Ralph Waldo Emerson Elementary

As a medium-sized elementary campus in San Diego, California, Ralph Waldo Emerson Elementary works with 456 students from grades K through 5, run under San Diego Unified.

San Diego Unified runs 174 schools in total, collectively educating 94,828 students. Ralph Waldo Emerson Elementary is one of those campuses.

On the student-mix side, Ralph Waldo Emerson Elementary logs that 94% of students identify as Hispanic, making the school strongly Hispanic-majority. Beyond that, the school shows 3% Black. By comparison, San Diego County as a whole is about 35% Hispanic, so the school skews meaningfully more Hispanic than its surroundings.

In terms of school funding signals, On paper, Ralph Waldo Emerson Elementary has 18 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 25.3:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 22.3:1, putting Ralph Waldo Emerson Elementary higher than the state norm the norm. Roughly 97% of students at Ralph Waldo Emerson Elementary qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against San Diego County (around 54%), the school's rate is noticeably above typical.

With demographic context factored in, Ralph Waldo Emerson Elementary sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 21.9%; this one delivers 17.8%.

Across the wider county, ACS estimates for San Diego County put median household income runs about $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 Ralph Waldo Emerson Elementary is one.

Nearest neighbor: Mountain View, around 0.2 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Ralph Waldo Emerson Elementary. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Ralph Waldo Emerson Elementary at 5th of 7; the average score across the group is 22.0%.

The school occupies an urban site.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count remained close to its prior level: 457 students in 2018 compared to 456 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio rose from 22.9:1 in 2018 to 25.3:1 today.

On this page, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. The community welcomes input from current and former families.