The top reported proficiency rate is 70% in Math. The lowest is 55% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Moulton Elementary
Moulton Elementary sits on Highlands Avenue in Laguna Niguel, a largely built-out master-planned community in South Orange County that functions primarily as a residential hub. The city grew from ranch land into one of California's first master-planned communities and today offers housing ranging from condos and townhomes to gated enclaves and custom estates. More than a third of the city's land is designated open space, and the texture of daily life here runs through parks, trails, and hillside terrain rather than a walkable commercial core. Laguna Niguel has historically lacked a traditional downtown, with civic and retail life spread across separated plazas, though a mixed-use City Center project adjacent to City Hall was publicly reported to be under development, intended to create that kind of concentrated urban environment for the first time. Most residents commute to job centers elsewhere in the county; the city is car-dependent by any reasonable measure.
The housing market context matters for any family considering a move here. Typical home values sit dramatically above both the California statewide median and the national median, and estimated monthly ownership costs run at a level that implies a very high income threshold. Rents, too, are substantially above national norms, with a rent-to-income burden that publicly reported data places at roughly half of gross income. Year-over-year home values have risen modestly. This is one of the more expensive residential markets among Orange County school communities.
Moulton is a mid-sized elementary school serving kindergarten through fifth grade within Capistrano Unified. The enrollment is spread fairly evenly across grade levels. White students make up a clear majority of the student body, with Hispanic students representing the next largest group, followed by students of two or more races and Asian students. Roughly more than a quarter of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals, a share that sits below the California average. Data on English learner counts and students with IEPs were not available in the records we reviewed.
On the 2024-25 California CAASPP assessments, Moulton's third and fourth graders posted strong reading and math results, with rates well above what is typical statewide. Fifth-grade results were lower in both subjects, a gap a parent may want to ask the school about directly. Science results for fifth graders, measured on the California Science Test, came in somewhat below the school's ELA and math performance for that same grade. Across all tested grades combined, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile relative to districts in Orange County, a real strength. Only one year of data was available, so trend information cannot be drawn.
Because Moulton serves only grades kindergarten through five, it has no graduation rate, AP coursework, or dual-enrollment pathways; those metrics simply do not apply at this level.
Capistrano Unified, the parent district, carries two parent-relevant policy contexts worth knowing. In October 2023, the board rejected a proposed parental notification policy that critics said could have required staff to out transgender students to their families; the board voted it down five to two. Publicly reported coverage noted this distinguished Capistrano Unified from several other Orange County districts that adopted similar measures. Families with opinions on either side of that question will want to factor it in. Separately, the district has struggled to pass school facility bonds for many years, with voters and the board declining multiple measures in recent cycles. No local facilities funding measure has passed since the mid-2000s according to publicly reported accounts, which means aging campuses across the district await modernization without a dedicated local capital fund behind them.
Program details for Moulton specifically were not available in the data we reviewed, so a parent interested in enrichment offerings, intervention supports, or specific instructional approaches should contact the school directly.
See more original research from School Decision →