Soquel Union Elementary runs schools through 8th grade. Its 3 public elementary schools run from the 40th to the 72nd percentile among the 5,726 California elementary schools we score (spring 2026 tests). High school is run by another district; confirm the school for your address with the district.
K5Elementary
68Middle
912High
Soquel Union Elementary · grades K–8
Another district · grades 9–12
Elementary · 3 schools
from 40th to 72nd · among 5,726 California elementary schools we score · spring 2026 tests
Main Street Elementary: 72nd percentile, Solid
Santa Cruz Gardens Elementary: 68th percentile, Solid
Soquel Elementary: 40th percentile, Developing
0Needs Support
1Developing
2Solid
0Strong
Middle · 1 school
at 58th · among 2,529 California middle schools we score · spring 2026 tests
New Brighton Middle: 58th percentile, Solid
0Needs Support
0Developing
1Solid
0Strong
← lower percentilehigher →
One dot per school. Each stage is placed only among California schools at its own level.
Schools around the Soquel Union Elementary district
The average elementary school in the Soquel Union Elementary district had 10 in 100 students chronically absent (missed 10% or more of school days) in 2025–26; the average California elementary school we score had 17 in 100. Both are averages of school rates, each school counted once.
Middle schools
Where does the middle school we score in the Soquel Union Elementary district stand?
New Brighton Middle is at the 58th percentile.
That’s higher than 58 in 100 of the 2,529 California middle schools we score (spring 2026 tests). It’s the only public middle school we score in Soquel Union Elementary.
Each percentile compares a school with California schools at its own level.
Where does Soquel Union Elementary’s money go, and what does it plan?
The Soquel Union Elementary district spent $16,790 per student in the 2024–25 school year.
The typical California district spent $20,491. About 61 cents of every Soquel Union Elementary 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
Instruction61%
Instruction support13%
Student services7%
Administration9%
Buildings & maintenance10%
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
$2.4 million
planned in its 2026–27 plan for 28 funded actions in 4 goals. That’s 10% of its $24.3 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, 120 pages), as posted to the California School Dashboard.
Where the money goes
Three actions take 67% of the money. The plan itself puts 69% of it toward staff.
Personnel-Counseling and Wellness Supports $620,816
7 of the plan’s 28 funded actions name reading, math, catch-up help or English learners in their titles.
Actions whose titles name reading, math, catch-up help or English learners
Reading $12,500
Math $8,500
Catch-up help $258,919
English learners $502,717
An action naming two of these appears under both.
Largest of these
Personnel - EL Specialists (4 FTE)$481,217
Personnel-Intervention Teachers$254,419
Instructional Materials-Dual Language Immersion$17,000
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 $1.2 million in extra services for English learners, low-income students and foster youth. For 2025–26, it planned $1.2 million and estimates it spent $1.2 million, the same as planned.
$1.2 million spent (estimated)$1.2 million planned
What changed
The total is $235,303 (11%) higher than in the 2025–26 plan. The biggest change in dollars is Personnel Hourly (ELOP rate) Expanded Learning Opportunities, which went from $336,750 to $500,000.
Largest cuts
Personnel - Campus Supervisor−$18,875
Instructional Materials-Dual Language Immersion−$13,000
Personnel-Counseling and Wellness Supports$620,816
Instructional Materials - Supplemental Math Fluency and Math Thinking Classrooms$8,500
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
Math, every tested grade: Proficient or Advanced in 2025–26, met or exceeded in 2024–25Goal 2
42%
39%
down 3 pts
Chronically absentCounted across all the district’s students, not averaged by schoolGoal 3
12 in 100
11 in 100
1 fewer in 100
Suspended at least onceGoal 3
0.8%
0.5%
down 0.3 pts
Goals 1 and 4 aren’t shown because they track 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
Personnel-Counseling and Wellness Supports · $620,816
not compared: unconfirmed, or repeated across goals
Every goal, in the plan’s order
Goal 1All students receive equitable, inclusive, culturally responsive, and rigorous high-quality classroom…$245,84810% of action budgets
“All students receive equitable, inclusive, culturally responsive, and rigorous high-quality classroom instruction with a standards-based curriculum that promotes life, college, and/or career readiness” p. 23 ↗
None of these has an all-students line we can quote; the plan’s table lists them from p. 23 ↗.
Goal 2Through the use of data, identify research-based classroom differentiated instructional strategies…$1.3 million56% of action budgets
“Through the use of data, identify research-based classroom differentiated instructional strategies, professional development, and systemic, equitable, inclusive, and culturally responsive supports needed to close present and predictable achievement gaps, with specific attention to unduplicated students” p. 38 ↗
13 funded actions · 2025–26 plan: $1.1 million (+$208,308)
Personnel - EL Specialists (4 FTE)$481,217action 2.2 · p. 76 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need services · of which $419,803 is state funding counted toward those services
Personnel-Intervention Teachers$254,419action 2.3 · p. 76 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need services · of which $163,452 is state funding counted toward those services
Professional Development-Conferences$35,000action 2.11 · p. 77 ↗
Instructional Materials-ELOP$24,000action 2.14 · p. 77 ↗
8 more funded actions in this goal
Professional Development - DLI · action 2.7 · p. 76 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need services$12,000
Professional Development-Instructional Materials · action 2.4 · p. 76 ↗$8,400
Increased Access to Career and Technical Education · action 2.15 · p. 77 ↗$6,000
Professional Development - Improved Instructional Practices · action 2.5 · p. 76 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need services$5,000
Intervention and ELD Curriculum · action 2.9 · p. 76 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need services$4,500
Personnel / Sub-release Stewardship Lead Team Collaboration · action 2.10 · p. 76 ↗$4,000
Personnel-Counseling and Wellness Supports$620,816action 3.4 · p. 77 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need services · of which $437,478 is state funding counted toward those services
Personnel - Campus Supervisor$115,245action 3.2 · p. 77 ↗
Outdoor Education$15,927action 3.1 · p. 77 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need services
Changes from last year’s plan, same title
Personnel - Campus Supervisor−$18,875$134,120 → $115,245 · p. 77 ↗
Outdoor Education−$2,228$18,155 → $15,927 · p. 77 ↗
Every other line in this goal, against last year’s plan
Personnel-Counseling and Wellness Supports · $620,816 · p. 77 ↗new or renamed
A reworded title counts as new.
How the plan measures it · 7 measures
None of these has an all-students line we can quote; the plan’s table lists them from p. 56 ↗.
Goal 4All schools will engage the entire community of staff, students, and families, in strengths-oriented…$57,5002% of action budgets
“All schools will engage the entire community of staff, students, and families, in strengths-oriented partnerships that support learning for all” p. 62 ↗
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, 1,520 students
1White53%
2Hispanic or Latino36%
3Two or more races7%
4Asian2%
5Black or African American<1%
6Filipino<1%
7Pacific Islander<1%
8American Indian or Alaska Native<1%
9Not reported<1%
Shares use the district's own October enrollment counts from the CDE, including its charter schools.
Free or reduced-price meals
31%
Across California, 63% of students qualify.
2024–25 · 472 of 1,519 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?
The state is giving Soquel Union Elementary extra help in 2026. A student group had the Dashboard’s lowest results (red) on two or more measures three years in a row.
Which students, on which measures
Students with disabilities
English and math
How English learners moved up on the state’s English test
From spring 2025 to spring 2026, 42% of the district’s English learners moved up at least one level on the state’s English test (ELPAC), or stayed at the top (49 of 116 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 the Soquel Union Elementary district rank highest?
Elementary: Main Street Elementary, 72nd percentile (Solid). Middle: New Brighton Middle, 58th percentile (Solid). 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 Soquel Union Elementary 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 (5)
Are the public schools in the Soquel Union Elementary district good?
Soquel Union Elementary’s 3 public elementary schools run from the 40th to the 72nd percentile among the 5,726 California elementary schools we score (spring 2026 tests). By band: 2 Solid and 1 Developing. Soquel Union Elementary has one public middle school we score, New Brighton Middle, at the 58th percentile among the 2,529 California middle schools we score (spring 2026 tests). By band: 1 Solid. A percentile compares a school with California public schools at the same level that we score. How we score schools.
How does chronic absence in the Soquel Union Elementary district compare with California?
The average elementary school in the Soquel Union Elementary district had 10 in 100 students chronically absent (missed 10% or more of school days) in 2025–26; the average California elementary school we score had 17 in 100. Both are averages of school rates, each school counted once. These are averages of school rates: each school counts once, whatever its size.
How much does the Soquel Union Elementary district spend per student?
The Soquel Union Elementary district spent $16,790 per student in the 2024–25 school year. The typical California district spent $20,491. About 61 cents of every Soquel Union Elementary 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 the Soquel Union Elementary district’s 2026–27 spending plan?
The district’s 2026–27 spending plan puts $2.4 million into 28 funded actions in 4 goals, 10% of its $24.3 million general fund budget. Its largest goal holds $1.3 million, 56% of the action budgets. The 2026–27 plan, goal by goal.
Where do these results come from?
California’s state tests (CAASPP) from spring 2026 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 the Soquel Union Elementary district, with the district’s spending and state accountability records.
Data source: California Department of Education · CAASPP 2025–26
Percentiles, bands and Scope Scores are SchoolScope’s own calculations from these state files.