Enrollment
332
Elementary
DISTRICT 480 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CAPISTRANO UNIFIED·NCES 060744000698
Palisades Elementary
26462 Via Sacramento, Capistrano Beach, CA 92624 · (949) 496-5942 · Orange County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL332 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 87% 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.
- A-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- B+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
22.1:1
15 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 23.7:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
48%
159 students
DISTRICT 37% · STATE 65%
Community
0
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 | 69 | 21% |
| Grade 1 | 53 | 16% |
| Grade 2 | 61 | 18% |
| Grade 3 | 52 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 47 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 50 | 15% |
This year's kindergarten class (69) is 38% larger than its 5th grade class (50).
Student demographics
60%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
62.0%
CA avg 49.1% . +6.0pp since 2014
Math
60.9%
CA avg 37.7% . +17.9pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 62 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 61 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 6 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 18 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 37.2% | 24.8% | 18.6% | 19.4% |
| Math | 29.7% | 31.3% | 24.2% | 14.8% |
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 | 62.0% | 60.9% |
| 2023-24 | 66.4% | 58.3% |
| 2022-23 | 62.9% | 59.3% |
| 2021-22 | 58.9% | 54.2% |
| 2018-19 | 57.1% | 49.8% |
| 2017-18 | 50.4% | 46.5% |
| 2016-17 | 47.0% | 42.8% |
| 2015-16 | 55.0% | 47.0% |
| 2014-15 | 56.0% | 43.0% |
% 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
61.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
51.5%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+10.4pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 62% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 51% 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 Palisades Elementary
Palisades Elementary's state test result (61.9% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Palisades Elementary this school | 332 | 47.9% | 61.9% |
| Cambridge Heights Elementary Citrus Heights | 348 | 50.0% | 59.6% |
| Binkley Elementary Charter Santa Rosa | 351 | 46.7% | 45.2% |
| Wrightwood Elementary Wrightwood | 336 | 44.0% | 51.0% |
| Springville Elementary Springville | 335 | 52.5% | 37.1% |
| San Gabriel Elementary Atascadero | 360 | 47.5% | 52.8% |
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 Palisades Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Orange County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 61.9% | #1,029 of 5,151 | #147 of 381 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 60.9% | #1,020 of 5,172 ▲ 58 | #148 of 382 ▲ 3 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 62.0% | #1,204 of 5,172 ▼ 305 | #160 of 382 ▼ 28 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +4.9pp | #1,685 of 5,116 | #114 of 381 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 332 | #4,451 of 5,915 | #349 of 404 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 22.1:1 | #2,280 of 5,352 | #91 of 398 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 60.3% | #1,790 of 5,354 | #151 of 398 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 47.9% | #4,008 of 5,625 | #233 of 400 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -31.1% | #470 of 3,837 | #56 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
332
-21 (-6%) vs 2020
-53% since 1990-91, when it was 699
Student : Teacher
22.1:1
was 23.5:1
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 | 332 | 15 | 22.1:1 | 48% (159) |
| 2023-24 | 336 | 17 | 19.8:1 | 44% (149) |
| 2022-23 | 343 | 18 | 19.1:1 | 48% (166) |
| 2020-21 | 353 | 15 | 23.5:1 | 38% (135) |
| 2017-18 | 482 | 18 | 26.8:1 | 44% (211) |
| 2015-16 | 556 | 20 | 27.8:1 | 35% (192) |
| 2010-11 | 526 | N/A | N/A | 36% (191) |
| 2000-01 | 804 | 37 | 21.7:1 | 24% (189) |
| 1990-91 | 699 | 27 | 25.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Palisades Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 31% (482 to 332); teachers down 17% (18 to 15).
About Palisades Elementary
Palisades Elementary is one of the public schools in Capistrano Beach, California. It is a small elementary school. The school counted 332 students in 2024-25, covering kindergarten through 5. That is 29% below the average of about 465 students for elementary schools in California.
Within Capistrano Unified, Palisades Elementary is one of 58 schools. The district enrolls 40,251 students.
About 55% of the student body at Palisades Elementary is White. The remaining students are 27% Hispanic and 17% multiracial. Among people living in Orange County, the White share is about 43%. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 60%.
The student-to-teacher ratio at Palisades Elementary is 22.1:1, based on 15 full-time-equivalent teachers. The 22.3:1 average for elementary schools in California is close to this figure. Lunch program data show 48% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price meals.
Among California public elementary schools, Palisades Elementary outscored 87%, which works out to an A on the allk12 Grade.
On the allk12 BeatsExpectations measure, Palisades Elementary is 10.4 points above the average proficiency rate across its state test results predicted for its free or reduced-price lunch share: 61.9% actual, 51.5% predicted. That is outside both the top and bottom 10% in California.
American Community Survey estimates for Orange County show that median household income comes to about $116,289, roughly 44% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 7%. The county's public schools total 649, with about 430,458 students.
Straight-line distance to the nearest public school, California Online Public Schools Southern California, is about 1.2 miles. There are at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Palisades Elementary places 1st of 5 on proficiency among the closest schools that report scores.
Palisades Elementary has an NCES locale of Suburb: Large.
The school's enrollment decreased 6% from 2020-21 to 2024-25. From 2020-21 to 2024-25, the ratio dropped from 23.5:1 to 22.1:1.
People can post here about special education services, counseling, and support programs and other school topics. 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 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 Palisades Elementary schools
3 other US public schools in 4 states are named Palisades Elementary. Palisades Elementary is the 3rd largest of the 4.
- PALISADES ELEMENTARY SCHOOLOMAHA, NE · 454 students
- Palisades Elementary SchoolPearl City, HI · 356 students
- Palisades Elementary SchoolPalisades, WA · 32 students
Nearby schools
- California Online Public Schools Southern California1.2 mi · 3,933
- California Online Public Schools Central Coast1.2 mi · 105
- Capistrano Home/Virtual1.6 mi · 82
- California Preparatory Academy1.6 mi · 198
- Del Obispo Elementary2.0 mi · 310
- Marco Forster Middle2.0 mi · 930
Frequently asked questions
About Palisades ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at Palisades Elementary?
Palisades Elementary enrolls approximately 332 students in grades KG-05.
Is Palisades Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Palisades Elementary is an elementary school covering grades KG-05.
How many teachers does Palisades Elementary have?
Palisades Elementary employs 15 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 22.1:1.
What is the student diversity at Palisades Elementary?
Student demographics at Palisades Elementary are roughly 55% White, 27% Hispanic, 1% Asian, 17% Two or more.
Who oversees Palisades Elementary?
Palisades Elementary is overseen by Capistrano Unified in Orange County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.