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What do you wish you knew before starting at Pepper Drive Elementary?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
661
Elementary
DISTRICT 551 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SANTEE·NCES 063588006142
Pepper Drive Elementary
1935 Marlinda Way, El Cajon, CA 92020 · (619) 956-5100 · San Diego County
GRADES KG–08ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL661 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
24.6:1
27 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 20.8:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
58%
385 students
DISTRICT 47% · STATE 65%
Community
6
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 | 102 | 15% |
| Grade 1 | 66 | 10% |
| Grade 2 | 61 | 9% |
| Grade 3 | 56 | 8% |
| Grade 4 | 77 | 12% |
| Grade 5 | 51 | 8% |
| Grade 6 | 82 | 12% |
| Grade 7 | 87 | 13% |
| Grade 8 | 79 | 12% |
This year's kindergarten class (102) is 29% larger than its 8th grade class (79).
Student demographics
65%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
54.0%
CA avg 49.1% . -2.0pp since 2014
Math
37.9%
CA avg 37.7% . -8.1pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 54 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 down about 2 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 8 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 22.1% | 31.9% | 23.2% | 22.8% |
| Math | 17.0% | 20.9% | 29.2% | 32.9% |
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 | 54.0% | 37.9% |
| 2023-24 | 53.0% | 35.8% |
| 2022-23 | 48.5% | 41.2% |
| 2021-22 | 40.4% | 38.2% |
| 2020-21 | 49.3% | 45.8% |
| 2018-19 | 48.4% | 44.0% |
| 2017-18 | 51.2% | 47.0% |
| 2016-17 | 48.6% | 44.1% |
| 2015-16 | 55.0% | 52.0% |
| 2014-15 | 56.0% | 46.0% |
% 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
45.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
45.4%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-0.2pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 45% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 45% 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 Pepper Drive Elementary
Pepper Drive Elementary's state test result (45.2% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pepper Drive Elementary this school | 661 | 58.2% | 45.2% |
| Alamo Elementary Vacaville | 714 | 55.7% | 44.7% |
| Onaga Elementary Yucca Valley | 586 | 61.8% | 25.1% |
| Florence Markofer Elementary Elk Grove | 670 | 54.3% | 47.3% |
| Clovis Elementary Clovis | 709 | 56.0% | 56.1% |
| Antelope Meadows Elementary Antelope | 731 | 58.7% | 43.5% |
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 Pepper Drive Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In San Diego County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 45.2% | #2,050 of 5,151 | #197 of 392 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 37.9% | #2,448 of 5,172 ▲ 78 | #223 of 393 ▲ 2 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 54.0% | #1,748 of 5,172 ▼ 55 | #181 of 393 ▼ 3 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +6.7pp | #1,206 of 5,116 | #76 of 387 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 661 | #955 of 5,915 | #81 of 453 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 24.6:1 | #4,157 of 5,352 | #312 of 418 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 64.8% | #1,281 of 5,354 | #126 of 418 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 58.2% | #3,556 of 5,625 | #225 of 442 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -32.4% | #410 of 3,837 | #21 of 279 |
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
661
-178 (-21%) vs 2020
-8% since 1990-91, when it was 719
Student : Teacher
24.6:1
was 24.7:1
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 | 661 | 26.9 | 24.6:1 | 58% (385) |
| 2023-24 | 655 | 26.1 | 25.1:1 | 51% (331) |
| 2022-23 | 712 | 28 | 25.4:1 | 56% (398) |
| 2020-21 | 839 | 34 | 24.7:1 | 43% (364) |
| 2017-18 | 978 | 36 | 27.2:1 | 59% (574) |
| 2015-16 | 923 | 33 | 28.0:1 | 59% (545) |
| 2010-11 | 713 | N/A | N/A | 50% (358) |
| 2000-01 | 729 | 33 | 22.1:1 | 24% (174) |
| 1990-91 | 719 | 27 | 26.6:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Pepper Drive Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 32% (978 to 661); teachers down 25% (36 to 26.9).
About Pepper Drive Elementary
Pepper Drive Elementary is an elementary school in El Cajon, California, according to federal school records. Grades offered run from kindergarten through 8, with 661 students enrolled. The average among elementary schools in California is roughly 465 students; this school is 42% above that.
The 11 schools in Santee enroll 6,066 students altogether, Pepper Drive Elementary among them.
Pepper Drive Elementary's enrollment has no majority group, and White students are the largest at 44%. The remaining students are 39% Hispanic, 8% multiracial, 5% Asian, and 4% Black. Pepper Drive Elementary has a diversity index of 65%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
With 26.9 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25, the ratio at Pepper Drive Elementary was 24.6:1. Among elementary schools in California, the typical ratio is 22.3:1. Pepper Drive Elementary's free or reduced-price lunch eligibility rate is 58%.
Based on its free or reduced-price lunch share, the BeatsExpectations model predicts an average proficiency rate on state tests of 45.4% for Pepper Drive Elementary. The school posts 45.2%, within a point of the prediction.
San Diego County census figures show that median household income is about $106,268, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 43% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 7%. A total of 766 public schools operate in San Diego County, serving about 467,437 students.
The nearest public school is Magnolia Elementary, at about 0.9 miles. There are at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Of the 4 nearby schools with scores, including this one, Pepper Drive Elementary is 1st on average proficiency.
The school's setting, by NCES definition, is Suburb: Large: in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Enrollment was 839 in 2020-21 and 661 in 2024-25, a decrease of 178 students.
The discussion area below is open to posts about school events, clubs, and volunteer needs. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
San Diego County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
3,288,774
Census ACS
Median income
$106,268
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
43%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
766
467,437 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Santee
- Rio Seco ElementaryElementary · 913 students
- Cajon Park ElementaryElementary · 830 students
- Carlton Oaks ElementaryElementary · 823 students
- Hill Creek ElementaryElementary · 695 students
- Chet F. Harritt ElementaryElementary · 606 students
- Carlton Hills ElementaryElementary · 601 students
Other schools in El Cajon
- Granite Hills HighHigh · 2,331 students
- Literacy First CharterCombined · 2,160 students
- Valhalla HighHigh · 1,728 students
- El Cajon Valley HighHigh · 1,701 students
- Hillsdale MiddleMiddle · 1,481 students
- Bostonia GlobalCombined · 1,266 students
Nearby schools
- Magnolia Elementary0.9 mi · 703
- Winter Gardens Elementary1.4 mi · 269
- W. D. Hall Elementary1.4 mi · 579
- Altus Schools East County1.5 mi · 287
- Naranca Elementary1.6 mi · 985
- Kidinnu Academy1.6 mi · 433
Frequently asked questions
About Pepper Drive ElementaryWhat is the total enrollment at Pepper Drive Elementary?
Pepper Drive Elementary enrolls approximately 661 students in grades KG-08.
What age range does Pepper Drive Elementary serve?
Pepper Drive Elementary serves students from grade KG through grade 08.
How many teachers does Pepper Drive Elementary have?
Pepper Drive Elementary employs 27 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 24.6:1.
What is the student diversity at Pepper Drive Elementary?
Student demographics at Pepper Drive Elementary are roughly 44% White, 39% Hispanic, 4% Black, 5% Asian, 8% Two or more.
Is Pepper Drive Elementary public or private?
Pepper Drive Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Santee.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.