Paularino Elementary

Located at 1060 Paularino Ave., in Costa Mesa, California, Paularino Elementary is a small primary school that caters to 371 students (grades K through 6), part of Newport-Mesa Unified. By comparison, California's public schools average about 465 students each, so Paularino Elementary sits 20% leaner than that benchmark.

Newport-Mesa Unified comprises 31 schools with combined enrollment of 17,540 students; Paularino Elementary is among them.

On demographics, Paularino Elementary records that the largest single group is Hispanic, at 65% of enrollment; the rest comes out to 17% White, 8% Asian, 8% multiracial, 2% Black. The wider county runs roughly 34% Hispanic, putting the school's mix visibly more Hispanic than the area baseline.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Staff filings list 23 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 15.8:1 students per teacher. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 22.3:1, putting Paularino Elementary tighter than the state norm the norm. Around 71% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. By comparison, Orange County runs at roughly 55%, so the school's eligibility rate is higher than the surrounding baseline.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Paularino Elementary performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 37.4%, the actual is 39.1%, a residual of +1.6 points.

In the surrounding community, Orange County reports that median household income runs about $116,289, roughly 44% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Paularino Elementary is one of 649 public schools in Orange County (combined enrollment of about 430,458 students).

Nearest neighbor: Sonora Elementary, around 0.6 miles off. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Paularino Elementary at 5th of 6; the average score across the group is 50.4%.

The campus sits in an inner-city setting.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count decreased 15%: 434 students in 2018 compared to 371 in 2025. Class-load math has pulled in: from 19.7:1 in 2018 to 15.8:1 in 2025.

Within the allk12 community for this school, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.