Loma Portal Elementary, San Diego CA

Original Research by School Decision on Loma Portal Elementary

Loma Portal Elementary serves kindergarten through fourth grade in the Browning Street corridor of San Diego, in the neighborhood's residential pocket. The school enrolls about three hundred seventy students across its five grades, with roughly a third qualified for free or reduced-price lunch.

The student body is predominantly white, with meaningful representation from Hispanic and multiracial families and smaller populations of Asian and Black students. Specific data on English learners and students with IEPs were not available in the school's reporting, so a parent may want to contact the school directly about the scope and nature of those services.

On the most recent California state assessments, Loma Portal's proficiency rates in English language arts and math sit in the top quartile among elementary schools in San Diego County. In English language arts across grades three and four, proficiency runs at roughly above the midpoint. In math, third grade proficiency is somewhat higher while fourth grade is lower, suggesting variation across the grade span that may reflect different instructional approaches or incoming student readiness. Overall, the school's proficiency index places it well ahead of the median elementary school in the county.

This is a regular public elementary school within San Diego Unified. The district recently overhauled its grading approach for secondary grades, shifting to standards-based grading that emphasizes demonstrated mastery and separates academic grades from behavioral or effort factors; that change does not yet apply to Loma Portal's grade band, but families should be aware it will shape the transition when their child reaches middle school. The district also made ethnic studies a high school graduation requirement, beginning with the class of 2024.

The housing market around the school reflects San Diego County's broad characteristics: home values in the area are substantial, and monthly rental rates align with the broader regional picture. Mortgage affordability remains tight relative to local incomes. Families considering Loma Portal should understand that the school sits within an established neighborhood with stable home values and that the cost of living in this part of San Diego reflects county-wide patterns.

One year of proficiency data limits what can be said about trends. The school shows solid performance on tested grades and subjects, but a parent interested in understanding whether performance is rising, stable, or shifting would need to seek more recent or historical data directly from the school or district.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 363%

School 63% · District 55% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 457%

School 57% · District 50% · ▲ 7 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 355%

School 55% · District 53% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 468%

School 68% · District 54% · ▲ 14 pts above district

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

This schoolSan Diego 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-income24%Higher-income65%42 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income44%Higher-income78%34 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income33%Higher-income74%40 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income38%Higher-income64%27 pp gap