Cayucos Elementary, Cayucos CA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Cayucos Elementary

Cayucos Elementary serves kindergarten through eighth grade in a small, tight-knit coastal community on California's Central Coast. The school sits within the town itself rather than on a separate campus, making it integral to the daily fabric of this unincorporated hamlet between Morro Bay and Cambria.

The school's enrollment is small, with roughly even distribution across grades, ranging from about low teens to mid-twenties per grade. The student body is predominantly white, with a meaningful Hispanic population and smaller numbers of multiracial students. About a quarter of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, suggesting moderate economic diversity within the community. Specific counts for students with individualized education plans or English learners are not available in the public record.

Test performance shows a profile of mixed and inconsistent results across grade levels and subjects. In English language arts, the school shows broad proficiency in the middle grades (sixth and seventh grades around the sixty to seventy percent range) with stronger results in third grade but somewhat lower results by seventh grade. Math tells a more complicated story. Third grade proficiency is notably strong, but performance drops sharply in fourth and fifth grades to around fifty percent, remains flat through sixth grade, and then falls considerably in seventh and eighth grades, with eighth grade math proficiency particularly low. In science, fifth grade shows solid proficiency while eighth grade is considerably weaker. The school's overall proficiency index across tested subjects and grades places it in the top quartile of districts in San Luis Obispo County, suggesting it performs better than most of its neighbors despite the challenging eighth-grade numbers.

The trajectory of performance across middle school grades, especially in math, warrants attention. A parent may want to ask the school directly about what instructional approaches and supports are in place for eighth-grade mathematics, and whether there are identifiable factors affecting that particular cohort.

Cayucos is a preserved coastal community with a retiree-heavy population and slow growth. The town centers on a walkable downtown with the historic pier and beach at its core. Housing is older and expensive relative to state and national benchmarks, with financing costs substantially above typical monthly rents in the area. The economy rests on tourism, hospitality, and local services rather than major employers. The school itself is one of very few civic anchors in the community alongside the library and senior center. This is a setting oriented toward families who value a small-town coastal lifestyle and proximity to the beach, with the understanding that the school is deeply embedded in that community rather than a specialized or choice-based option.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 383%

School 83% · District 83%

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

Grade 450%

School 50% · District 50%

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 552%

School 52% · District 52%

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

Grade 654%

School 54% · District 54%

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

Grade 758%

School 58% · District 58%

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

Grade 832%

School 32% · District 32%

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 378%

School 78% · District 78%

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

Grade 468%

School 68% · District 68%

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

Grade 567%

School 67% · District 67%

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 669%

School 69% · District 69%

▲ 25 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 760%

School 60% · District 60%

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 868%

School 68% · District 68%

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

Science

Grade 571%

School 71% · District 71%

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

Grade 842%

School 42% · District 42%

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 862%

School 62% · District 62%

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

This schoolCayucos 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.