Thomas Paine Elementary

Thomas Paine Elementary is a primary school of reasonably sized scale in Garden Grove, California, overseen by Garden Grove Unified, instructing 428 students in grades K through 6.

Garden Grove Unified comprises 64 schools with combined enrollment of 36,994 students; Thomas Paine Elementary is among them.

Demographically, Thomas Paine Elementary records that 56% of the student body identifies as Asian; the rest reads as 35% Hispanic, 6% multiracial. The wider county runs roughly 22% Asian, putting the school's mix meaningfully more Asian than the area baseline.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Thomas Paine Elementary reports 19 full-time-equivalent teachers, putting the student-to-teacher ratio at about 22.5:1. That tracks the state average closely. An estimated 72% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. By comparison, Orange County runs at roughly 55%, so the school's eligibility rate is somewhat above the surrounding baseline.

With demographic context factored in, Thomas Paine Elementary sits in the top 10% of California schools after the BeatsExpectations adjustment. Predicted proficiency for the school's FRL share is roughly 36.5%; actual is 70.6%, +34.1 points clear of the demographic baseline.

In the area at large, census data for Orange County shows median household earnings sit near $116,289, roughly 44% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 7%. Across Orange County's 649 public schools (combined enrollment of about 430,458 students), Thomas Paine Elementary is one campus in the mix.

The closest other public school is La Quinta High, roughly 0.3 miles away. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Thomas Paine Elementary comes 3rd of 9 in the immediate cluster, higher than the nearby-schools average of 52.8%.

Thomas Paine Elementary operates from a bedroom-community location.

Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Thomas Paine Elementary has decreased 10%, going from 477 students in 2018 to 428 in 2025. Hispanic enrollment moved from 42% to 35% across the same window. Class-load math has narrowed: from 25.4:1 in 2018 to 22.5:1 in 2025.

Within the allk12 community for this school, members of the Thomas Paine Elementary community share and discuss fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.