Enrollment
367
Elementary
DISTRICT 405 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·NEWPORT-MESA UNIFIED·NCES 062724004130
Sonora Elementary
966 Sonora Rd., Costa Mesa, CA 92626 · (714) 424-7955 · Orange County
GRADES KG–06ELEMENTARY12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL367 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 83% of California public elementary schools
- B+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- ABeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- A-Three-year trend Change in reading and math proficiency over the last three test years.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded California public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
18.9:1
19 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 18.4:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
75%
274 students
DISTRICT 54% · STATE 65%
Community
0
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 | 72 | 20% |
| Grade 1 | 48 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 51 | 14% |
| Grade 3 | 47 | 13% |
| Grade 4 | 53 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 46 | 13% |
| Grade 6 | 50 | 14% |
This year's kindergarten class (72) is 44% larger than its 6th grade class (50).
Student demographics
46%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
57.7%
CA avg 49.1% . +12.7pp since 2014
Math
45.0%
CA avg 37.7% . +14.0pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 58 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 45 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all California schools, those numbers are about 49 and 38. Reading and writing scores are up about 13 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 14 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 26.8% | 30.9% | 19.6% | 22.7% |
| Math | 24.8% | 20.2% | 21.7% | 33.3% |
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 | 57.7% | 45.0% |
| 2023-24 | 55.5% | 38.2% |
| 2022-23 | 52.5% | 41.7% |
| 2021-22 | 48.6% | 36.3% |
| 2020-21 | N/A | 44.4% |
| 2018-19 | 65.0% | 59.4% |
| 2017-18 | 63.5% | 44.8% |
| 2016-17 | 60.1% | 48.0% |
| 2015-16 | 58.0% | 45.0% |
| 2014-15 | 45.0% | 31.0% |
% 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
49.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
35.8%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+13.2pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 49% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 36% 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 Sonora Elementary
Sonora Elementary's state test result (49.0% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sonora Elementary this school | 367 | 74.7% | 49.0% |
| Thomas Olaeta Elementary Atwater | 374 | 73.8% | 48.6% |
| Olive Elementary Orange | 319 | 74.6% | 34.1% |
| Hidden Hills Elementary Laguna Niguel | 330 | 76.1% | 40.0% |
| Miller Elementary Escondido | 378 | 71.7% | 37.9% |
| Adams Elementary Costa Mesa | 321 | 73.8% | 52.3% |
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 Sonora Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Orange County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 49.0% | #1,791 of 5,151 | #212 of 381 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 45.0% | #1,930 of 5,172 ▲ 396 | #220 of 382 ▲ 39 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 57.7% | #1,485 of 5,172 ▲ 42 | #187 of 382 ▲ 5 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +8.9pp | #776 of 5,116 | #41 of 381 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 367 | #4,095 of 5,915 | #321 of 404 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.9:1 | #495 of 5,352 | #24 of 398 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 45.7% | #3,091 of 5,354 | #254 of 398 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 74.7% | #2,642 of 5,625 | #149 of 400 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -21.1% | #1,303 of 3,837 | #122 of 324 |
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
367
+12 (+3%) vs 2020
-36% since 1990-91, when it was 574
Student : Teacher
18.9:1
was 22.2:1
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 | 367 | 19.4 | 18.9:1 | 75% (274) |
| 2023-24 | 376 | 19.8 | 18.9:1 | 77% (288) |
| 2022-23 | 380 | 18.6 | 20.4:1 | 74% (280) |
| 2020-21 | 355 | 16 | 22.2:1 | 74% (263) |
| 2017-18 | 465 | 19 | 24.5:1 | 76% (354) |
| 2015-16 | 501 | 21 | 23.9:1 | 77% (386) |
| 2010-11 | 565 | N/A | N/A | 68% (387) |
| 2000-01 | 373 | 24 | 15.5:1 | 70% (261) |
| 1990-91 | 574 | 29 | 19.8:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Sonora Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 21% (465 to 367); teachers up 2% (19 to 19.4).
About Sonora Elementary
Sonora Elementary is a low-enrollment elementary school for students in Costa Mesa, California. It reported 367 students in kindergarten through 6 in 2024-25. Elementary schools in California have about 465 students on average; enrollment here is 21% lower.
A total of 31 schools make up Newport-Mesa Unified, with 17,540 students enrolled.
Hispanic students are 72% of those enrolled at Sonora Elementary. The next largest groups are 15% White, 6% multiracial, and 5% Asian. In Orange County overall, about 34% of residents are Hispanic. A diversity index of 46% means there is a 46% chance two randomly chosen students at Sonora Elementary are from different groups.
Sonora Elementary has 19.4 full-time-equivalent teachers on staff and a student-to-teacher ratio of 18.9:1. The school's 18.9:1 compares with an average of 22.3:1 for elementary schools in California. The school has 75% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The gap from the 55% average for public schools in Orange County is 20 points.
Sonora Elementary holds an A- allk12 Grade, placing it above 83% of California public elementary schools.
Sonora Elementary's average proficiency rate across its state test results of 49.0% is 13.2 points above the 35.8% the model predicts from its lunch-eligibility share.
The county, Orange County, is where the school is located. The median household earns about $116,289 a year, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 44%, and roughly 7% of residents are in poverty. Orange County has 649 public schools with about 430,458 students, including Sonora Elementary.
A public school about 0.4 miles away, Monte Vista Independent Study, is the closest to Sonora Elementary. Sonora Elementary has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Among 4 nearby schools that report test results, Sonora Elementary ranks 2nd on proficiency.
The school is inside a principal city with a population between 100,000 and 250,000, according to its NCES locale (City: Mid-size).
Over 4 years, enrollment increased by 12 students, from 355 to 367. Federal data show the ratio falling from 22.2:1 to 18.9:1.
This page collects posts and questions about Sonora Elementary, such as athletics, class schedules, and weather closures. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Orange County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
3,165,820
Census ACS
Median income
$116,289
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
44%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
649
430,458 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Newport-Mesa Unified
- Corona del Mar HighHigh · 2,106 students
- Newport Harbor HighHigh · 2,084 students
- Costa Mesa HighHigh · 1,730 students
- Estancia HighHigh · 976 students
- Horace Ensign IntermediateMiddle · 875 students
- Mariners ElementaryElementary · 573 students
Other schools in Costa Mesa
- Costa Mesa HighHigh · 1,730 students
- ACCESS County CommunityCombined · 1,315 students
- Estancia HighHigh · 976 students
- Maude B. Davis ElementaryElementary · 570 students
- Heinz Kaiser ElementaryElementary · 539 students
- Charles W. Tewinkle MiddleMiddle · 501 students
Other Sonora Elementary schools
3 other US public schools in 3 states are named Sonora Elementary. Sonora Elementary is the 3rd largest of the 4.
- Sonora ElementarySonora, CA · 643 students
- SONORA ELEMENTARY SCHOOLSPRINGDALE, AR · 604 students
- Sonora Elementary SchoolSONORA, TX · 365 students
Nearby schools
- Monte Vista Independent Study0.4 mi · 48
- Maude B. Davis Elementary0.5 mi · 570
- Paularino Elementary0.6 mi · 371
- Costa Mesa High0.7 mi · 1,730
- Orange County Special Education0.9 mi · 331
- ACCESS County Community0.9 mi · 1,315
Frequently asked questions
About Sonora ElementaryHow large is Sonora Elementary?
Sonora Elementary enrolls approximately 367 students in grades KG-06.
What age range does Sonora Elementary serve?
Sonora Elementary serves students from grade KG through grade 06.
How many students per teacher at Sonora Elementary?
Approximately 18.9:1 students per teacher at Sonora Elementary.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Sonora Elementary?
At Sonora Elementary, the student body is approximately 15% White, 72% Hispanic, 0% Black, 5% Asian, 6% Two or more.
What district is Sonora Elementary in?
Sonora Elementary is part of Newport-Mesa Unified.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.