Citrus Springs Charter, Santa Ana CA

Original Research by School Decision on Citrus Springs Charter

Citrus Springs Charter is a kindergarten-through-twelfth-grade charter school located in Santa Ana, a dense, culturally diverse urban center that is Orange County's seat of government. The school serves about five hundred students across a large age span on a single campus, making it a small to mid-sized school for its grade band.

The student body reflects Santa Ana itself. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Ethnically, the enrollment is majority Hispanic, with meaningful populations of white, Asian, and African American students, plus smaller groups of multiracial and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander students. The school does not report separate enrollment counts for English learners or students with IEPs, so detailed data on those populations was not available.

On California state assessments administered in early 2025, Citrus Springs' results show a pattern of greater strength in English language arts than in mathematics. In ELA, proficiency across tested grades ranged from near one-half of students to above that mark, with grade five performing strongest. In mathematics, proficiency was substantially lower, ranging from around one-fifth in grade five to slightly above one-third in grades three, four, and eight. Science testing data for the full cohort was suppressed. Within Orange County's 27 charter and traditional schools where comparable proficiency data are available, Citrus Springs sits in the bottom quartile overall. These results suggest a parent may want to look into the school's instructional approach in mathematics and discuss with leadership what support systems are in place for students working below grade-level proficiency.

The school operates within Springs Charter Schools, a multisite network. Recent changes include the launch in 2024-2025 of Connections Academy at Springs, a tuition-free online public charter program for students in kindergarten through tenth grade across Southern California counties including Orange. At the Santa Ana campus specifically, a new classical-education program for homeschool students in transitional kindergarten through eighth grade started, offering a two-day-per-week classroom component focused on science, history, and enrichment on a four-year cycle. Additionally, a second charter, Orange Springs Charter School, now operates at the same North Grand Avenue address under the same governing board, broadening program pathways at the site. These additions reflect the network's expansion of learning modalities and pedagogical options in Santa Ana.

Santa Ana itself is undergoing substantial development. The city is actively redeveloping downtown with major mixed-use projects and housing construction. Downtown carries real street life, with Fourth Street (Calle Cuatro) serving as a commercial and cultural spine featuring galleries, restaurants, bars, and a food market. The broader city is less walkable and requires a car, though downtown and its immediate surroundings are relatively pedestrian-friendly. The city is a major employment hub dominated by county, state, and federal government offices, in addition to healthcare, education, and logistics sectors. Housing values in the 92705 zip code where the school is located are substantial relative to state and national benchmarks. The region's economy shows a moderate unemployment rate with median household income in the mid-range for the country.

The school's kindergarten enrollment is notably larger than its upper grade populations, which taper significantly through high school. This profile, combined with the school's charter status and small twelfth-grade cohort of just a few students, suggests that most students transition to other schools before graduation or that this campus does not serve as a traditional high school destination. Parents should confirm with the school directly what pathways exist for students in the upper grades and whether the school maintains a four-year high school experience on site.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

Not publicly reportedCohort of 3 students · Class of 2021

The federal source does not publish a graduation rate for cohorts this small. The cohort size is shown for context.

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

2,394 schools plotted. 142 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 337%

School 37% · district not reported

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 436%

School 36% · district not reported

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 521%

School 21% · district not reported

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 629%

School 29% · district not reported

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 734%

School 34% · district not reported

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Grade 837%

School 37% · district not reported

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 351%

School 51% · district not reported

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 436%

School 36% · district not reported

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 562%

School 62% · district not reported

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 650%

School 50% · district not reported

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 747%

School 47% · district not reported

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 855%

School 55% · district not reported

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Science

Grade 538%

School 38% · district not reported

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 837%

School 37% · district not reported

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

This schoolDistrict average, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income27%Higher-income78%51 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income29%Higher-income58%30 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income44%Higher-income91%47 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income46%Higher-income57%11 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income50%Higher-income42%8 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income39%Higher-income82%43 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income19%Higher-income57%37 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income37%Higher-income33%4 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income6%Higher-income46%40 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income21%Higher-income43%22 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income25%Higher-income50%25 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income32%Higher-income46%14 pp gap