Marblehead Elementary, San Clemente CA

Original Research by School Decision on Marblehead Elementary

Marblehead Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in San Clemente's inland Marblehead area, one of the coastal city's growth zones. The school sits in an affluent, master-planned residential neighborhood near newer luxury housing and the Outlets mall, east of Interstate 5. With an enrollment of small size for the grade band, the school draws from a community where just under half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate higher than the wealth level of the surrounding neighborhood might suggest.

The student body is predominantly white, with a substantial Hispanic enrollment and smaller Asian and multiracial populations. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not provided. The school itself is a regular public school with no magnet or charter status.

On the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) from the most recent school year, proficiency rates tell a mixed picture. In English language arts across grades three through five, roughly half of all students tested showed proficiency. The third-grade class posted the strongest results in ELA, while fourth and fifth grades fell below that level. Math proficiency was materially lower, with about a third of students testing as proficient overall. Fifth-grade math was particularly low. Science results from the California Science Test in fifth grade showed proficiency below that in math and ELA. A parent may want to look into what curriculum and support structures are in place, especially in upper elementary math and science, and whether the school is seeing these results as a signal for instructional shifts.

When compared to the sample of schools across Orange County districts, Marblehead Elementary's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile. This reflects the gap between the affluent neighborhood and the school's academic performance, a pattern worth exploring directly with school leadership.

The school has only the single year of testing data available, so no trend or change information can be read. The six-grade enrollment spans from a small kindergarten class through a larger fifth-grade cohort, with mid-range sizes in the primary grades.

The Marblehead area itself is a newly built coastal-facing master-planned community with public parks, nature trails, and upscale housing that has welcomed residents in recent years. The broader city of San Clemente is organized around a beach and downtown pier area, with a flat, scenic trail network that anchors civic life. Schools, however, sit on separated campuses away from the downtown core, including this elementary school in the inland residential district. The district's most recent policy decision of note was a 2023 rejection of a parental notification policy that critics said could have led to students being outed as transgender, a position that distinguishes Capistrano Unified from several neighboring Orange County districts.

Housing in the 92673 zip code is high-priced, with median home values substantially above state and national benchmarks. Rental prices have risen modestly. The local economy is anchored by medical device and consumer technology companies, along with retail and public-sector employment.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 346%

School 46% · District 69% · ▼ 23 pts below district

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

Grade 448%

School 48% · District 70% · ▼ 23 pts below district

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

Grade 515%

School 15% · District 61% · ▼ 45 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 31 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 362%

School 62% · District 67% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 446%

School 46% · District 71% · ▼ 25 pts below district

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

Grade 536%

School 36% · District 71% · ▼ 35 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Science

Grade 521%

School 21% · District 54% · ▼ 33 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

This schoolCapistrano Unified, 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-income64%Higher-income61%3 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income8%Higher-income55%47 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income33%Higher-income52%19 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income0%Higher-income25%25 pp gap