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What's the most underrated thing about Moulton Elementary that outsiders don't know?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
538
Elementary
DISTRICT 480 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CAPISTRANO UNIFIED·NCES 060744000695
Moulton Elementary
29851 Highlands Ave., Laguna Niguel, CA 92677 · (949) 234-5980 · Orange County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL538 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 78% 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.
- C-Three-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
24.4:1
22 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 23.7:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
30%
164 students
DISTRICT 37% · 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 | 125 | 23% |
| Grade 1 | 68 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 75 | 14% |
| Grade 3 | 87 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 90 | 17% |
| Grade 5 | 93 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (125) is 34% larger than its 5th grade class (93).
Student demographics
57%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 64% · 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
69.2%
CA avg 49.1% . +3.2pp since 2014
Math
70.3%
CA avg 37.7% . +11.3pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 69 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 70 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 3 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 11 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 48.4% | 20.9% | 16.1% | 14.7% |
| Math | 44.3% | 26.0% | 16.5% | 13.2% |
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 | 69.2% | 70.3% |
| 2023-24 | 68.2% | 69.3% |
| 2022-23 | 72.7% | 67.8% |
| 2021-22 | 74.7% | 69.9% |
| 2018-19 | 79.0% | 72.9% |
| 2017-18 | 73.2% | 69.3% |
| 2016-17 | 68.6% | 67.7% |
| 2015-16 | 71.0% | 64.0% |
| 2014-15 | 66.0% | 59.0% |
% 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
69.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
61.7%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+7.6pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 69% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 62% 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 Moulton Elementary
Moulton Elementary's state test result (69.3% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moulton Elementary this school | 538 | 30.5% | 69.3% |
| Del Dayo Elementary Carmichael | 496 | 28.4% | 55.9% |
| Ocean View Elementary Arroyo Grande | 547 | 34.0% | 70.3% |
| Robinson Elementary Trabuco Canyon | 486 | 27.6% | 56.8% |
| Yulupa Elementary Santa Rosa | 523 | 31.7% | 67.1% |
| Hearst Elementary San Diego | 527 | 25.8% | 77.1% |
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 Moulton Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Orange County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 69.3% | #687 of 5,151 | #111 of 381 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 70.3% | #588 of 5,172 ▲ 54 | #91 of 382 ▼ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 69.2% | #783 of 5,172 ▲ 24 | #124 of 382 ▼ 3 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -2.6pp | #1,045 of 5,116 | #78 of 381 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 538 | #1,995 of 5,915 | #149 of 404 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 24.4:1 | #4,071 of 5,352 | #232 of 398 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 57.0% | #2,130 of 5,354 | #177 of 398 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 30.5% | #4,738 of 5,625 | #298 of 400 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -14.9% | #2,035 of 3,837 | #191 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
538
-31 (-5%) vs 2020
-41% since 1990-91, when it was 917
Student : Teacher
24.4:1
was 29.9:1
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 | 538 | 22 | 24.4:1 | 30% (164) |
| 2023-24 | 530 | 22 | 24.1:1 | 28% (146) |
| 2022-23 | 550 | 22 | 25.0:1 | 30% (165) |
| 2020-21 | 569 | 19 | 29.9:1 | 20% (116) |
| 2017-18 | 632 | 21 | 30.1:1 | 22% (136) |
| 2015-16 | 673 | 22 | 30.6:1 | 15% (98) |
| 2010-11 | 720 | N/A | N/A | 12% (89) |
| 2000-01 | 892 | 41 | 21.8:1 | 7% (60) |
| 1990-91 | 917 | 35 | 26.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Moulton Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 15% (632 to 538); teachers up 5% (21 to 22).
About Moulton Elementary
Moulton Elementary is a mid-sized elementary school based in Laguna Niguel, California. It had 538 students in 2024-25, spanning kindergarten through 5.
Capistrano Unified operates 58 schools. Combined enrollment is 40,251 students.
The share of White students at Moulton Elementary is 62%, a majority. Smaller groups are 16% Hispanic, 15% multiracial, and 7% Asian. For comparison, the population of Orange County is roughly 43% White. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 57%.
There are about 24.4 students for every full-time-equivalent teacher at Moulton Elementary, which has 22. The school's 24.4:1 compares with an average of 22.3:1 for elementary schools in California. Eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch stands at 30%. That rate is below the 55% average among public schools in Orange County.
On the allk12 Grade, Moulton Elementary lands at A-, ahead of 78% of California public elementary schools.
Given its share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, Moulton Elementary would be expected to post about 61.7%. Its actual average proficiency rate across its state test results is 69.3%.
The county, Orange County, is where the school is located. The median household earns about $116,289 a year, 44% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Counting Moulton Elementary, Orange County has 649 public schools.
Straight-line distance to the nearest public school, Community Roots Academy, is about 1.7 miles. Within five miles are at least 8 other public schools. Ranked by average proficiency, Moulton Elementary places 3rd out of 7 schools in its immediate area.
NCES lists the school's locale as Suburb: Large. That means it sits in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
The 2020-21-to-2024-25 change in enrollment was a 5% drop, from 569 to 538. The student-to-teacher ratio dropped from 29.9:1 in 2020-21 to 24.4:1 in 2024-25.
Use the discussion section to ask about homework, tutoring, and testing dates at Moulton Elementary. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
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 Capistrano Unified
- San Clemente HighHigh · 2,740 students
- San Juan Hills HighHigh · 2,641 students
- Aliso Niguel HighHigh · 2,563 students
- Tesoro HighHigh · 2,030 students
- Capistrano Valley HighHigh · 1,991 students
- Dana Hills HighHigh · 1,725 students
Other schools in Laguna Niguel
- Community Roots AcademyElementary · 780 students
- Niguel Hills MiddleMiddle · 693 students
- John Malcom ElementaryElementary · 553 students
- Laguna Niguel ElementaryElementary · 456 students
- Marian Bergeson ElementaryElementary · 423 students
- George White ElementaryElementary · 378 students
Other Moulton Elementary schools
5 other US public schools in 5 states are named Moulton Elementary. Moulton Elementary is the 2nd largest of the 6.
- Moulton Elementary SchoolMoulton, AL · 695 students
- Moulton Elementary SchoolDes Moines, IA · 465 students
- Moulton Elementary SchoolShelbyville, IL · 455 students
- Moulton Elementary SchoolMOULTON, TX · 170 students
- Moulton Elementary SchoolMoulton, IA · 103 students
Nearby schools
- Community Roots Academy1.7 mi · 780
- Orange County Academy of Sciences and Arts1.7 mi · 249
- Wood Canyon Elementary1.8 mi · 425
- Hidden Hills Elementary1.9 mi · 330
- Top of the World Elementary2.0 mi · 536
- Aliso Niguel High2.2 mi · 2,563
Frequently asked questions
About Moulton ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at Moulton Elementary?
Moulton Elementary enrolls approximately 538 students in grades KG-05.
What age range does Moulton Elementary serve?
Moulton Elementary serves students from grade KG through grade 05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Moulton Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Moulton Elementary is approximately 24.4:1 (22 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Moulton Elementary?
At Moulton Elementary, the student body is approximately 62% White, 16% Hispanic, 1% Black, 7% Asian, 15% Two or more.
Is Moulton Elementary public or private?
Moulton Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Capistrano Unified.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.