Sunset Elementary

Sunset Elementary is an elementary-level community of mid-sized scale in San Ysidro, California, run under San Ysidro Elementary, enrolling 520 students in grades K through 6.

Within San Ysidro Elementary, which oversees 7 schools and 4,140 students, Sunset Elementary is one campus in the system.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Sunset Elementary shows that 96% of students identify as Hispanic, making the school strongly Hispanic-majority. The remainder looks like 2% multiracial. That is visibly more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 35%.

Looking at the economic backdrop, On paper, Sunset Elementary has 23 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 22.6:1. That tracks the state average closely. Roughly 62% of students at Sunset 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.

After controlling for student poverty, Sunset Elementary tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 43.4% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 31.3%.

Around the school, community-level numbers for San Diego County indicate the typical household earns roughly $106,268 per year, roughly 43% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 7%. Sunset Elementary is one of 766 public schools in San Diego County (combined enrollment of about 467,437 students).

Smythe Elementary is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.4 miles from this campus. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Sunset Elementary ranks 2nd on composite proficiency, above the local average of 24.8%.

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

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count decreased 28%: 723 students in 2018 compared to 520 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio tightened from 24.1:1 in 2018 to 22.6:1 today.

In the discussion threads here, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.