Legacy Magnet Academy, Tustin CA

Original Research by School Decision on Legacy Magnet Academy

Legacy Magnet Academy is a grades 6-12 school of roughly nine hundred students located on a substantial master-planned campus in Tustin Legacy, a developing mixed-use area on the former Marine Corps Air Station. The school sits in an Orange County city balancing historic downtown character with new residential growth and serves a student body with particular demographic composition: about two-fifths are Asian, about one-quarter are Hispanic, and about one-fifth are white, with substantial Asian and Hispanic families from the surrounding area.

Academically, the school posts solid proficiency results. In English language arts across all tested grades, roughly eighty-four percent of students demonstrated proficiency on state assessments. Science proficiency sits near eighty percent. Math is the softer subject, with roughly seventy percent proficiency overall, dipping to about two-thirds in grade seven. Within the broader Orange County school district universe, Legacy's combined proficiency index places it in the top quartile among the county's schools with comparable data, indicating performance well above the median.

The school does not have published graduation rate or chronic absenteeism data available. State testing covers only grades six through eight in English and math, and grade eight in science, so no high school testing data are presented. Parents interested in high school outcomes and engagement patterns would want to inquire directly with the school about how ninth through twelfth grade students perform on college-readiness measures, AP participation, dual-credit pathways, or other completion metrics.

The enrollment skews somewhat toward lower needs relative to the state as a whole: about three in ten students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, below the statewide average. Data on English learners and students with disabilities were not available in the records reviewed.

Tustin itself is a mixed-income Orange County community built around an older downtown core, Old Town Tustin, which centers on Main Street shops, restaurants, and a walkable street culture. The newer Tustin Legacy development is being built explicitly with walkability and active urban design in mind, with planned parks, promenades, and paseos integrated into the residential and commercial campus. The broader region includes freeway access to major employment centers and is part of an economically diverse Orange County landscape where housing values are substantial but the area hosts both longtime residents and newer arrivals drawn by planned community development.

Two parent-relevant shifts are now under way in Tustin Unified. Voters approved a large facilities bond in November 2024 aimed at addressing deferred maintenance and upgrades across aging campuses, which will shape school environments over time. In parallel, the district launched a multi-year overhaul of math instruction in 2024, a "learning year" approach in which teachers and administrators study pedagogy before adopting new materials. This suggests a district moving deliberately on math teaching, and families should anticipate that math instruction and curriculum may evolve over the coming years.

Legacy Magnet Academy's location in the newer Tustin Legacy development gives it access to purpose-built facilities and grounds distinct from many older district schools. The documented strengths are in breadth and depth of state proficiency, particularly in language arts and science. The school's position in the top quartile for proficiency among Orange County schools of comparable data density is genuine strength. Math shows room for improvement, with just under seven in ten students proficient overall. For families considering this school, the key questions beyond test scores would be the range of programs, how the school engages high school students in academic pathways beyond the tested grades, and what support or intervention structures exist for students who are not yet proficient.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 675%

School 75% · District 54% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 44 pts above state median · ▲ 28 pts above county median

Grade 767%

School 67% · District 50% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 875%

School 75% · District 53% · ▲ 21 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 683%

School 83% · District 62% · ▲ 21 pts above district

▲ 39 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Grade 788%

School 88% · District 61% · ▲ 27 pts above district

▲ 43 pts above state median · ▲ 24 pts above county median

Grade 882%

School 82% · District 63% · ▲ 19 pts above district

▲ 37 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

Science

Grade 875%

School 75% · District 48% · ▲ 26 pts above district

▲ 49 pts above state median · ▲ 30 pts above county median

This schoolTustin 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 6Lower-income66%Higher-income90%24 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income81%Higher-income91%10 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income70%Higher-income86%16 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income64%Higher-income79%16 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income48%Higher-income75%27 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income64%Higher-income79%15 pp gap