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Parents: what's one thing you'd want the Melinda Heights Elementary administration to hear?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
950
Elementary
DISTRICT 529 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SADDLEBACK VALLEY UNIFIED·NCES 063386007200
Melinda Heights Elementary
21001 Rancho Trabuco, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688 · (949) 888-7311 · Orange County
GRADES KG–06ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL950 STUDENTS
B-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 50% of California public elementary schools
- A-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- CBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- FThree-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
28.2:1
34 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 23.4:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
28%
264 students
DISTRICT 49% · 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 | 120 | 13% |
| Grade 1 | 107 | 11% |
| Grade 2 | 123 | 13% |
| Grade 3 | 156 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 142 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 141 | 15% |
| Grade 6 | 161 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (120) is 25% smaller than its 6th grade class (161).
Student demographics
65%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 68% · 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
58.0%
CA avg 49.1% . -13.0pp since 2014
Math
59.9%
CA avg 37.7% . -10.1pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 58 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 60 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all California schools, those numbers are about 49 and 38. Reading and writing scores are down about 13 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 10 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 28.0% | 30.0% | 23.2% | 18.8% |
| Math | 31.3% | 28.6% | 24.9% | 15.2% |
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 | 58.0% | 59.9% |
| 2023-24 | 61.1% | 59.9% |
| 2022-23 | 62.4% | 60.5% |
| 2021-22 | 67.1% | 64.0% |
| 2018-19 | 72.1% | 66.2% |
| 2017-18 | 73.5% | 67.3% |
| 2016-17 | 73.6% | 70.3% |
| 2015-16 | 79.0% | 71.0% |
| 2014-15 | 71.0% | 70.0% |
% 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
59.8%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
63.3%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-3.5pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 60% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 63% 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 Melinda Heights Elementary
Melinda Heights Elementary's state test result (59.8% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melinda Heights Elementary this school | 950 | 27.8% | 59.8% |
| Dry Creek Elementary Clovis | 939 | 21.0% | 76.8% |
| Double Peak San Marcos | 1,171 | 21.0% | 70.3% |
| Travis Ranch Yorba Linda | 1,197 | 23.0% | 67.3% |
| Carrillo Elementary Carlsbad | 725 | 22.6% | 67.9% |
| Mountainview Elementary Saugus | 917 | 20.5% | 65.5% |
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 Melinda Heights Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Orange County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 59.8% | #1,129 of 5,151 | #157 of 381 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 59.9% | #1,074 of 5,172 ▼ 50 | #152 of 382 ▼ 4 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 58.0% | #1,466 of 5,172 ▼ 281 | #183 of 382 ▼ 21 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -6.6pp | #346 of 5,116 | #14 of 381 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 950 | #119 of 5,915 | #15 of 404 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 28.2:1 | #5,249 of 5,352 | #369 of 398 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 65.2% | #1,238 of 5,354 | #111 of 398 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 27.8% | #4,850 of 5,625 | #316 of 400 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -4.6% | #3,371 of 3,837 | #298 of 324 |
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
950
-22 (-2%) vs 2020
-28% since 2000-01, when it was 1,320
Student : Teacher
28.2:1
was 27.8:1
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 | 950 | 33.7 | 28.2:1 | 28% (264) |
| 2023-24 | 950 | 32.7 | 29.0:1 | 29% (272) |
| 2022-23 | 959 | 37.5 | 25.6:1 | 25% (238) |
| 2020-21 | 972 | 35 | 27.8:1 | 13% (124) |
| 2017-18 | 996 | 30.4 | 32.8:1 | 14% (137) |
| 2015-16 | 1,076 | 36 | 29.9:1 | 9% (101) |
| 2010-11 | 1,282 | N/A | N/A | 7% (85) |
| 2000-01 | 1,320 | 65 | 20.3:1 | 4% (53) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Melinda Heights Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 5% (996 to 950); teachers up 11% (30.4 to 33.7).
About Melinda Heights Elementary
Melinda Heights Elementary is a public large elementary school in Rancho Santa Margarita, California. The school serves kindergarten through 6. Enrollment is 950 students. By comparison, elementary schools in California enroll about 465 students on average.
In Saddleback Valley Unified, 33 schools enroll a combined 22,646 students.
Of every 100 students at Melinda Heights Elementary, about 51 are White. Beyond that, enrollment is 24% Hispanic, 14% Asian, and 10% multiracial. The White share of the county population is lower, at 43%. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Melinda Heights Elementary scores 65%.
Melinda Heights Elementary has 33.7 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of about 28.2:1. The school's 28.2:1 compares with an average of 22.3:1 for elementary schools in California. Eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch, often used to gauge student poverty, is 28%. That rate is below the 55% average among public schools in Orange County.
On the allk12 Grade, Melinda Heights Elementary lands at B-, ahead of 50% of California public elementary schools.
Test results at Melinda Heights Elementary are 3.5 points below what its free or reduced-price lunch share predicts (59.8% actual, 63.3% predicted).
In Orange County, home to about 3,165,820 people, median household income comes to about $116,289, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 44%, and roughly 7% of residents are in poverty. There are 649 public schools in the county, enrolling about 430,458, Melinda Heights Elementary among them.
Trabuco Elementary is the nearest public school to Melinda Heights Elementary, about 1.4 miles away. Within five miles of Melinda Heights Elementary, there are at least 8 other public schools. Among its closest neighbors with test data, Melinda Heights Elementary is 6th of 9 on proficiency.
Locale: Suburb: Large. In NCES terms, the school is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Enrollment has been fairly stable: 972 in 2020-21 and 950 in 2024-25.
Parents, students, and staff can share information on pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback here. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Orange County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
3,165,820
Census ACS
Median income
$116,289
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
44%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
649
430,458 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Saddleback Valley Unified
- Trabuco Hills HighHigh · 2,475 students
- El Toro HighHigh · 1,902 students
- Mission Viejo HighHigh · 1,566 students
- Laguna Hills HighHigh · 1,317 students
- Rancho Santa Margarita IntermediateMiddle · 1,153 students
- Foothill Ranch ElementaryElementary · 990 students
Other schools in Rancho Santa Margarita
- Rancho Santa Margarita IntermediateMiddle · 1,153 students
- Trabuco Mesa ElementaryElementary · 640 students
- Arroyo Vista ElementaryElementary · 508 students
- Cielo Vista ElementaryElementary · 487 students
- Arroyo Vista MiddleMiddle · 329 students
- Las Flores ElementaryElementary · 328 students
Nearby schools
- Trabuco Elementary1.4 mi · 90
- Rancho Santa Margarita Intermediate1.8 mi · 1,153
- Portola Hills Elementary1.8 mi · 809
- Cielo Vista Elementary1.8 mi · 487
- Trabuco Mesa Elementary2.0 mi · 640
- Trabuco Hills High2.1 mi · 2,475
Frequently asked questions
About Melinda Heights ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at Melinda Heights Elementary?
Melinda Heights Elementary enrolls approximately 950 students in grades KG-06.
What age range does Melinda Heights Elementary serve?
Melinda Heights Elementary serves students from grade KG through grade 06.
How many students per teacher at Melinda Heights Elementary?
Approximately 28.2:1 students per teacher at Melinda Heights Elementary.
What is the student diversity at Melinda Heights Elementary?
Student demographics at Melinda Heights Elementary are roughly 51% White, 24% Hispanic, 1% Black, 14% Asian, 10% Two or more.
Is Melinda Heights Elementary public or private?
Melinda Heights Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Saddleback Valley Unified.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.