Carmel Unified has two ranked public elementary schools, one middle school and one high school. Carmel River Elementary is at the 90th percentile, Tularcitos Elementary the 79th, Carmel Middle the 80th and Carmel High the 94th, each among the California schools we score at its level (spring 2026 tests; high schools, spring 2025).
Percentile among California schools at the same level
Strong75th+
Solid50–74th
Developing25–49th
Needs Supportbelow 25th
Not scored
The school lists on this page are also available without the map.
Elementary schools
Which elementary schools in Carmel Unified score highest?
Carmel River Elementary’s 90th percentile means it scored higher than 90 in 100 of the 5,726 California elementary schools we score (spring 2026 tests).
Highest in Carmel Unified
Each percentile compares a school with California schools at its own level. What patterns mean
Where does Carmel Unified’s money go, and what does it plan?
Carmel Unified spent $39,895 per student in the 2024–25 school year.
The typical California district spent $20,491. About 58 cents of every Carmel Unified dollar went to classroom instruction.
Spending by function
Day-to-day spending per student in average daily attendance, from the district’s annual financial report (SACS) to the California Department of Education. District-wide: it includes central administration and costs never assigned to one campus.
Share by function, 2024–25
Instruction58%
Instruction support12%
Student services10%
Administration8%
Buildings & maintenance11%
Other1%
Shares of the same spending total, by the report’s spending categories, rounded so they add up to 100. Names are simplified from the report’s own categories.
What the district plans
$5.9 million
planned in its 2026–27 plan for 13 funded actions in 3 goals. That’s 6% of its $93.0 million general fund budget. These are planned amounts; the district reports what it spent in a later plan.
The plan in short
Source: the district’s yearly spending plan (Local Control and Accountability Plan, or LCAP, 87 pages), as posted to the California School Dashboard.
Where the money goes
Three actions take 93% of the money. The plan itself puts 98% of it toward staff.
Coordinated Counseling, Social-Emotional Learning, and Mental Health Services $2.4 million
Response to Intervention Staffing $2.4 million
English Learner Supports $695,714
10 other actions
Reading, math and catch-up help
7 of the plan’s 13 funded actions name reading, math, catch-up help or English learners in their titles.
Actions whose titles name reading, catch-up help or English learners
Reading under $0.1 million
Catch-up help $2.4 million
English learners $0.7 million
Largest of these
Response to Intervention Staffing$2.4 million
English Learner Supports$695,714
Identify and utilize common assessments, screeners, and/or benchmark assessments for instruction and intervention$46,614
For high-need students (English learners, low-income students and foster youth), what changed and what its goals measure
For high-need students
It plans $4.3 million in extra services for English learners, low-income students and foster youth. For 2025–26, it planned $4.1 million and estimates it spent $4.4 million, $0.3 million (7%) more than planned (our arithmetic).
$4.4 million spent (estimated)$4.1 million planned
What changed
The total is $401,795 (7%) higher than in the 2025–26 plan. The biggest change in dollars is Coordinated Counseling, Social-Emotional Learning, and Mental Health Services, which went from $2.1 million to $2.4 million.
Largest cuts
Response to Intervention Staffing−$54,157
Largest increases
Coordinated Counseling, Social-Emotional Learning, and Mental Health Services+$277,067
English Learner Supports+$141,849
Professional Learning - Instructional Strategies and Student Supports+$25,000
New in the 2026–27 plan
Summer Programming for Low-Income Students$76,632
What its goals measure
Read these state results for the district’s own schools as context for the goals they measure; results alone can’t show what the plan caused.
What its goals measure: state results, 2024–25 and 2025–26
Measure
2024–25
2025–26
Change
English, every tested grade: Proficient or Advanced in 2025–26, met or exceeded in 2024–25Goal 1
74%
73%
down 1 pt
Math, every tested grade: Proficient or Advanced in 2025–26, met or exceeded in 2024–25Goal 1
66%
64%
down 2 pts
Chronically absentCounted across all the district’s students, not averaged by schoolGoal 2
15 in 100
13 in 100
2 fewer in 100
Suspended at least onceGoal 2
1.6%
1.9%
up 0.3 pts
Goal 3 isn’t shown because it tracks other measures.
Figures from CDE’s state test, chronic absence and suspension files. Test figures cover every grade the district tests (California tests grades 3–8 and 11), so they differ from a profile’s rated grades. We combined the district’s schools ourselves, weighted by students and leaving out charter schools. Chronically absent means a student missed 10% or more of school days.
The plan’s own titles and amounts
Coordinated Counseling, Social-Emotional Learning, and Mental Health Services · $2,423,053
Response to Intervention Staffing · $2,354,754
English Learner Supports · $695,714
The full plan3 goals, 30 measures and where the money goes
We calculate each action’s share of the plan by dividing its planned amount by the total of the plan’s funded actions ($5.9 million).
Where does the money go?
56% to Goal 1. Each box is one action, sized by its planned dollars and coloured by its change since last year’s plan. Tap a box to open its goal.
not compared: unconfirmed, or repeated across goals
Every goal, in the plan’s order
Goal 1All students engage in challenging, innovative, and relevant learning experiences to prepare them for…$3.3 million56% of action budgets
“All students engage in challenging, innovative, and relevant learning experiences to prepare them for college, career, and global citizenship” p. 11 ↗
7 funded actions · 2025–26 plan: $3.2 million (+$123,675)
Largest funded actions
Response to Intervention Staffing$2.4 millionaction 1.2 · p. 48 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need services · of which $1.7 million is state funding counted toward those services
English Learner Supports$0.7 millionaction 1.4 · p. 48 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need services · of which $622,880 is state funding counted toward those services
Part-time Community Liaison$0.1 millionaction 1.5 · p. 48 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need services
Summer Programming for Low-Income Students$0.1 millionaction 1.3 · p. 48 ↗
Identify and utilize common assessments, screeners, and/or benchmark assessments for instruction and interventionunder $0.1 millionaction 1.1 · p. 48 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need services
2 more funded actions in this goal
After School Academic Support · action 1.7 · p. 48 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need servicesunder $0.1 million
Instructional Materials for Intervention · action 1.6 · p. 48 ↗under $0.1 million
Changes from last year’s plan, same title
English Learner Supports+$141,849$553,865 → $695,714 · p. 48 ↗
Response to Intervention Staffing−$0.1 million$2.4 million → $2.4 million · p. 48 ↗
Part-time Community Liaison+$8,004$79,196 → $87,200 · p. 48 ↗
Every other line in this goal, against last year’s plan
Summer Programming for Low-Income Students · $76,632 · p. 48 ↗new or renamed
Identify and utilize common assessments, screeners, and/or benchmark assessments for instruction and intervention · $45,614 → $46,614 · p. 48 ↗+$1,000
After School Academic Support · $30,000 → $30,000 · p. 48 ↗unchanged
Instructional Materials for Intervention · $3,000 → $3,346 · p. 48 ↗+$346
A reworded title counts as new.
How the plan measures it · 18 measures
None of these has an all-students line we can quote; the plan’s table lists them from p. 11 ↗.
Goal 2All students will achieve personal wellness through supportive and engaging school environments that fosters…$2.5 million43% of action budgets
“All students will achieve personal wellness through supportive and engaging school environments that fosters health, happiness, and collaboration between our schools and families” p. 23 ↗
4 funded actions · 2025–26 plan: $2.2 million (+$284,121)
Largest funded actions
Coordinated Counseling, Social-Emotional Learning, and Mental Health Services$2.4 millionaction 2.1 · p. 49 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need services · of which $1.7 million is state funding counted toward those services
Healthy School Attendance Culture$0.1 millionaction 2.3 · p. 49 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need services
First Generation Counselorunder $0.1 millionaction 2.4 · p. 49 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need services
Long Term English Learner (LTELS) Supportsunder $0.1 millionaction 2.2 · p. 49 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need services
Changes from last year’s plan, same title
Coordinated Counseling, Social-Emotional Learning, and Mental Health Services+$0.3 million$2.1 million → $2.4 million · p. 49 ↗
First Generation Counselor+$4,004$39,598 → $43,602 · p. 49 ↗
Healthy School Attendance Culture+$3,049$57,480 → $60,529 · p. 49 ↗
Every other line in this goal, against last year’s plan
Long Term English Learner (LTELS) Supports · $5,000 → $5,000 · p. 49 ↗unchanged
How the plan measures it · 10 measures
None of these has an all-students line we can quote; the plan’s table lists them from p. 23 ↗.
Goal 3All staff will engage in valuable, high-quality professional learning that assists them in meeting the…$55,0001% of action budgets
“All staff will engage in valuable, high-quality professional learning that assists them in meeting the district’s academic and social-emotional goals” p. 35 ↗
Professional Learning - Instructional Strategies and Student Supports$50,000action 3.1 · p. 49 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need services · of which $6,449 is state funding counted toward those services
Multi-sensory Structured Literacy Training$5,000action 3.2 · p. 49 ↗
Changes from last year’s plan, same title
Professional Learning - Instructional Strategies and Student Supports+$25,000$25,000 → $50,000 · p. 49 ↗
Multi-sensory Structured Literacy Training−$6,000$11,000 → $5,000 · p. 49 ↗
How the plan measures it · 2 measures
None of these has an all-students line we can quote; the plan’s table lists them from p. 35 ↗.
All amounts are planned. We read them from the PDF and added up each goal’s actions ourselves. Page links open the plan at that page.
Who goes to the district’s schools
Who attends
Student mix
2024–25 · October enrollment count, 2,157 students
1White62%
2Hispanic or Latino21%
3Two or more races10%
4Asian4%
5Not reported3%
6Black or African American<1%
7Filipino<1%
8American Indian or Alaska Native<1%
9Pacific Islander<1%
Shares use the district's own October enrollment counts from the CDE, including its charter schools.
Free or reduced-price meals
18%
Across California, 63% of students qualify.
2024–25 · 389 of 2,152 students qualify, summed from the CDE’s meal counts for every school it lists under the district, charters included. It comes from a different CDE file than the student mix, so the two totals differ.
The district’s state records
Is the state giving the district extra help?
Carmel Unified isn’t getting extra state help in 2026, only the standard support every district gets.
How English learners moved up on the state’s English test
From spring 2025 to spring 2026, 64% of the district’s English learners moved up at least one level on the state’s English test (ELPAC), or stayed at the top (23 of 36 students). California: 47%. It counts students moving up the test’s levels, so a student can count here before becoming fluent.
Which public schools in Carmel Unified rank highest?
Elementary: Carmel River Elementary, 90th percentile (Strong). Middle: Carmel Middle, 80th percentile (Strong). High: Carmel High, 94th percentile (Strong). Each percentile is among the California schools at the same level we score. A rank doesn’t decide fit or whether a child can enroll.
Does living in the Carmel Unified district decide which school my child attends?
Not by itself. Attendance boundaries, programs, transfers and space all matter. Confirm the school for your address, grade and program with the district.
More questions (4)
Are the public schools in Carmel Unified good?
Carmel Unified’s 2 public elementary schools run from the 79th to the 90th percentile among the 5,726 California elementary schools we score (spring 2026 tests). By band: 2 Strong. Carmel Unified has one public middle school we score, Carmel Middle, at the 80th percentile among the 2,529 California middle schools we score (spring 2026 tests). By band: 1 Strong. Carmel Unified has one public high school we score, Carmel High, at the 94th percentile among the 1,498 California high schools we score (spring 2025 tests). By band: 1 Strong. A percentile compares a school with California public schools at the same level that we score. How we score schools.
How much does Carmel Unified spend per student?
Carmel Unified spent $39,895 per student in the 2024–25 school year. The typical California district spent $20,491. About 58 cents of every Carmel Unified dollar went to classroom instruction. Day-to-day spending per student in average daily attendance, from its annual financial report to the California Department of Education. The district’s spending, by function.
What is in Carmel Unified’s 2026–27 spending plan?
The district’s 2026–27 spending plan puts $5.9 million into 13 funded actions in 3 goals, 6% of its $93.0 million general fund budget. Its largest goal holds $3.3 million, 56% of the action budgets. The 2026–27 plan, goal by goal.
Where do these results come from?
California’s state tests (CAASPP): spring 2026 for elementary and middle schools, spring 2025 for high schools, and chronic-absence rates for 2025–26, published by the California Department of Education. Percentiles, bands and Scope Scores are SchoolScope’s calculations. How we score schools.
Sources and methodology
This page lists the public schools governed and funded by Carmel Unified, with the district’s spending and state accountability records.
Data source: California Department of Education · CAASPP 2025–26 elementary and middle school; 2024–25 high school
Percentiles, bands and Scope Scores are SchoolScope’s own calculations from these state files.