Serrano Intermediate

Serrano Intermediate is a mid-tier middle school in Lake Forest, California, part of Saddleback Valley Unified. The school caters to 868 students in grades 7 through 8. That puts it 32% above the typical public school in California, which averages around 659 students.

Saddleback Valley Unified comprises 33 schools with combined enrollment of 22,646 students; Serrano Intermediate is among them.

In terms of who attends, Serrano Intermediate shows that the largest single group is Hispanic at 45%, but no single group is in the majority. Other groups include 31% White, 12% Asian, 9% multiracial. That is considerably more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 34%.

On the income-and-resources front, Staff filings list 39 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 22.3:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 20.7:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. Around 49% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Serrano Intermediate performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 50.5%, the actual is 53.9%, a residual of +3.4 points.

In the area at large, Orange County reports that median household income runs about $116,289, 44% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 7%. In all, Orange County runs 649 public schools (combined enrollment of about 430,458 students), of which Serrano Intermediate is one.

Nearest neighbor: Santiago STEAM Magnet Elementary, around 0.5 miles off. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Among the 7 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Serrano Intermediate ranks 3rd on composite proficiency, above the local average of 47.7%.

Serrano Intermediate operates from a suburban location.

Over the past 7-year window. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Serrano Intermediate has declined 26%, going from 1,168 students in 2018 to 868 in 2025. The White share of enrollment fell from 45% to 31% over that span.

On this page, recent activity here tends to focus on enrollment questions, classroom assignments, and PTA news. Members of the school community can share what they know.