The reported proficiency rate for Social studies is 33%.
Original Research by School Decision on Santa Margarita Academy
Santa Margarita Academy is a small alternative school serving grades four through eight in Fallbrook, a semi-rural, avocado-growing community in northwest San Diego County. The school is part of Fallbrook Union Elementary School District, which has made distinctive shifts in its approach to teaching and learning in recent years.
The most striking fact about Santa Margarita Academy right now is that it enrolls a very small number of students; current data shows only one student on campus. State testing results for math, English language arts, and science are suppressed due to the small enrollment, which means no proficiency numbers are available to review. The school did have eighth-grade social studies data from an older state assessment (from 2012-13), but that is too far in the past to give a meaningful picture of current performance. A parent interested in this school would need to contact the school directly to understand what instruction looks like, what the peer environment and class composition are, and how students are progressing academically.
The school sits within the Fallbrook Union Elementary School District, which has recently embraced The Leader in Me, a social-emotional learning framework based on the 7 Habits, and has earned recognition as the first National Lighthouse School District in the United States. This approach to school culture and student leadership now shapes teaching across all of the district's schools, including Santa Margarita Academy. At the same time, the district has expanded its program offerings by launching a dual-language program, a STEM-based academy, a virtual academy, and a homeschool academy, giving families multiple instructional pathways.
Fallbrook itself is a tight-knit community with a strong rural identity and character. The town centers on a walkable historic downtown along Main Avenue, with a farmers market, art galleries, antique shops, cafes, and civic anchors like the library and Live Oak Park. Outside the downtown, the landscape is agricultural and estate-oriented, with large properties, oak trees, and equestrian land. The local economy is rooted in the avocado industry, nurseries and floriculture, and small business. Housing in the zip code is expensive relative to regional income, and the market has been rising, though rents have grown slightly. The community is actively developing with new master-planned neighborhoods and infill housing.
Santa Margarita Academy's current enrollment is so small that a prospective family would want to have a detailed conversation with school leadership about the nature of the alternative program, the types of students it serves, the teaching model, and the student experience. Standard state test data cannot provide that picture at this enrollment level.
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