Martin Luther King, Seaside CA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King Elementary, serving kindergarten through sixth grade in Seaside, is a school where the vast majority of students come from low-income households and nearly all are Hispanic or Latino. The enrollment is modest and stable across the grade band, with a notably high concentration of economically disadvantaged students.

Academic performance is weak across all tested subjects and grade levels. On the most recent state assessments, proficiency in math ranges from low single digits in fifth grade to roughly one in six students in third grade. English language arts shows a slight upward slope by grade, with around one in five students proficient in grades three and four, climbing to about one in four in fifth grade and approaching four in ten in sixth grade. Science proficiency in fifth grade is also very low. These results place the school well below the median for proficiency among Monterey County districts, in the bottom quartile countywide.

The school has no reported data on English learner enrollment, special education enrollment, or services, so a parent may want to look into those resources directly with the school to understand what support is available for students who need it. Similarly, chronic absenteeism data was not available.

Seaside sits on the coast of the Monterey Peninsula in an area where housing values are comparatively high relative to median income, and rental costs consume a substantial share of household spending. The median household income in the region exceeds national benchmarks, yet the housing-to-income ratio remains steep. The district has recently undergone significant change. Voters approved Measure A in 2024, a general obligation bond to modernize facilities, expand career technical education, and build staff and teacher housing. Prior to that, the district carried out a consolidation that closed three schools over two years, redrew attendance boundaries affecting hundreds of students, and expanded two schools to become kindergarten-through-eighth configurations. The district also adopted new English language arts curricula in middle school beginning 2023-24 and rolled out a dyslexia screening tool for early grades in 2025.

A family considering Martin Luther King would be choosing a school where the academic challenge is substantial, where resources and attention from the district may be stretched across consolidation and rebuilding, and where the surrounding housing market is expensive relative to typical household resources. A parent would benefit from a direct conversation with the school about current staffing, English learner and special education supports, attendance patterns, and plans to raise proficiency in foundational skills.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 312%

School 12% · District 37% · ▼ 25 pts below district

▼ 31 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Grade 416%

School 16% · District 34% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 55%

School 5% · District 23% · ▼ 18 pts below district

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

Grade 613%

School 13% · District 34% · ▼ 20 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 314%

School 14% · District 37% · ▼ 23 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 415%

School 15% · District 36% · ▼ 20 pts below district

▼ 27 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 524%

School 24% · District 39% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 639%

School 39% · District 44% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Science

Grade 56%

School 6% · District 27% · ▼ 20 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 820%

School 20% · District 45% · ▼ 25 pts below district

▼ 29 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

This schoolMonterey Peninsula 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-income12%Higher-income27%15 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income29%Higher-income60%31 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income34%Higher-income44%10 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income11%Higher-income18%7 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income5%Higher-income0%5 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income29%Higher-income36%7 pp gap