1
How has Truman Benedict Elementary changed in the last five years, for better or worse?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
602
Elementary
DISTRICT 480 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·CAPISTRANO UNIFIED·NCES 060744009119
Truman Benedict Elementary
1251 Sarmentoso, San Clemente, CA 92673 · (949) 498-6617 · Orange County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL602 STUDENTS
A+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 98% of California public elementary schools
- ATest 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.
- 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
25.1:1
24 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 23.7:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
20%
120 students
DISTRICT 37% · 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 | 118 | 20% |
| Grade 1 | 91 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 79 | 13% |
| Grade 3 | 95 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 99 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 120 | 20% |
This year's kindergarten class (118) is about the same size as its 5th grade class (120).
Student demographics
42%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 64% · 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
81.5%
CA avg 49.1% . +8.5pp since 2014
Math
81.5%
CA avg 37.7% . +23.5pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 81 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 up about 8 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 23 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 45.5% | 36.0% | 12.8% | 5.7% |
| Math | 44.8% | 36.7% | 16.5% | 2.0% |
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 | 81.5% | 81.5% |
| 2023-24 | 72.4% | 73.7% |
| 2022-23 | 71.3% | 66.7% |
| 2021-22 | 69.6% | 63.6% |
| 2018-19 | 71.0% | 68.3% |
| 2017-18 | 71.7% | 62.1% |
| 2016-17 | 75.2% | 62.5% |
| 2015-16 | 77.0% | 60.0% |
| 2014-15 | 73.0% | 58.0% |
% 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
77.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
67.9%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+9.6pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 77% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 68% 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 Truman Benedict Elementary
Truman Benedict Elementary's state test result (77.4% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 4 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Truman Benedict Elementary this school | 602 | 19.9% | 77.4% |
| California Montessori Project-Shingle Springs Campus Shingle Springs | 543 | 16.8% | N/A |
| Mariners Elementary Newport Beach | 573 | 21.6% | 72.2% |
| Willow Elementary Agoura | 510 | 18.2% | 75.2% |
| Top of the World Elementary Laguna Beach | 536 | 16.4% | 80.6% |
| Los Ranchos Elementary San Luis Obispo | 521 | 23.6% | 68.6% |
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 Truman Benedict Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Orange County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 77.4% | #335 of 5,151 | #52 of 381 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 81.5% | #188 of 5,172 ▲ 263 | #16 of 382 ▲ 50 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 81.5% | #204 of 5,172 ▲ 383 | #31 of 382 ▲ 58 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +14.9pp | #180 of 5,116 | #6 of 381 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 602 | #1,378 of 5,915 | #101 of 404 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 25.1:1 | #4,476 of 5,352 | #263 of 398 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 41.8% | #3,315 of 5,354 | #268 of 398 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 19.9% | #5,152 of 5,625 | #356 of 400 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -7.5% | #2,993 of 3,837 | #271 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
602
-30 (-5%) vs 2020
-26% since 1990-91, when it was 814
Student : Teacher
25.1:1
was 27.5:1
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 | 602 | 24 | 25.1:1 | 20% (120) |
| 2023-24 | 590 | 26 | 22.7:1 | 19% (111) |
| 2022-23 | 600 | 25 | 24.0:1 | 18% (110) |
| 2020-21 | 632 | 23 | 27.5:1 | 12% (76) |
| 2017-18 | 651 | 21 | 31.0:1 | 11% (69) |
| 2015-16 | 641 | 21 | 30.5:1 | 6% (40) |
| 2010-11 | 722 | N/A | N/A | 7% (50) |
| 2000-01 | 664 | 28 | 23.7:1 | 2% (13) |
| 1990-91 | 814 | 32 | 25.4:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Truman Benedict Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 8% (651 to 602); teachers up 14% (21 to 24).
About Truman Benedict Elementary
Truman Benedict Elementary is a medium-sized elementary school based in San Clemente, California. The latest federal count shows 602 students in kindergarten through 5. The average for elementary schools in California is about 465 students, so this school is 29% above average.
Capistrano Unified is the district for Truman Benedict Elementary. It has 58 schools and 40,251 students.
At Truman Benedict Elementary, White students make up 74% of the student body. The next largest groups are 13% multiracial, 10% Hispanic, and 2% Asian. The school's White share is 32 points above the 43% share among Orange County residents. The school's diversity index is 42%, meaning two students picked at random have a 42% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
Teachers at the school number 24 full-time equivalents, and the ratio is 25.1:1. On average, elementary schools in California have 22.3:1, compared with 25.1:1 here. The school's lunch program data list 20% of students as eligible for free or reduced-price meals. On average, public schools in Orange County report 55%.
allk12 grades Truman Benedict Elementary an A+. The grade compares the school only with California public elementary schools, because each state gives its own test.
When test results are adjusted for free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, Truman Benedict Elementary is 9.6 points above its prediction. Actual: 77.4%. Predicted: 67.9%.
County data help place the school in context: in Orange County, the median household income is $116,289, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 44% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 7%. Orange County is home to 649 public schools and about 430,458 public school students.
The school nearest to Truman Benedict Elementary is Bernice Ayer Middle, at a distance of less than a tenth of a mile. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. On average proficiency, Truman Benedict Elementary is 1st of 9 nearby schools with test data.
Locale data from NCES put Truman Benedict Elementary in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more (Suburb: Large).
Over 4 years, Truman Benedict Elementary's enrollment dropped 5%, to 602. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 27.5:1 in 2020-21 to 25.1:1 in 2024-25.
Community posts for Truman Benedict Elementary can cover enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
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 Capistrano Unified
- San Clemente HighHigh · 2,740 students
- San Juan Hills HighHigh · 2,641 students
- Aliso Niguel HighHigh · 2,563 students
- Tesoro HighHigh · 2,030 students
- Capistrano Valley HighHigh · 1,991 students
- Dana Hills HighHigh · 1,725 students
Other schools in San Clemente
- San Clemente HighHigh · 2,740 students
- Bernice Ayer MiddleMiddle · 919 students
- Las Palmas ElementaryElementary · 743 students
- Vista del Mar ElementaryElementary · 692 students
- Shorecliffs MiddleMiddle · 634 students
- Concordia ElementaryElementary · 533 students
Nearby schools
- Bernice Ayer Middle0.0 mi · 919
- Marblehead Elementary1.1 mi · 195
- Vista del Mar Middle1.6 mi · 499
- Vista del Mar Elementary1.6 mi · 692
- Shorecliffs Middle1.7 mi · 634
- San Clemente High1.9 mi · 2,740
Frequently asked questions
About Truman Benedict ElementaryHow large is Truman Benedict Elementary?
Truman Benedict Elementary enrolls approximately 602 students in grades KG-05.
Is Truman Benedict Elementary an elementary, middle, or high school?
Truman Benedict Elementary is an elementary school covering grades KG-05.
How many teachers does Truman Benedict Elementary have?
Truman Benedict Elementary employs 24 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 25.1:1.
What is the student diversity at Truman Benedict Elementary?
Student demographics at Truman Benedict Elementary are roughly 74% White, 10% Hispanic, 2% Asian, 13% Two or more.
Who oversees Truman Benedict Elementary?
Truman Benedict Elementary is overseen by Capistrano Unified in Orange County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.