Is Highland Ranch Elementary a good school?

Highland Ranch Elementary ranks 900 th of 5862 California elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 4 stars out of 5.

How many students attend Highland Ranch Elementary?

In the 2022-23 school year, 630 students attended Highland Ranch Elementary.

What is the racial makeup of Highland Ranch Elementary?

Students at Highland Ranch Elementary are 37% Asian, 33% White, 15% Hispanic, 13% Two or more races, 2% African American.

What schools do graduates of Highland Ranch Elementary attend?

Students who attend Highland Ranch Elementary usually go on to attend: Middle : Bernardo Heights Middle High : Rancho Bernardo High

Highland Ranch Elementary

Summary:

Highland Ranch Elementary is a public elementary school in San Diego, California, serving 630 students in grades K-5 and part of the Poway Unified School District, which is ranked 125 out of 1,568 districts in the state.

Highland Ranch Elementary consistently ranks in the top 15-20% of California elementary schools, with a 4-star rating from SchoolDigger. The school's proficiency rates in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science are generally higher than the state averages but lower than the district averages. Compared to nearby schools in the same district, Highland Ranch's performance is mixed - it outperforms some schools, such as Valley Elementary and Pomerado Elementary, but underperforms others, like Tierra Bonita Elementary and Creekside Elementary.

Highland Ranch Elementary has a diverse student population, with significant representation of Asian, Hispanic, and White students. The school's percentage of English Language Learners and students with disabilities is relatively high compared to the state and district averages. However, the school has experienced a significant increase in chronic absenteeism rates, from 12.3% in 2017-2018 to 17.6% in 2021-2022, which is concerning and higher than the chronic absenteeism rates of several nearby schools, such as Tierra Bonita Elementary and Rolling Hills Elementary.

Detail:

Public K-5

14840 Waverley Downs Way
San Diego, CA 92128-3702

(858) 674-4707

District: Poway Unified

SchoolDigger Rank:
900^th of 5,862 California Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $8,018

Students who attend Highland Ranch Elementary usually attend:

Middle:	Bernardo Heights Middle
High:	Rancho Bernardo High

Student/teacher ratio: 24.5

Number of students: 630

Racial breakdown:

Asian:

36.7%

White:

33.2%

Hispanic:

14.9%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 14.1%

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Compare Highland Ranch Elementary to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Highland Ranch Elementary ranks better than 84.6% of elementary schools in California. It also ranks 21^st among 26 ranked elementary schools in the Poway Unified School District. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 86.14. (See more...)

Chronic absenteeism in a school refers to a situation where students repeatedly miss school, with the threshold often defined as missing 10% or more of school days for any reason, excused or unexcused.

Student Body

Compare Details Student population at Highland Ranch Elementary is diverse. Racial makeup is: Asian (36.7%), White (33.2%), Hispanic (14.9%). (See more...)

Compare Details 14.1% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Compare Details (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Highland Ranch Elementary is 24.5. 18 elementary schools in the Poway Unified School District have better student/teacher ratios. (See more...)

Compare Highland Ranch Elementary employs 25.7 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Highland Ranch Elementary is $8,018, which is the 10^th highest among 26 elementary schools in the Poway Unified School District.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Highland Ranch Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks Highland Ranch Elementary 900^th of 5862 California public elementary schools. (See Highland Ranch Elementary in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

Multi-racial students:

Special Education students:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Male students:

Asian students:

Hispanic students:

White students:

Poway Unified:

SchoolDigger ranks Poway Unified 125^th of 1568 California school districts. (See district ranking list.)

Average Parent Rating:

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Rank History for Highland Ranch Elementary

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Rank History for all students at Highland Ranch Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2004	93.20	323^rd	4809	93.3%
2005	93.59	293^rd	4822	93.9%
2006	89.57	504^th	4818	89.5%
2007	92.34	388^th	5113	92.4%
2008	86.95	656^th	5113	87.2%
2009	85.06	751^st	5193	85.5%
2010	84.45	762^nd	5314	85.7%
2011	83.02	847^th	5377	84.2%
2012	84.99	730^th	5390	86.5%
2013	82.02	946^th	5530	82.9%
2015	85.09	879^th	5611	84.3%
2016	82.89	1003^rd	5614	82.1%
2017	76.54	1268^th	5692	77.7%
2018	72.39	1467^th	5662	74.1%
2019	88.18	744^th	5789	87.1%
2022	87.99	807^th	5883	86.3%
2023	86.39	894^th	5874	84.8%
2024	86.14	900^th	5862	84.6%

See the entire list of California Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at Highland Ranch Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2019	63.89	186^th	445	58.2%
2022	49.94	355^th	610	41.8%
2023	54.20	354^th	669	47.1%
2024	46.60	420^th	669	37.2%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Multi-racial Students!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Highland Ranch Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	85.49	248^th	3246	92.4%
2019	87.58	203^rd	3275	93.8%
2022	75.08	385^th	3311	88.4%
2023	70.96	471^st	3250	85.5%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Highland Ranch Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	72.18	442^nd	2420	81.7%
2024	70.53	488^th	2634	81.5%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Highland Ranch Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	64.17	1507^th	5084	70.4%
2019	81.62	641^st	5173	87.6%
2022	77.57	847^th	5264	83.9%
2023	71.72	1134^th	5374	78.9%
2024	70.90	1218^th	5511	77.9%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Highland Ranch Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	63.73	1812^th	5413	66.5%
2019	86.13	761^st	5492	86.1%
2022	85.69	831^st	5635	85.3%
2023	81.42	1040^th	5617	81.5%
2024	82.59	980^th	5605	82.5%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Disabled students at Highland Ranch Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2018	76.56	327^th	2128	84.6%
2022	77.47	337^th	2227	84.9%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Disabled Students!

Rank History for Male students at Highland Ranch Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	78.19	1129^th	5431	79.2%
2019	86.20	775^th	5510	85.9%
2022	88.02	733^rd	5663	87.1%
2023	88.65	693^rd	5650	87.7%
2024	86.43	794^th	5636	85.9%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Asian students at Highland Ranch Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	51.69	653^rd	1071	39.0%
2019	67.89	423^rd	1149	63.2%
2022	63.09	543^rd	1154	52.9%
2023	68.15	450^th	1190	62.2%
2024	65.65	503^rd	1203	58.2%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Asian Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Highland Ranch Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	56.45	1813^th	4830	62.5%
2019	85.99	464^th	4963	90.7%
2022	90.54	343^rd	5084	93.3%
2023	77.30	860^th	5098	83.1%
2024	86.92	473^rd	5102	90.7%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for White students at Highland Ranch Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	41.71	1766^th	2737	35.5%
2019	63.13	1086^th	2834	61.7%
2022	62.33	1064^th	2726	61.0%
2023	57.03	1230^th	2662	53.8%
2024	53.71	1304^th	2647	50.7%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: California Department of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Data source: California Department of Education

Review counts

All ratings (Avg rating: 5)

100%

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Enrollment information for Highland Ranch Elementary

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1993	467	27	130	38	2	n/a	n/a	0	664
1994	523	34	124	41	7	n/a	n/a	0	729
1995	653	28	164	49	6	n/a	n/a	0	900
1996	653	28	164	49	6	n/a	n/a	0	900
1997	642	27	187	59	6	n/a	n/a	0	921
1998	650	28	216	77	6	n/a	n/a	0	977
1999	494	22	149	64	3	n/a	n/a	0	732
2000	445	28	153	60	1	n/a	n/a	15	702
2001	439	29	154	75	1	n/a	n/a	4	702
2002	422	28	172	58	3	n/a	n/a	15	698
2003	422	28	172	58	3	n/a	n/a	15	698
2004	399	34	169	53	1	n/a	n/a	19	675
2005	362	38	189	46	3	n/a	n/a	24	662
2006	323	31	199	56	3	n/a	n/a	33	645
2007	308	24	203	43	4	n/a	n/a	46	628
2008	292	26	219	53	4	n/a	n/a	0	594
2009	282	25	245	51	2	7	49	0	661
2010	317	26	252	58	2	8	53	0	716
2011	347	22	261	77	6	5	19	0	737
2012	369	14	255	95	3	4	30	0	770
2013	339	19	257	99	3	5	40	0	762
2014	325	20	226	106	1	2	65	0	745
2015	340	14	230	91	2	2	66	0	745
2016	319	16	226	87	1	3	64	0	716
2017	299	20	221	105	0	2	64	0	711
2018	286	13	221	116	0	2	71	0	709
2019	270	10	216	115	1	1	70	0	683
2020	237	6	207	131	0	2	93	0	676
2021	221	8	213	111	1	0	75	0	629
2022	203	10	218	107	0	0	79	0	617
2023	209	13	231	94	0	0	83	0	630

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Highland Ranch Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1993	664	24.5	27.1	4.2
1994	729	27.0	27.0	4.1
1995	900	33.0	27.3	5.6
1996	900	33.0	27.3	5.6
1997	921	38.5	23.9	5.5
1998	977	46.5	21.0	6.7
1999	732	35.5	20.6	5.2
2000	702	36.1	19.4	4.5
2001	702	34.5	20.3	3.6
2002	698	34.0	20.5	4.7
2003	698	34.0	20.5	4.7
2004	675	31.5	21.4	6.7
2005	662	30.0	22.1	5.6
2006	645	31.0	20.8	6.5
2007	628	31.0	20.3	5
2008	594	35.0	17.0	8.6
2009	661	33.7	17.5	7.1
2010	716	31.4	22.8	7.1
2011	737	n/a	n/a	9
2012	770	28.5	27.0	n/a
2013	762	28.1	27.1	11.8
2014	745	27.5	27.0	13.4
2015	745	28.0	26.6	14.1
2016	716	27.0	26.5	13.8
2017	711	27.0	26.3	11.4
2018	709	28.2	25.1	15.1
2019	683	27.0	25.2	14.2
2020	676	n/a	n/a	11.5
2021	629	27.7	22.7	11.8
2022	617	25.7	24.0	12.6
2023	630	25.7	24.5	14.1

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Highland Ranch Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1993	664	24.5	27.1	4.2
1994	729	27.0	27.0	4.1
1995	900	33.0	27.3	5.6
1996	900	33.0	27.3	5.6
1997	921	38.5	23.9	5.5
1998	977	46.5	21.0	6.7
1999	732	35.5	20.6	5.2
2000	702	36.1	19.4	4.5
2001	702	34.5	20.3	3.6
2002	698	34.0	20.5	4.7
2003	698	34.0	20.5	4.7
2004	675	31.5	21.4	6.7
2005	662	30.0	22.1	5.6
2006	645	31.0	20.8	6.5
2007	628	31.0	20.3	5
2008	594	35.0	17.0	8.6
2009	661	33.7	17.5	7.1
2010	716	31.4	22.8	7.1
2011	737	n/a	n/a	9
2012	770	28.5	27.0	n/a
2013	762	28.1	27.1	11.8
2014	745	27.5	27.0	13.4
2015	745	28.0	26.6	14.1
2016	716	27.0	26.5	13.8
2017	711	27.0	26.3	11.4
2018	709	28.2	25.1	15.1
2019	683	27.0	25.2	14.2
2020	676	n/a	n/a	11.5
2021	629	27.7	22.7	11.8
2022	617	25.7	24.0	12.6
2023	630	25.7	24.5	14.1

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.

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