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What do you wish you knew before starting at Top of the World Elementary?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
536
Elementary
DISTRICT 470 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·LAGUNA BEACH UNIFIED·NCES 062037002456
Top of the World Elementary
21601 Tree Top Ln., Laguna Beach, CA 92651 · (949) 497-7790 · Orange County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL536 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 88% of California public elementary schools
- A+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- C-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
19.9:1
27 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 20.6:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
16%
88 students
DISTRICT 19% · STATE 65%
Community
6
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 | 98 | 18% |
| Grade 1 | 72 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 73 | 14% |
| Grade 3 | 109 | 20% |
| Grade 4 | 88 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 96 | 18% |
This year's kindergarten class (98) is about the same size as its 5th grade class (96).
Student demographics
48%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 47% · 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
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Based on grade levels within Laguna Beach Unified. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
CAASPP 2024-25 . % met or exceeded standardEnglish Language Arts
79.9%
CA avg 49.1% . -4.1pp since 2014
Math
80.6%
CA avg 37.7% . +4.6pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 80 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 81 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all California schools, those numbers are about 49 and 38. Reading and writing scores are down about 4 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 5 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 50.7% | 29.2% | 15.8% | 4.2% |
| Math | 54.9% | 25.7% | 15.1% | 4.2% |
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 | 79.9% | 80.6% |
| 2023-24 | 80.4% | 81.5% |
| 2022-23 | 83.0% | 81.2% |
| 2021-22 | 83.3% | 82.9% |
| 2018-19 | 86.4% | 85.5% |
| 2017-18 | 89.5% | 86.6% |
| 2016-17 | 86.1% | 81.7% |
| 2015-16 | 88.0% | 83.0% |
| 2014-15 | 84.0% | 76.0% |
% 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
80.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
69.9%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+10.7pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 81% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 70% 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 Top of the World Elementary
Top of the World Elementary's state test result (80.6% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Top of the World Elementary this school | 536 | 16.4% | 80.6% |
| La Costa Heights Elementary Carlsbad | 552 | 14.5% | 77.5% |
| California Montessori Project-Shingle Springs Campus Shingle Springs | 543 | 16.8% | N/A |
| Brook Knoll Elementary Santa Cruz | 498 | 13.9% | 68.9% |
| Willow Elementary Agoura | 510 | 18.2% | 75.2% |
| Bay Laurel Elementary Calabasas | 480 | 17.5% | 60.3% |
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 Top of the World Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Orange County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 80.6% | #199 of 5,151 | #27 of 381 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 80.6% | #205 of 5,172 ▼ 28 | #22 of 382 ▼ 5 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 79.9% | #276 of 5,172 ▼ 39 | #49 of 382 ▼ 12 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -2.8pp | #1,004 of 5,116 | #74 of 381 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 536 | #2,020 of 5,915 | #151 of 404 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 19.9:1 | #862 of 5,352 | #37 of 398 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 48.5% | #2,877 of 5,354 | #239 of 398 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 16.4% | #5,267 of 5,625 | #378 of 400 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -10.1% | #2,674 of 3,837 | #242 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
536
+27 (+5%) vs 2020
+9% since 1990-91, when it was 492
Student : Teacher
19.9:1
was 19.6:1
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 | 536 | 27 | 19.9:1 | 16% (88) |
| 2023-24 | 552 | 27 | 20.4:1 | 14% (80) |
| 2022-23 | 557 | 27 | 20.6:1 | 17% (94) |
| 2020-21 | 509 | 26 | 19.6:1 | 10% (50) |
| 2017-18 | 596 | 25.6 | 23.3:1 | 8% (49) |
| 2015-16 | 639 | 28 | 22.8:1 | 5% (31) |
| 2010-11 | 647 | N/A | N/A | 10% (65) |
| 2000-01 | 678 | 32 | 21.2:1 | 7% (50) |
| 1990-91 | 492 | 19 | 25.9:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Top of the World Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 10% (596 to 536); teachers up 5% (25.6 to 27).
About Top of the World Elementary
Top of the World Elementary is a mid-sized elementary school for students in Laguna Beach, California. It reports enrollment of 536 students in kindergarten through 5.
Laguna Beach Unified is responsible for 4 schools, Top of the World Elementary included, with 2,279 students in all.
Federal enrollment data show Top of the World Elementary is 70% White. Next come 13% Hispanic, 11% multiracial, and 6% Asian. The county population is about 43% White. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 48, compared with 70 nationally.
For every teacher at Top of the World Elementary, there are about 19.9 students; the school has 27 full-time-equivalent teachers. The average for elementary schools in California is 22.3:1, so this school has fewer students per teacher. There are 88 students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, 16% of enrollment. Public schools in Orange County average 55%.
Top of the World Elementary earns an A on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 88% of California public elementary schools.
Top of the World Elementary is 10.7 points above its predicted average proficiency rate across its state test results (80.6% versus 69.9%), which places it in neither the top nor the bottom 10% in California.
For the population of Orange County, median household income comes to about $116,289, roughly 44% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Orange County's 649 public schools enroll about 430,458 students and include Top of the World Elementary.
Straight-line distance to the nearest public school, Thurston Middle, is about 0.8 miles. Around the school, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Of the 8 nearby schools with scores, including this one, Top of the World Elementary is 2nd on average proficiency.
On the NCES locale scale, the school is Suburb: Large.
Enrollment rose by 5% across 4 years, from 509 in 2020-21 to 536 in 2024-25.
The allk12 page for Top of the World Elementary lets the school community talk about pickup and drop-off, after-school programs, and teacher feedback. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
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 Laguna Beach Unified
- Laguna Beach HighHigh · 815 students
- Thurston MiddleMiddle · 524 students
- El Morro ElementaryElementary · 404 students
Other schools in Laguna Beach
- Laguna Beach HighHigh · 815 students
- Thurston MiddleMiddle · 524 students
- El Morro ElementaryElementary · 404 students
Nearby schools
- Thurston Middle0.8 mi · 524
- Laguna Beach High1.4 mi · 815
- Canyon Vista Elementary1.4 mi · 533
- Wood Canyon Elementary1.9 mi · 425
- Moulton Elementary2.0 mi · 538
- Aliso Niguel High2.2 mi · 2,563
Frequently asked questions
About Top of the World ElementaryHow large is Top of the World Elementary?
Top of the World Elementary enrolls approximately 536 students in grades KG-05.
What age range does Top of the World Elementary serve?
Top of the World Elementary serves students from grade KG through grade 05.
How many students per teacher at Top of the World Elementary?
Approximately 19.9:1 students per teacher at Top of the World Elementary.
How diverse is Top of the World Elementary?
Top of the World Elementary reports a student body of 70% White, 13% Hispanic, 1% Black, 6% Asian, 11% Two or more.
What district is Top of the World Elementary in?
Top of the World Elementary is part of Laguna Beach Unified.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.