Paulding Middle

Located at 600 Crown Hill St., in Arroyo Grande, California, Paulding Middle is a compact junior high that teaches 544 students (grades 7 through 8), run under Lucia Mar Unified.

Lucia Mar Unified comprises 19 schools with combined enrollment of 9,590 students; Paulding Middle is among them.

On demographics, Paulding Middle records that 50% of students identify as White, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. Beyond that, the school lists 39% Hispanic, 8% multiracial, 3% Asian. The wider county runs roughly 69% White, putting the school's mix visibly less White than the area baseline.

Looking at the economic backdrop, The school employs 27 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 20.0:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 20.7:1 average. Roughly 46% of students at Paulding Middle qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Paulding Middle tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 52.2% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 50.0%.

In the broader community, San Luis Obispo County reports that median household earnings sit near $97,446, 40% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 6%. Paulding Middle is one of 83 public schools in San Luis Obispo County (combined enrollment of about 33,339 students).

Nearest neighbor: Arroyo Grande High, around 0.9 miles off. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, Paulding Middle comes 4th of 9 in the immediate cluster, ahead of the nearby-schools average of 49.3%.

Paulding Middle operates from a commuter-belt location.

Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Paulding Middle has decreased 11%, going from 608 students in 2018 to 544 in 2025. White enrollment moved from 62% to 50% across the same window.

On the community side, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.