Ada W. Harris Elementary, Cardiff-by-the-sea CA

Original Research by School Decision on Ada W. Harris Elementary

Ada W. Harris Elementary is a small public school serving grades three through six in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, a compact coastal village within Encinitas in North County San Diego. The school sits inland on Montgomery Avenue, in a community organized around a walkable village center along Coast Highway and anchored by beaches, a major lagoon ecological reserve, and a tight-knit residential character shaped by surf culture and a small-town feel distinct from busier parts of the region.

The school's academic results show solid proficiency in English language arts across its grades, with upper-grade strength especially evident in grade six. In math, the pattern is more variable: grade three and grade six perform at a level reflecting the upper half of schools in the county, while grades four and five show notably lower proficiency. In the single grade tested for science, grade five proficiency sits in the middle range. Overall, the school's mean proficiency across tested subjects and grades places it in the top quartile among schools in San Diego County, which is a genuine strength. This reflects a student body and school environment that supports solid learning outcomes on average, though parents should note that math proficiency narrows considerably in the middle grades here.

The student population is small, with enrollment distributed evenly across the four grades served. The community is predominantly white and mixed-race, with a smaller Hispanic presence and very small Asian, Black, and Native American enrollment. Only a modest share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, consistent with Cardiff's character as an affluent coastal neighborhood where housing values and rents are substantially above regional and national medians. In this zip code, home prices sit in a high range, and monthly rents exceed typical mortgage payments, reflecting tight supply and strong demand in a built-out community that has largely resisted large new development.

The school is part of the Cardiff Elementary School District, a small, locally funded district serving only grades K-6 through two schools: Cardiff School for kindergarten through grade two and Ada Harris for grades three through six. As a basic aid or community-funded district (financed mainly by local property taxes rather than state allocations), Cardiff has substantial local wealth but also faces its own fiscal constraints. In recent years the district completed a major campus rebuild of Cardiff School funded by a bond measure and supplemented by local borrowing, resulting in modernized facilities that families today experience directly. However, that capital program created long-term debt obligations for Cardiff property owners. The district has also declined to offer Transitional Kindergarten despite state implementation timelines, reasoning that without dedicated state funding for basic aid districts, offering TK would divert resources from existing programs like arts, STEM, and small class sizes that families in this community value.

For families with children in grades three through six, Ada Harris offers the neighborhood's elementary pathway for this grade band. Older students continue to the regional San Dieguito Union High School District for middle and high school. The school's setting is walkable and bikeable within the community, close to the lagoon trails, beaches, and the town's small commercial core, reflecting Cardiff's character as a place where outdoor life and community connection are central to daily experience.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 376%

School 76% · District 76%

▲ 33 pts above state median · ▲ 28 pts above county median

Grade 467%

School 67% · District 67%

▲ 30 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Grade 554%

School 54% · District 54%

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Grade 678%

School 78% · District 78%

▲ 47 pts above state median · ▲ 42 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 370%

School 70% · District 70%

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

Grade 480%

School 80% · District 80%

▲ 37 pts above state median · ▲ 31 pts above county median

Grade 575%

School 75% · District 75%

▲ 30 pts above state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

Grade 684%

School 84% · District 84%

▲ 40 pts above state median · ▲ 32 pts above county median

Science

Grade 555%

School 55% · District 55%

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

This schoolCardiff Elementary, 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 4Lower-income64%Higher-income81%18 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income44%Higher-income83%39 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income55%Higher-income68%14 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income13%Higher-income64%51 pp gap