Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary

Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary is a primary school of reasonably sized scale in El Centro, California, operated by El Centro Elementary, enrolling 445 students in grades K through 6.

El Centro Elementary comprises 12 schools with combined enrollment of 5,157 students; Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary is among them.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary records that nearly all students (98%) are Hispanic. That is visibly more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 86%.

On the income-and-resources front, Staff filings list 19 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 23.4:1 students per teacher. That figure is higher than the state norm's 22.3:1 average. Around 90% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Imperial County (around 77%), the school's rate is noticeably above typical.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 25.8% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 32.8%.

In the area at large, community-level numbers for Imperial County indicate median household earnings sit near $57,681, 16% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 17%. In all, Imperial County runs 76 public schools (combined enrollment of about 36,513 students), of which Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary is one.

The closest other public school is Sunflower Elementary, roughly 0.8 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary at 6th of 8; the average score across the group is 34.7%.

Geographically, the school is in a city-core area.

Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary has showed little movement, going from 452 students in 2018 to 445 in 2025. Class-load math has fell: from 25.8:1 in 2018 to 23.4:1 in 2025.

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.