The top reported proficiency rate is 89% in Math. The lowest is 62% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Tustin Memorial Elementary
Tustin Memorial Elementary sits on Browning Avenue in Santa Ana, serving kindergarten through fifth grade as part of the Tustin Unified School District. Its address puts it in the eastern reaches of Santa Ana, closer to the Tustin border than to downtown, which means the urban density and cultural energy of Santa Ana's core is nearby but the immediate neighborhood is more residential in character. The school is a standard public elementary, not a charter or magnet program.
The academic picture here is genuinely strong. On California's statewide assessments, proficiency rates across the tested grades in both English Language Arts and math run well above what most schools in Orange County achieve. Placed against districts across Orange County, the school's overall proficiency index lands in the top quartile of that group, a meaningful position in a county with many high-performing schools. In math, third and fourth graders tested at particularly high rates; fifth grade was somewhat lower but still well above typical statewide results. ELA proficiency in fourth and fifth grade matched or exceeded the math results. Science, assessed only at fifth grade through California's CAST exam, came in lower than ELA and math, though still above the midpoint one might expect. A parent interested in the science trajectory might want to ask the school how it approaches science instruction at the upper elementary level.
Only a single year of testing data was available, so there is no trend line to read. Whether these results represent a stable pattern or a recent shift is not something the data can answer.
The student body is moderately sized for a K-5 school. Demographically, Asian students make up a majority of the enrollment, with white students the next largest group, followed by students who identify as two or more races, and then Hispanic students. A relatively modest share of students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, suggesting a comparatively economically advantaged population by California elementary school standards. Data on English learners and students with IEPs was not reported, so those dimensions of the school's support environment are gaps a parent should ask about directly.
The district Tustin Memorial belongs to recently passed a general obligation bond measure that will fund repairs to aging buildings, labs, roofs, plumbing, and electrical systems across campuses, with a property-tax levy that will be felt by homeowners for years. Tustin Unified also launched a multi-year math instruction overhaul beginning in 2024, publicly reported as a "learning year" designed to rebuild shared practices before adopting new curriculum. That kind of foundational rebuild can take time to show up in results, and Tustin Memorial's current math scores suggest the instructional base is already strong.
Housing in the zip code reflects Orange County's broader premium. Home values here are dramatically higher than the California statewide median and far above national levels. Rents are also substantial, and the gap between renting and owning costs is wide. For a family weighing this school zone, the housing market is a significant constraint. Year-over-year home values in this zip code have moved only modestly, while rents have grown more noticeably.
Santa Ana itself, as the county seat and the most densely populated city in Orange County, brings a particular urban texture. Publicly reported sources describe it as shaped strongly by a large Mexican-American and Vietnamese community, with historic residential neighborhoods, a downtown combining government and cultural life, and significant industrial and logistics zones. Downtown's Fourth Street corridor carries restaurants, galleries, and street life. The city is in an active infill and mixed-use development phase, with several large residential projects underway or approved and a planned OC Streetcar connection to Garden Grove still a few years out. Walkability varies sharply by neighborhood; the eastern residential areas near this school are more car-dependent than downtown.
Civil-rights and discipline data were not available in the provided information. Chronic absenteeism data was also absent, which is worth asking the school about given how closely attendance patterns connect to academic outcomes in the elementary years.
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