Vista La Mesa Academy

Vista La Mesa Academy operates as a mid-sized elementary campus in La Mesa, California, operated by Lemon Grove. Current enrollment sits at 518 students spanning grades K through 8.

Lemon Grove runs 8 schools in total, collectively educating 3,048 students. Vista La Mesa Academy is one of those campuses.

Looking at the student body, Vista La Mesa Academy records that 63% of the student body identifies as Hispanic. Beyond that, the school shows 14% Black, 10% White, 8% Asian, 4% multiracial. That is considerably more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 35%.

In terms of school funding signals, Staff filings list 21 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 24.3:1 students per teacher. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 22.3:1, putting Vista La Mesa Academy higher than the state norm the norm. An estimated 72% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. That share is north of San Diego County's rate of about 54%.

With demographic context factored in, Vista La Mesa Academy sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 36.7%; this one delivers 33.4%.

In the area at large, San Diego County reports that median household income runs about $106,268, about 43% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 7%. Vista La Mesa Academy is one of 766 public schools in San Diego County (combined enrollment of about 467,437 students).

Rolando Park Elementary is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.5 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Vista La Mesa Academy. On composite proficiency, Vista La Mesa Academy comes 5th of 7 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 41.3%.

Geographically, the school is in a residential area.

Five-year trend. Vista La Mesa Academy's enrollment has shrank 17% since 2018, when it stood at 627 (now 518). The Hispanic share of enrollment grew from 53% to 63% over that span.

In the discussion threads here, the feed for Vista La Mesa Academy typically covers science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.