659 students per school, that is 62% smaller than typical.

Within Franklin-McKinley Elementary, which oversees 16 schools and 5,663 students, Lairon College Preparatory Academy is one campus in the system.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Lairon College Preparatory Academy lists that nearly all students (85%) are Hispanic. The remainder is composed of 11% Asian, 3% Black. The wider county runs roughly 25% Hispanic, putting the school's mix considerably more Hispanic than the area baseline.

In terms of school funding signals, Staff filings list 13 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 19.8:1 students per teacher. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 20.7:1, putting Lairon College Preparatory Academy tighter than the state norm the norm. Around 82% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. By comparison, Santa Clara County runs at roughly 37%, so the school's eligibility rate is above the surrounding baseline.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Lairon College Preparatory Academy falls in the UNDERPERFORMING tier of the BeatsExpectations residual. Given its student profile, a typical campus would land near 30.8%; this one comes in at 14.4%, -16.3 points off the demographic line.

Zooming out to the county, ACS estimates for Santa Clara County put median household earnings sit near $164,281, roughly 57% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 4% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Santa Clara County runs 412 public schools (combined enrollment of about 230,059 students), of which Lairon College Preparatory Academy is one.

Nearest neighbor: Los Arboles Literacy and Technology Academy, around 0.3 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, Lairon College Preparatory Academy comes 6th of 6 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 32.3%.

Lairon College Preparatory Academy operates from a metropolitan location.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count declined 30%: 359 students in 2018 compared to 253 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 21.1:1 in 2018 to 19.8:1 today.

On the community side, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.