Mission Estancia Elementary: Two in five kids exceed the standard. But math slips between grade 3 and grade 5.
Mission Estancia is one of the strongest elementary schools in Carlsbad by raw achievement. The catch worth understanding: the cohort doesn't gain ground year-over-year.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 62 | 45% | 72% | -12.9 | 10.7% | 0.4% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Mission Estancia Elementary scores 62 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 84th 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 →
🏫 Solid Base — Ask what the school does for a kid who's already meeting the standard with room to spare — steady proficiency across the board doesn't tell you whether the strongest kids are being pushed further.
Most rating sites would stop at “72% proficient” and call it done. Mission Estancia deserves a closer read. It sits at the 84th percentile of 5,744 California elementary schools — but the ranking is the least interesting thing on this page.
The headline number: 44.5% of students scored in the top band on the state test. The California average is 21.3%.
The seven-year arc
Slipped from the 97th to the 84th percentile since 2019.
This school hasn't fully recovered from the pandemic: 72% meet the standard today, versus 78% in 2019 — a gap worth asking about on a visit.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 72% | 54% | 73% | 64% | 71% |
| Grade 4 | 80% | 76% | 69% | 77% | 84% |
| Grade 5 | 85% | 71% | 71% | 77% | 72% |
| Grade 6 | 85% | 76% | 76% | 72% | 74% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 73% | 63% | 80% | 69% | 79% |
| Grade 4 | 83% | 74% | 54% | 75% | 73% |
| Grade 5 | 73% | 71% | 53% | 55% | 52% |
| Grade 6 | 73% | 63% | 68% | 71% | 57% |
The story this school is actually telling
of students scored in the top band on the state test. The California average is 21.3%.
math proficiency runs 79% in grade 3 against 52% in grade 5, while reading holds (71% to 72%). The state average rises by +4.5pp over the same span.
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 4.4pp across grades; the floor rises 1.6pp. The state average rises 4.5pp over the same span. The school's 5th graders aren't posting a wider lead than its 3rd graders. One question worth asking on a tour: are the strongest students being pushed, or coasting? A school visit and conversation with teachers will tell you more than this number.
The 6 things our score weighs
Ask the principal what changes between grade 3 and grade 5. Ask who teaches the older grades, and what the school does when a child starts falling behind.
- Ask what changes between grade 3 and grade 5 here, and who teaches the older kids.
- 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 Mission Estancia Elementary in Carlsbad, 80.8% of white students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 78.2% district-wide and 61.8% statewide. Mission Estancia Elementary outperforms its district average for white students by 2.6 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: White students (67.8% Math proficient); Disabilities students (37.5% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 38.0 percentage points for disabilities students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 146 students tested.
8 of 13 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
$542 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), 55% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Mission Estancia Elementary a good elementary school?
What are Mission Estancia Elementary's CAASPP test scores?
How does Mission Estancia Elementary rank in California?
Is Mission Estancia Elementary getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Mission Estancia Elementary?
How does Mission Estancia Elementary compare to other schools in Carlsbad?
How does Mission Estancia Elementary serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 76
Nearby High Schools
2 within ~3 mi · avg 64
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 | 48 | 46% | 25% | 19% | 10% | 71% | +27 |
| Grade 4 | 62 | 53% | 31% | 6% | 10% | 84% | +39 |
| Grade 5 | 58 | 41% | 31% | 17% | 10% | 72% | +25 |
| Grade 6 | 47 | 36% | 38% | 13% | 13% | 74% | +28 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 48 | 44% | 35% | 10% | 10% | 79% | +33 |
| Grade 4 | 62 | 45% | 27% | 16% | 11% | 73% | +31 |
| Grade 5 | 58 | 38% | 14% | 29% | 19% | 52% | +16 |
| Grade 6 | 47 | 40% | 17% | 28% | 15% | 57% | +22 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 58 | 19% | 36% | 38% | 7% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White | 146 | 80.8% | +3 | +19 |
| Students with Disabilities | 16 | 37.5% | +1 | +21 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mission Estancia Elementary ← | — | 62 | 44.5% | 71.8% | −12.9 | 0.4% |
| Olivenhain Pioneer Elementary | 0.5 mi | 78 | 56.5% | 79.0% | −2.3 | 0.1% |
| El Camino Creek Elementary | 1.4 mi | 77 | 53.4% | 87.5% | −9.0 | 0.1% |
| La Costa Heights Elementary | 0.8 mi | 74 | 46.5% | 74.4% | +3.6 | 0.1% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 80 | 97 | #190 | 53.6% | 77.7% | 5.0% | 0.4% | +6.2pp |
| 2022 | 63 | 90 | #577 | 33.8% | 68.0% | 15.8% | 0.0% | +12.1pp |
| 2023 | 57 | 82 | #1042 | 35.0% | 66.6% | 14.8% | 0.0% | -14.6pp |
| 2024 | 63 | 86 | #814 | 37.1% | 69.4% | 12.1% | 0.9% | -0.3pp |
| 2025 | 62 | 84 | #891 | 44.5% | 71.8% | 10.7% | 0.4% | -12.9pp |
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 5.4% | 12.9% | +7.5pp |
| Male | 4.3% | 7.7% | +3.4pp |
| Asian | 2.8% | 0.0% | -2.8pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 3.8% | 18.6% | +14.8pp |
| Two or More Races | 0.0% | 21.2% | +21.2pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 7.3% | 12.2% | +4.9pp |
| English Learners | 3.4% | 28.6% | +25.2pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 5.9% | 18.8% | +12.9pp |
| All Students | 4.9% | 10.0% | +5.1pp |
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