Demille Elementary, Midway City CA

Original Research by School Decision on Demille Elementary

Demille Elementary is a kindergarten-through-sixth-grade school in Midway City, an unincorporated community in northwestern Orange County that sits entirely within Westminster's boundaries. The school enrolls a small to mid-sized cohort, with a student body that is predominantly Asian, reflecting Midway City's strong Vietnamese American presence and its role as part of the broader Little Saigon enclave. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating moderate to significant economic pressure on many families in the attendance area.

The school's academic profile shows mixed results. In English language arts across tested grades, Demille performs unevenly: upper-elementary grades five and six demonstrate stronger proficiency, while fourth grade lags considerably behind. Mathematics shows similar variability, with grade three and six performing at a modest level while grade four dips noticeably lower. Grade five science proficiency trails further behind the other two core subjects, underscoring an area where the school may want to concentrate instructional support. Across all tested subjects and grades combined, Demille's overall proficiency falls above the midpoint among schools across Orange County's districts, a position that reflects modest but not exceptional performance relative to peers.

What distinguishes Demille most is its access to the Westminster School District's Vietnamese Dual Language Immersion program, a pathway that the district claims is the nation's first extending from preschool through high school. Families enrolling at Demille can enter the Vietnamese DLI academy, a 50/50 Vietnamese-English bilingual track that continues through Warner Middle School and into Westminster High School. Students completing the pathway can earn the California Seal of Biliteracy. The district has also expanded early-childhood dual-language offerings in both Spanish and Vietnamese at its earliest learning levels, feeding into the K-5 academies at Willmore and Demille. For families with Vietnamese language ties or those seeking a sustained bilingual education, this is a material program asset that extends well beyond elementary years.

Midway City itself is a densely populated, quiet suburban area with older single-family homes from the mid-twentieth century alongside condos, townhouses, and manufactured housing, particularly along main thoroughfares like Beach Boulevard. Housing prices are more affordable than surrounding incorporated areas, making it an entry point for families seeking Orange County homeownership. Recent development has focused on supportive and affordable housing. The community is served by OCTA bus routes, though most residents rely on cars; nearby commercial anchors include the cobblestone Old World Village and Little Saigon, both a short distance away.

Demille's data did not include information on English learner rates or special education enrollment, limiting a full picture of how the school supports students with those needs. State testing data covers only grades three through six, so no assessment results are available for kindergarten through second grade. The school's data is current only for the 2024-25 school year, so longer-term trends cannot yet be assessed.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 359%

School 59% · District 51% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 447%

School 47% · District 48% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 557%

School 57% · District 40% · ▲ 18 pts above district

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 658%

School 58% · District 42% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 355%

School 55% · District 49% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 446%

School 46% · District 50% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 572%

School 72% · District 57% · ▲ 16 pts above district

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

Grade 670%

School 70% · District 53% · ▲ 17 pts above district

▲ 26 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Science

Grade 534%

School 34% · District 34%

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

This schoolWestminster, 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-income52%Higher-income64%12 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income42%Higher-income60%18 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income67%Higher-income92%24 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income57%Higher-income100%43 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income57%Higher-income67%9 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income43%Higher-income60%17 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income49%Higher-income86%37 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income49%Higher-income82%34 pp gap