Santiago STEAM Magnet Elementary

Located at 24982 Rivendell Dr., in Lake Forest, California, Santiago STEAM Magnet Elementary is a mid-sized elementary-level community that educates 517 students (grades K through 6), part of Saddleback Valley Unified.

Within Saddleback Valley Unified, which oversees 33 schools and 22,646 students, Santiago STEAM Magnet Elementary is one campus in the system.

On the student-mix side, Santiago STEAM Magnet Elementary lists that the largest single group is Hispanic at 40%, but no single group is in the majority; the rest comes out to 32% White, 16% multiracial, 10% Asian.

On the income-and-resources front, Santiago STEAM Magnet Elementary reports 20 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 26.3:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 22.3:1, putting Santiago STEAM Magnet Elementary higher than the state norm the norm. Roughly 43% of students at Santiago STEAM Magnet Elementary qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Orange County (around 55%), the school's rate is somewhat below typical.

After controlling for student poverty, Santiago STEAM Magnet Elementary tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 54.1% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 52.9%.

Across the wider county, census data for Orange County shows the typical household earns roughly $116,289 per year, roughly 44% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Orange County runs 649 public schools (combined enrollment of about 430,458 students), of which Santiago STEAM Magnet Elementary is one.

El Toro High is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.5 miles from this campus. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Santiago STEAM Magnet Elementary at 4th of 6; the average score across the group is 50.4%.

Santiago STEAM Magnet Elementary operates from a bedroom-community location.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count grew 40%: 370 students in 2018 compared to 517 in 2025. Over the same period, the Hispanic share contracted from 59% to 40%.

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