La Costa Heights Elementary: High scores, real growth, strong attendance. We looked for a catch — we didn't find one.
La Costa Heights posts 46.5% 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 | 74 | 46% | 74% | +3.6 | 9.4% | 0.1% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
La Costa Heights Elementary scores 74 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 94th 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 “74% proficient” and call it done. La Costa Heights deserves a closer read. It sits at the 94th percentile of 5,744 California elementary schools — but the ranking is the least interesting thing on this page.
La Costa Heights's low-income kids hit 58.3% 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
Has held the 94th-percentile line every tested year since 2019.
This school hasn't fully recovered from the pandemic: 74% meet the standard today, versus 82% in 2019 — a gap worth asking about on a visit.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 74% | 74% | 72% | 85% | 75% |
| Grade 4 | 87% | 77% | 74% | 72% | 80% |
| Grade 5 | 84% | 80% | 84% | 92% | 78% |
| Grade 6 | 81% | 69% | 77% | 80% | 85% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 88% | 76% | 82% | 80% | 69% |
| Grade 4 | 81% | 71% | 77% | 65% | 71% |
| Grade 5 | 80% | 66% | 71% | 77% | 74% |
| Grade 6 | 72% | 74% | 75% | 75% | 83% |
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 rises 4.9pp across grades; the floor rises 2.7pp. The state average rises 4.5pp over the same span. Kids here gain ground the longer they stay — the pattern you want to see. A school visit and conversation with teachers will tell you more than this number.
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 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 La Costa Heights Elementary in Carlsbad, 58.3% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 42.2% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. La Costa Heights Elementary outperforms its district average for low-income students by 16.1 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (58.3% Math proficient); White students (81.2% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 29.4 percentage points for disabilities students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 24 students tested.
6 of 14 student groups here are too small to report — a privacy protection, not a gap.
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.
Showing up, and staying in class
The people teaching here
Pay is set by the district, not the school.
What gets spent here
$719 per student arrives as federal Title funding — a measure of concentrated need, not school quality.
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
On the state's science test (CAST), 67% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is La Costa Heights Elementary a good elementary school?
What are La Costa Heights Elementary's CAASPP test scores?
How does La Costa Heights Elementary rank in California?
Is La Costa Heights Elementary getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at La Costa Heights Elementary?
How does La Costa Heights Elementary compare to other schools in Carlsbad?
How does La Costa Heights Elementary serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 77
Nearby High Schools
2 within ~3 mi · avg 51
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 | 64 | 47% | 28% | 8% | 17% | 75% | +32 |
| Grade 4 | 93 | 45% | 34% | 12% | 9% | 80% | +35 |
| Grade 5 | 85 | 52% | 26% | 16% | 6% | 78% | +30 |
| Grade 6 | 81 | 46% | 40% | 9% | 6% | 85% | +39 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 65 | 38% | 31% | 22% | 9% | 69% | +24 |
| Grade 4 | 94 | 48% | 23% | 21% | 7% | 71% | +30 |
| Grade 5 | 84 | 49% | 25% | 14% | 12% | 74% | +39 |
| Grade 6 | 80 | 70% | 13% | 14% | 4% | 83% | +47 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 84 | 35% | 32% | 30% | 4% |
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 | 24 | 58.3% | +16 | +20 |
| White | 223 | 81.2% | +3 | +19 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 36 | 69.4% | +21 | +31 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Costa Heights Elementary ← | — | 74 | 46.5% | 74.4% | +3.6 | 0.1% |
| Olivenhain Pioneer Elementary | 1.3 mi | 78 | 56.5% | 79.0% | −2.3 | 0.1% |
| El Camino Creek Elementary | 0.9 mi | 77 | 53.4% | 87.5% | −9.0 | 0.1% |
| Aviara Oaks Elementary | 2.3 mi | 75 | 54.1% | 79.6% | +4.9 | 0.1% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 77 | 95 | #255 | 49.9% | 82.4% | 5.3% | 0.1% | +0.6pp |
| 2022 | 68 | 93 | #391 | 45.8% | 73.8% | 14.1% | 0.3% | -1.6pp |
| 2023 | 70 | 92 | #432 | 43.1% | 76.7% | 14.2% | 0.3% | +0.7pp |
| 2024 | 75 | 95 | #272 | 45.3% | 78.6% | 10.3% | 0.6% | +2.2pp |
| 2025 | 74 | 94 | #340 | 46.5% | 74.4% | 9.4% | 0.1% | +3.6pp |
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 5.6% | 10.6% | +5.0pp |
| Male | 4.8% | 7.5% | +2.7pp |
| Asian | 2.3% | 9.5% | +7.2pp |
| Black/African American | 10.0% | — | — |
| White | 15.4% | — | — |
| Hispanic/Latino | 6.3% | 11.9% | +5.6pp |
| Two or More Races | 0.0% | 8.1% | +8.1pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 12.4% | 11.6% | -0.8pp |
| English Learners | 0.0% | 14.3% | +14.3pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 11.6% | 16.7% | +5.1pp |
| All Students | 5.2% | 8.9% | +3.7pp |
| Filipino | — | 17.6% | — |
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