Enrollment
371
Elementary
DISTRICT 405 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·NEWPORT-MESA UNIFIED·NCES 062724004127
Paularino Elementary
1060 Paularino Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626 · (714) 424-7950 · Orange County
GRADES KG–06ELEMENTARY12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL371 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 42% of California public elementary schools
- B-Test 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
15.8:1
23 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 18.4:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
71%
262 students
DISTRICT 54% · 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 | 73 | 20% |
| Grade 1 | 61 | 16% |
| Grade 2 | 53 | 14% |
| Grade 3 | 47 | 13% |
| Grade 4 | 49 | 13% |
| Grade 5 | 40 | 11% |
| Grade 6 | 48 | 13% |
This year's kindergarten class (73) is 52% larger than its 6th grade class (48).
Student demographics
53%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 63% · 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
41.1%
CA avg 49.1% . +2.1pp since 2014
Math
38.3%
CA avg 37.7% . +4.3pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 41 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 38 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 2 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 4 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 21.5% | 19.6% | 26.4% | 32.5% |
| Math | 15.4% | 22.8% | 27.2% | 34.6% |
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 | 41.1% | 38.3% |
| 2023-24 | 46.0% | 32.6% |
| 2022-23 | 43.7% | 35.7% |
| 2021-22 | 50.6% | 37.0% |
| 2020-21 | N/A | 34.0% |
| 2018-19 | 60.5% | 43.4% |
| 2017-18 | 55.8% | 46.0% |
| 2016-17 | 49.5% | 44.3% |
| 2015-16 | 54.0% | 41.0% |
| 2014-15 | 39.0% | 34.0% |
% 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
39.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
38.2%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+1.1pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 39% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 38% 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 Paularino Elementary
Paularino Elementary's state test result (39.2% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paularino Elementary this school | 371 | 70.6% | 39.2% |
| Miller Elementary Escondido | 378 | 71.7% | 37.9% |
| Morse Elementary Placentia | 382 | 69.1% | 54.5% |
| Barrett Elementary Morgan Hill | 374 | 67.4% | 24.9% |
| Lorne Street Elementary Northridge | 372 | 71.0% | 43.4% |
| Willow Elementary Glendora | 388 | 70.6% | 56.5% |
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 Paularino Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Orange County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 39.2% | #2,561 of 5,151 | #271 of 381 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 38.3% | #2,422 of 5,172 ▲ 399 | #255 of 382 ▲ 34 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 41.1% | #2,817 of 5,172 ▼ 626 | #282 of 382 ▼ 42 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -4.1pp | #717 of 5,116 | #48 of 381 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 371 | #4,040 of 5,915 | #319 of 404 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 15.8:1 | #52 of 5,352 | #5 of 398 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 53.1% | #2,510 of 5,354 | #205 of 398 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 70.6% | #2,919 of 5,625 | #167 of 400 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -14.5% | #2,093 of 3,837 | #198 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
371
+50 (+16%) vs 2020
-45% since 1990-91, when it was 677
Student : Teacher
15.8:1
was 18.9:1
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 | 371 | 23.5 | 15.8:1 | 71% (262) |
| 2023-24 | 356 | 22.6 | 15.8:1 | 72% (258) |
| 2022-23 | 335 | 20.6 | 16.3:1 | 72% (240) |
| 2020-21 | 321 | 17 | 18.9:1 | 70% (224) |
| 2017-18 | 434 | 22 | 19.7:1 | 67% (292) |
| 2015-16 | 441 | 22 | 20.1:1 | 72% (319) |
| 2010-11 | 422 | N/A | N/A | 60% (252) |
| 2000-01 | 428 | 27 | 15.8:1 | 49% (209) |
| 1990-91 | 677 | 31 | 21.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Paularino Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 15% (434 to 371); teachers up 7% (22 to 23.5).
About Paularino Elementary
Paularino Elementary is a small elementary school in Costa Mesa, California, administered by Newport-Mesa Unified. The school enrolls 371 students in kindergarten through 6. On average, elementary schools in California enroll around 465, and this school is 20% below that mark.
Newport-Mesa Unified has 31 schools; together they serve 17,540 students.
More than half of the students at Paularino Elementary are Hispanic (65%). The next largest groups are 17% White, 8% Asian, 8% multiracial, and 2% Black. In Orange County overall, about 34% of residents are Hispanic. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Paularino Elementary scores 53%.
For every teacher at Paularino Elementary, there are about 15.8 students; the school has 23.5 full-time-equivalent teachers. The average for elementary schools in California is 22.3:1, so this school has fewer students per teacher. There are 262 students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, 71% of enrollment. That is 16 points above the 55% average for public schools in Orange County.
Paularino Elementary earns a C+ on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 42% of California public elementary schools.
The BeatsExpectations prediction for Paularino Elementary is 38.2%, and its average proficiency rate across its state test results is 39.2%.
The county, Orange County, is where the school is located. The median household earns about $116,289 a year, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 44%, and about 7% of people live in poverty. Counting Paularino Elementary, Orange County has 649 public schools.
Measured in a straight line, Sonora Elementary is about 0.6 miles from Paularino Elementary. Other public schools within five miles: at least 8. The nearest schools with test data average 51.9%, higher than Paularino Elementary's 39.2%.
The school's federal locale classification is City: Mid-size.
Enrollment rose by 16% across 4 years, from 321 in 2020-21 to 371 in 2024-25. Students per teacher dropped from 18.9 in 2020-21 to 15.8 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 Newport-Mesa Unified
- Corona del Mar HighHigh · 2,106 students
- Newport Harbor HighHigh · 2,084 students
- Costa Mesa HighHigh · 1,730 students
- Estancia HighHigh · 976 students
- Horace Ensign IntermediateMiddle · 875 students
- Mariners ElementaryElementary · 573 students
Other schools in Costa Mesa
- Costa Mesa HighHigh · 1,730 students
- ACCESS County CommunityCombined · 1,315 students
- Estancia HighHigh · 976 students
- Maude B. Davis ElementaryElementary · 570 students
- Heinz Kaiser ElementaryElementary · 539 students
- Charles W. Tewinkle MiddleMiddle · 501 students
Nearby schools
- Sonora Elementary0.6 mi · 367
- California Pacific Charter- Los Angeles0.6 mi · 423
- California Pacific Charter - San Diego0.6 mi · 310
- Killybrooke Elementary0.7 mi · 473
- Monte Vista Independent Study0.8 mi · 48
- Costa Mesa High0.9 mi · 1,730
Frequently asked questions
About Paularino ElementaryHow many students attend Paularino Elementary?
Paularino Elementary enrolls approximately 371 students in grades KG-06.
Is Paularino Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Paularino Elementary is an elementary school covering grades KG-06.
How many teachers does Paularino Elementary have?
Paularino Elementary employs 23 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 15.8:1.
What is the student diversity at Paularino Elementary?
Student demographics at Paularino Elementary are roughly 17% White, 65% Hispanic, 2% Black, 8% Asian, 8% Two or more.
What district is Paularino Elementary in?
Paularino Elementary is part of Newport-Mesa Unified.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.