Romero-cruz Academy, Santa Ana CA

Original Research by School Decision on Romero-cruz Academy

Romero-Cruz Academy is a public elementary-middle school serving kindergarten through eighth grade in Santa Ana. The school enrolled a small student body, with particularly sparse numbers in the upper elementary grades and much larger cohorts in the middle school grades.

The student population is predominantly Hispanic, at a very high share of enrollment. A large majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating substantial economic need. State test data on English learner and special education enrollment was not available, which is a gap a parent may want to explore directly with the school.

Academic performance across the school is very low. On the 2024-25 CAASPP assessment, overall proficiency in math was in the single digits, and in English language arts it was also very low at around one in ten students meeting grade-level standards. Within individual grades, math proficiency ranged from about one in fifteen students (grade five) to about one in eight (grade three), while ELA proficiency ranged from one in twenty (grade four) to about one in four (grade five, an outlier year). Science proficiency on the state assessment was even lower, with only a handful of students meeting standards in grades five and eight. When positioned against districts across Orange County, the school's proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile.

The school is located on West Fifth Street in a part of Santa Ana undergoing significant development and redevelopment activity. Santa Ana itself is the urban core and county seat of Orange County, shaped by a large Mexican-American and Vietnamese population, with dense residential neighborhoods, an active downtown with cultural institutions and street life, and a major industrial and logistics footprint. The city is in an active growth phase with substantial new housing and mixed-use development underway. Housing values in the area are substantial for the region, and rental costs run high relative to median household income, which may reflect competitive demand as the city transforms. Families considering this school would need to weigh the very low test results against any other factors they value in a school community, and it would be worth asking the school directly about their improvement plans, staffing, and any specialized programs or approaches they use.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 311%

School 11% · District 26% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 32 pts below state median · ▼ 46 pts below county median

Grade 411%

School 11% · District 25% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 27 pts below state median · ▼ 43 pts below county median

Grade 57%

School 7% · District 22% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 39 pts below county median

Grade 65%

School 5% · District 20% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 41 pts below county median

Grade 712%

School 12% · District 20% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 37 pts below county median

Grade 812%

School 12% · District 21% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 36 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 35%

School 5% · District 25% · ▼ 20 pts below district

▼ 35 pts below state median · ▼ 45 pts below county median

Grade 44%

School 4% · District 31% · ▼ 27 pts below district

▼ 38 pts below state median · ▼ 50 pts below county median

Grade 524%

School 24% · District 34% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 34 pts below county median

Grade 66%

School 6% · District 30% · ▼ 24 pts below district

▼ 38 pts below state median · ▼ 54 pts below county median

Grade 716%

School 16% · District 33% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 29 pts below state median · ▼ 49 pts below county median

Grade 814%

School 14% · District 31% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 47 pts below county median

Science

Grade 53%

School 3% · District 18% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 37 pts below county median

Grade 86%

School 6% · District 15% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 38 pts below county median

This schoolSanta Ana 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.