Portola Springs Elementary: Kids show up — absenteeism runs far below the state. But math slips between grade 3 and grade 5.
Portola Springs has real strengths and one number that complicates them. Most rating sites show you one or the other. Both belong on the same page.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 64 | 42% | 71% | -6.6 | 6.6% | 0.5% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Portola Springs Elementary scores 64 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 87th 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 “71% proficient” and call it done. Portola Springs deserves a closer read. It sits at the 87th percentile of 5,744 California elementary schools — but the ranking is the least interesting thing on this page.
Portola Springs's low-income kids hit 64.0% 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
Slipped from the 95th to the 87th percentile since 2019.
This school hasn't fully recovered from the pandemic: 71% meet the standard today, versus 80% in 2019 — a gap worth asking about on a visit.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 80% | 69% | 66% | 73% | 66% |
| Grade 4 | 79% | 78% | 78% | 70% | 76% |
| Grade 5 | 82% | 67% | 78% | 86% | 72% |
| Grade 6 | 87% | 79% | 79% | 87% | 82% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 82% | 76% | 72% | 81% | 78% |
| Grade 4 | 81% | 73% | 79% | 68% | 74% |
| Grade 5 | 80% | 57% | 70% | 73% | 60% |
| Grade 6 | 77% | 80% | 77% | 79% | 79% |
The story this school is actually telling
chronic absenteeism — versus 17.9% statewide. Attendance is the quietest strong signal a school can post.
math proficiency runs 78% in grade 3 against 60% in grade 5, while reading holds (66% 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 rises 4.0pp across grades; the floor rises 5.4pp. The state average rises 4.5pp over the same span. The ceiling holds — more kids exceed by grade 5 — but the floor slips: fewer clear the bar at all. A school visit and conversation with teachers will tell you more than this number.
Portola Springs's most underrated number
64.0% 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 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 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 Portola Springs Elementary in Irvine, 64.0% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 58.6% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Portola Springs Elementary outperforms its district average for low-income students by 5.3 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (57.5% Math proficient); Asian students (78.1% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 49.1 percentage points for english learner students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 86 students tested.
6 of 16 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.
Low-income student ELA proficiency rises by 3.5pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +6.0pp.
Showing up, and staying in class
TK/K students miss school at roughly twice the rate of Grades 4–6 students (10.1% vs 4.7%). 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.
Feeder patterns derived from NCES attendance boundary data. Boundaries are approximate and may have changed — verify with your school district for current assignments.
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 948 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), 57% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Portola Springs Elementary a good elementary school?
What are Portola Springs Elementary's CAASPP test scores?
How does Portola Springs Elementary rank in California?
Is Portola Springs Elementary getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Portola Springs Elementary?
How does Portola Springs Elementary compare to other schools in Irvine?
How does Portola Springs Elementary serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 71
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 | 121 | 41% | 26% | 22% | 12% | 66% | +23 |
| Grade 4 | 134 | 49% | 28% | 14% | 10% | 76% | +31 |
| Grade 5 | 137 | 45% | 27% | 15% | 13% | 72% | +24 |
| Grade 6 | 137 | 54% | 28% | 10% | 8% | 82% | +35 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 125 | 38% | 40% | 14% | 7% | 78% | +33 |
| Grade 4 | 136 | 47% | 27% | 21% | 5% | 74% | +33 |
| Grade 5 | 137 | 35% | 25% | 26% | 15% | 60% | +25 |
| Grade 6 | 137 | 61% | 18% | 12% | 9% | 79% | +44 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 137 | 28% | 29% | 37% | 6% |
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 | 86 | 64.0% | +5 | +26 |
| Asian | 301 | 78.1% | −2 | +4 |
| White | 87 | 63.2% | −7 | +1 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portola Springs Elementary ← | — | 64 | 42.3% | 71.0% | −6.6 | 0.5% |
| Loma Ridge Elementary | 0.5 mi | 71 | 46.6% | 71.9% | −3.3 | 1.0% |
| Eastwood Elementary | 2.6 mi | 70 | 41.5% | 68.8% | +6.8 | 0.7% |
| Stonegate Elementary | 1.8 mi | 70 | 57.2% | 81.5% | −11.0 | 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 | #254 | 51.7% | 80.5% | 5.1% | 0.7% | +0.1pp |
| 2022 | 57 | 85 | #865 | 43.3% | 70.0% | 13.4% | 1.1% | -10.5pp |
| 2023 | 69 | 92 | #469 | 46.6% | 74.0% | 11.4% | 0.9% | +4.9pp |
| 2024 | 69 | 91 | #512 | 44.5% | 75.2% | 9.7% | 0.8% | +2.1pp |
| 2025 | 64 | 87 | #769 | 42.3% | 71.0% | 6.6% | 0.5% | -6.6pp |
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 6.4% | 5.2% | -1.2pp |
| Male | 3.6% | 7.2% | +3.6pp |
| Asian | 4.0% | 3.4% | -0.6pp |
| Black/African American | 25.0% | 13.3% | -11.7pp |
| White | 5.9% | 3.0% | -2.9pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 4.0% | 17.1% | +13.1pp |
| Two or More Races | 4.3% | 3.5% | -0.8pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 11.4% | 15.7% | +4.3pp |
| English Learners | 5.9% | 4.7% | -1.2pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 8.6% | 9.4% | +0.8pp |
| All Students | 5.0% | 6.2% | +1.2pp |
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