Paul Ecke-Central Elementary

Paul Ecke-Central Elementary is a K-5 school of moderately sized scale in Encinitas, California, operated by Encinitas Union Elementary, teacheing 569 students in grades K through 6. That puts it 22% above the typical public school in California, which averages around 465 students.

Encinitas Union Elementary runs 9 schools in total, collectively educating 4,298 students. Paul Ecke-Central Elementary is one of those campuses.

On demographics, Paul Ecke-Central Elementary records that 57% of the student body identifies as White. The remainder breaks down as 30% Hispanic, 12% multiracial. That is considerably more White than the county at large, where the share is closer to 48%.

On the income-and-resources front, Paul Ecke-Central Elementary lists 25 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 22.8:1. That tracks the state average closely. Around 27% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against San Diego County (around 54%), the school's rate is noticeably below typical.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Paul Ecke-Central Elementary performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 63.4%, the actual is 59.3%, a residual of -4.1 points.

In the area at large, census data for San Diego County shows median household earnings sit near $106,268, roughly 43% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 7%. In all, San Diego County runs 766 public schools (combined enrollment of about 467,437 students), of which Paul Ecke-Central Elementary is one.

JCS - Mountain Oaks is the nearest neighboring public school, about 1.3 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Paul Ecke-Central Elementary. Among the 6 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Paul Ecke-Central Elementary ranks 6th on composite proficiency, below the local average of 64.0%.

Paul Ecke-Central Elementary operates from a city-core location.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count edged down 12%: 646 students in 2018 compared to 569 in 2025. Class-load math has fell: from 24.9:1 in 2018 to 22.8:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, the feed for Paul Ecke-Central Elementary typically covers fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.