Esencia: High scores, healthy climate, strong attendance. We looked for a catch — we didn't find one.
Esencia posts 46.1% exceeding the standard — versus 21.3% statewide — with climate numbers better than most. That doesn't make it perfect. It makes it worth a visit to find what numbers can't measure.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 69 | 46% | 78% | -1.6 | 8.5% | 1.4% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Esencia scores 69 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 91st percentile of 5,744 California elementary schools (CDE CAASPP 2025).
Measures test performance, attendance, and climate — not arts, community, or your kid. How we score →
💪 Strong All-Around — Ask about what we don't score — class size, electives, the feel of a classroom — strong numbers everywhere on paper don't mean every classroom feels the same.
Most rating sites would stop at “78% proficient” and call it done. Esencia deserves a closer read. It sits at the 91st percentile of 5,744 California elementary schools — but the ranking is the least interesting thing on this page.
Esencia's low-income kids hit 69.3% proficiency in ELA — a number the same group reaches at 38.2% statewide. If you're trying to read past zip-code-driven test scores, that's the signal worth weighing.
The seven-year arc
Climbed from the 76th to the 91st percentile since 2019 — past roughly 800 elementary schools.
The pandemic drop is behind this school: 78% of students meet the standard today, above the 67% who did in 2019.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 77% | 76% | 70% | 69% | 81% |
| Grade 4 | 64% | 67% | 78% | 76% | 77% |
| Grade 5 | 75% | 67% | 73% | 83% | 82% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 82% | 83% | 77% | 71% | 77% |
| Grade 4 | 56% | 68% | 81% | 68% | 75% |
| Grade 5 | 50% | 59% | 64% | 67% | 73% |
The story this school is actually telling
The school, grade by grade
ELA · CAASPP 2024–25Different students, same year — each bar is one grade's proficiency mix.
The honest read: the share exceeding falls 6.0pp across grades; the proficiency floor barely moves. The state average rises 4.5pp over the same span. A school visit and conversation with teachers will tell you more than this number.
Esencia's most underrated number
69.3% of low-income students met the ELA standard — versus 38.2% for the same group statewide. That's the strongest kind of signal a school can post: it holds across income lines.
The 6 things our score weighs
Ask what the school is working on next. Strong numbers tell you where a school is, not where it's going.
- Ask whether extra support — tutoring, counseling, small groups — reaches kids across income lines, not just the students already ahead.
- Ask whether the tour can step into a working classroom — watch how the teacher handles a student who's stuck.
- Ask to tour while school's in session, and notice how hallways and transitions feel — culture shows up between classes, not just in them.
- Ask how the school communicates with families when a child starts to struggle.
- Ask what a typical day looks like for a new student in the first few weeks.
How every group of students does here
At Esencia in Rancho Mission Viejo, 69.3% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 55.1% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Esencia outperforms its district average for low-income students by 14.2 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (59.2% Math proficient); White students (81.8% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 29.2 percentage points for disabilities students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 101 students tested.
Change in proficiency from the lowest tested grade — which groups gain ground the longer they stay. Groups with fewer than 10 tested students per grade are not shown.
Low-income student ELA proficiency falls by 0.4pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +4.8pp.
Showing up, and staying in class
TK/K students miss school at roughly one and a half times the rate of Grades 4–6 students (14.0% vs 8.7%). Chronic absence here concentrates in the earliest grades — worth asking how the school works with new families on attendance.
Where the path goes
The path below follows attendance boundaries — scores shown for each next step.
Estimated path based on proximity within the same district. Contact your school district for official feeder information.
The people teaching here
Pay is set by the district, not the school.
What gets spent here
The district's current expense of education per student, from CDE's annual SACS filing — the freshest district spending figure the state publishes.
District-level, from the district's own SACS general-ledger filing — school-by-school breakdowns aren't published by the state.
Source: NCES F-33 · Full district breakdown →
The neighborhood it serves
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2024) · ZIP-level
At 996 students, this school is well above the typical California elementary school (≈480).
Transitional kindergarten is offered here — confirmed by actual Census Day enrollment, not just the listed grade span.
On the state's science test (CAST), 68% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Esencia a good elementary school?
What are Esencia's CAASPP test scores?
How does Esencia rank in California?
Is Esencia getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Esencia?
How does Esencia compare to other schools in Rancho Mission Viejo?
How does Esencia serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Private alternatives nearby
Private schools within ~10 miles. These schools do not participate in state testing and cannot be scored or ranked.
Every number on this page
Score factors, grade-level breakdowns, subgroup proficiency, and peer comparisons.
| ELA | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 151 | 52% | 29% | 11% | 7% | 81% | +38 |
| Grade 4 | 151 | 46% | 31% | 14% | 9% | 77% | +32 |
| Grade 5 | 151 | 46% | 36% | 10% | 8% | 82% | +34 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 152 | 46% | 31% | 19% | 4% | 77% | +31 |
| Grade 4 | 152 | 39% | 36% | 21% | 4% | 75% | +33 |
| Grade 5 | 152 | 47% | 26% | 20% | 7% | 73% | +38 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 152 | 30% | 39% | 29% | 3% |
CAST is tested in grades 5, 8, and once in high school — not annually. Not part of the Scope Score.
| Subgroup · ELA | Tested | MET+ | vs district | vs CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 101 | 69.3% | +14 | +31 |
| White | 247 | 81.8% | +3 | +20 |
| Two or More Races | 70 | 82.9% | +4 | +21 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Esencia ← | — | 69 | 46.1% | 77.6% | −1.6 | 1.4% |
| Chaparral Elementary | 2.9 mi | 77 | 63.5% | 85.2% | −5.5 | 1.8% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 57 | 76 | #1308 | 35.6% | 67.3% | 6.8% | 0.0% | -17.1pp |
| 2022 | 56 | 83 | #980 | 40.0% | 70.0% | 20.9% | 0.4% | -16.3pp |
| 2023 | 65 | 89 | #652 | 45.1% | 73.9% | 12.7% | 0.7% | -4.9pp |
| 2024 | 70 | 92 | #462 | 45.6% | 72.1% | 7.6% | 0.4% | +4.8pp |
| 2025 | 69 | 91 | #515 | 46.1% | 77.6% | 8.5% | 1.4% | -1.6pp |
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 5.1% | 7.8% | +2.7pp |
| Male | 8.4% | 8.6% | +0.2pp |
| Asian | 2.9% | 7.0% | +4.1pp |
| Filipino | 15.4% | 12.1% | -3.3pp |
| White | 7.7% | 0.0% | -7.7pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 11.0% | 15.4% | +4.4pp |
| Two or More Races | 2.7% | 7.6% | +4.9pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 13.2% | 9.8% | -3.4pp |
| English Learners | 8.3% | 15.0% | +6.7pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 8.9% | 16.5% | +7.6pp |
| All Students | 6.7% | 8.2% | +1.5pp |
SchoolScope scores and verdicts are our interpretation of public California Department of Education data — independent analysis, not an official rating. How we analyze · Request a correction