Santa Margarita Elementary

Santa Margarita Elementary operates as a close-knit elementary-level community in Santa Margarita, California, one of the schools within Atascadero Unified. Current enrollment sits at 297 students spanning grades K through 5. Enrollment runs roughly 36% leaner than the state mean of about 465.

Within Atascadero Unified, which oversees 12 schools and 4,355 students, Santa Margarita Elementary is one campus in the system.

On the student-mix side, Santa Margarita Elementary reports that the largest single group is White, at 69% of enrollment. Other groups include 19% Hispanic, 10% multiracial. Compared to San Luis Obispo County overall, the school's racial mix sits in roughly the same range.

In terms of school funding signals, The school employs 12 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 25.6:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 22.3:1, putting Santa Margarita Elementary higher than the state norm the norm. Roughly 34% of students at Santa Margarita Elementary qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. By comparison, San Luis Obispo County runs at roughly 54%, so the school's eligibility rate is lower than the surrounding baseline.

After controlling for student poverty, Santa Margarita Elementary performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 59.5%, the actual is 51.8%, a residual of -7.6 points.

Around the school, San Luis Obispo County reports that the typical household earns roughly $97,446 per year, about 40% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 6%. Santa Margarita Elementary is one of 83 public schools in San Luis Obispo County (combined enrollment of about 33,339 students).

Nearest neighbor: Atascadero Choices in Education Academy (ACE), around 4.9 miles off. Within five miles, there are 2 other public schools. Among the 7 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Santa Margarita Elementary ranks 3rd on composite proficiency, ahead of the local average of 50.4%.

Geographically, the school is in a low-density area.

Trend over the last 7 years. Santa Margarita Elementary's enrollment has ticked up 11% since 2018, when it stood at 267 (now 297). White enrollment moved from 75% to 69% across the same window. The student-to-teacher ratio pulled in from 26.7:1 in 2018 to 25.6:1 today.

On this page, posts here usually surface around classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.