Las Palmas Elementary

Set in San Clemente, California, Las Palmas Elementary is a well-populated K-5 school, part of Capistrano Unified. It educates 743 students across grades K through 5. By comparison, California's public schools average about 465 students each, so Las Palmas Elementary sits 60% above that benchmark.

Capistrano Unified runs 58 schools in total, collectively educating 40,251 students. Las Palmas Elementary is one of those campuses.

On demographics, Las Palmas Elementary logs that 52% of students identify as Hispanic, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. The remainder looks like 38% White, 8% multiracial. That is visibly more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 34%.

In terms of school funding signals, Staff filings list 29 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 25.6:1 students per teacher. That figure is higher than the state norm's 22.3:1 average. About 49% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Las Palmas Elementary sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 50.4%; this one delivers 47.1%.

Around the school, the surrounding county (Orange County) logs that the typical household earns roughly $116,289 per year, about 44% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and the poverty rate sits near 7%. Las Palmas Elementary is one of 649 public schools in Orange County (combined enrollment of about 430,458 students).

San Clemente High is the nearest neighboring public school, about 1.0 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Las Palmas Elementary. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Las Palmas Elementary ranks 6th on composite proficiency, below the local average of 58.9%.

The campus sits in a commuter-belt setting.

Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Las Palmas Elementary has shrank 15%, going from 875 students in 2018 to 743 in 2025. Class-load math has fell: from 28.2:1 in 2018 to 25.6:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.