Is Los Penasquitos Elementary a good school?

Los Penasquitos Elementary ranks 607 th of 5862 California elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 4 stars out of 5.

How many students attend Los Penasquitos Elementary?

In the 2023-24 school year, 624 students attended Los Penasquitos Elementary.

What is the racial makeup of Los Penasquitos Elementary?

Students at Los Penasquitos Elementary are 32% White, 32% Asian, 17% Hispanic, 12% Two or more races, 7% African American.

What schools do graduates of Los Penasquitos Elementary attend?

Students who attend Los Penasquitos Elementary usually go on to attend: Middle : Black Mountain Middle High : Mt. Carmel High

Los Penasquitos Elementary

Summary:

Los Penasquitos Elementary is a public elementary school in San Diego, California, serving 577 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.

Los Penasquitos Elementary is a high-performing school, consistently ranking in the top 10-15% of California elementary schools over the past decade. The school's students excel on Smarter Balanced Assessments and CAST Science tests, with 60-78% proficient or better in English Language Arts and 61-77% in Mathematics, outperforming the state averages. The school also supports various student subgroups, including Hispanic, English Language Learner, and African American students, who all perform well compared to their peers statewide. However, the school's rankings for Asian and multi-racial students are relatively lower, suggesting an area for potential improvement.

While Los Penasquitos Elementary has maintained strong academic performance, the school has seen a significant increase in chronic absenteeism, rising from 4.4% in 2018-2019 to 29.1% in 2021-2022, which is higher than the state average. Additionally, the school serves a more diverse socioeconomic population, with approximately 36% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, higher than some nearby Sunset Hills Elementary and Highland Ranch Elementary schools in the Poway Unified School District.

Detail:

Public K-5

14125 Cuca St.
San Diego, CA 92129-1852

(858) 672-3600

District: Poway Unified

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

Per Pupil Expenditures: $8,441

Students who attend Los Penasquitos Elementary usually attend:

Middle:	Black Mountain Middle
High:	Mt. Carmel High

Student/teacher ratio: 24.7

Number of students: 624

Racial breakdown:

White:

31.9%

Asian:

31.7%

Hispanic:

17.0%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 38.5%

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Compare Los Penasquitos Elementary to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Los Penasquitos Elementary ranks better than 89.6% of elementary schools in California. It also ranks 17^th among 26 ranked elementary schools in the Poway Unified School District. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 91.45. (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 Los Penasquitos Elementary is diverse. Racial makeup is: White (31.9%), Asian (31.7%), Hispanic (17%). (See more...)

Compare Details 38.5% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Compare Details (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Los Penasquitos Elementary is 24.7. 22 elementary schools in the Poway Unified School District have better student/teacher ratios. (See more...)

Compare Los Penasquitos Elementary employs 25.2 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Los Penasquitos Elementary is $8,441, which is the 6^th highest among 26 elementary schools in the Poway Unified School District.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Los Penasquitos Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks Los Penasquitos Elementary 607^th of 5862 California public elementary schools. (See Los Penasquitos Elementary in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

Multi-racial students:

English Language Learner students:

Special Education students:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Male students:

Asian students:

African American 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 Los Penasquitos Elementary

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Rank History for all students at Los Penasquitos Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2004	91.43	425^th	4809	91.2%
2005	88.01	595^th	4822	87.7%
2006	91.05	431^st	4818	91.1%
2007	91.33	445^th	5113	91.3%
2008	93.39	286^th	5113	94.4%
2009	93.07	283^rd	5193	94.6%
2010	88.93	507^th	5314	90.5%
2011	89.08	486^th	5377	91.0%
2012	88.55	514^th	5390	90.5%
2013	90.31	447^th	5530	91.9%
2015	95.34	300^th	5611	94.7%
2016	96.38	202^nd	5614	96.4%
2017	94.62	359^th	5692	93.7%
2018	95.02	285^th	5662	95.0%
2019	92.88	450^th	5789	92.2%
2022	91.46	625^th	5883	89.4%
2023	91.14	629^th	5874	89.3%
2024	91.45	607^th	5862	89.6%

See the entire list of California Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at Los Penasquitos Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	74.25	82^nd	339	75.8%
2022	58.04	295^th	610	51.6%
2023	67.89	223^rd	669	66.7%
2024	60.02	329^th	669	50.8%

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

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Los Penasquitos Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	98.77	46^th	3246	98.6%
2019	91.67	145^th	3275	95.6%
2022	96.90	84^th	3311	97.5%
2023	94.86	79^th	3250	97.6%
2024	98.67	23^rd	3160	99.3%

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

Rank History for Special Education students at Los Penasquitos Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	81.52	289^th	2420	88.1%
2024	82.35	304^th	2634	88.5%

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

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Los Penasquitos Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	95.62	108^th	5084	97.9%
2019	89.30	312^th	5173	94.0%
2022	90.39	339^th	5264	93.6%
2023	87.99	460^th	5374	91.4%
2024	85.33	615^th	5511	88.8%

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

Rank History for Female students at Los Penasquitos Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	93.97	284^th	5413	94.8%
2019	93.30	334^th	5492	93.9%
2022	92.02	512^th	5635	90.9%
2023	91.70	521^st	5617	90.7%
2024	89.81	628^th	5605	88.8%

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

Rank History for Disabled students at Los Penasquitos Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	90.92	137^th	2128	93.6%
2019	87.05	232^nd	2585	91.0%
2022	74.43	372^nd	2227	83.3%

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

Rank History for Male students at Los Penasquitos Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	94.47	286^th	5431	94.7%
2019	89.72	596^th	5510	89.2%
2022	89.08	680^th	5663	88.0%
2023	88.55	700^th	5650	87.6%
2024	90.63	566^th	5636	90.0%

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

Rank History for Asian students at Los Penasquitos Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	79.27	148^th	1071	86.2%
2019	71.43	345^th	1149	70.0%
2022	53.58	681^st	1154	41.0%
2023	45.05	793^rd	1190	33.4%
2024	65.99	489^th	1203	59.4%

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

Rank History for African American students at Los Penasquitos Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2024	89.17	31^st	593	94.8%

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

Rank History for Hispanic students at Los Penasquitos Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	92.62	209^th	4830	95.7%
2019	86.47	443^rd	4963	91.1%
2022	99.49	22^nd	5084	99.6%
2023	94.48	186^th	5098	96.4%
2024	91.58	298^th	5102	94.2%

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

Rank History for White students at Los Penasquitos Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	87.10	177^th	2737	93.5%
2019	90.35	88^th	2834	96.9%
2022	76.10	587^th	2726	78.5%
2023	79.23	456^th	2662	82.9%
2024	76.19	582^nd	2647	78.0%

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%

Reviews:

by a parent
Sunday, September 25, 2011

It is an amazing school!:) The teachers are friendly (most of them), they are helpful, and pretty much involved. They take the time to make a difference in the students progress, without taking their roles for granted. We have been blessed to have my daughter start her early education in a wonderful school such as Los Penasquitos Elementary (very diverse). I hope we will continue to have the best education and attention as we do here:)YZ:). Close Quote

Enrollment information for Los Penasquitos Elementary

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	473	70	137	90	0	n/a	n/a	0	770
1989	484	63	125	90	0	n/a	n/a	0	762
1990	464	48	136	93	0	n/a	n/a	0	741
1991	451	52	162	89	0	n/a	n/a	0	754
1992	446	52	165	91	0	n/a	n/a	0	754
1993	435	42	169	99	0	n/a	n/a	0	745
1994	404	56	187	92	2	n/a	n/a	0	741
1995	373	51	190	86	6	n/a	n/a	0	706
1996	373	51	190	86	6	n/a	n/a	0	706
1997	354	54	171	101	6	n/a	n/a	0	686
1998	318	48	186	103	3	n/a	n/a	0	658
1999	288	47	209	95	2	n/a	n/a	0	641
2000	260	47	207	101	3	n/a	n/a	16	634
2001	248	59	197	115	4	n/a	n/a	10	633
2002	306	88	243	121	4	n/a	n/a	8	770
2003	306	88	243	121	4	n/a	n/a	8	770
2004	310	69	234	116	1	n/a	n/a	16	746
2005	236	76	224	108	1	n/a	n/a	21	666
2006	222	64	212	98	1	n/a	n/a	24	621
2007	205	49	194	92	1	n/a	n/a	33	574
2008	199	36	193	93	1	n/a	n/a	0	522
2009	194	26	176	81	2	6	35	0	520
2010	187	26	166	81	2	0	56	0	518
2011	222	27	164	79	1	0	20	0	513
2012	219	33	162	84	0	3	24	0	525
2013	207	33	162	101	0	3	34	0	540
2014	216	23	167	107	1	2	40	0	556
2015	186	27	171	115	1	2	37	0	539
2016	179	22	175	121	0	2	52	0	551
2017	167	30	164	130	0	3	54	0	548
2018	165	32	154	122	0	1	56	0	530
2019	169	29	165	108	0	1	61	0	533
2020	165	34	156	102	0	0	77	1	535
2021	165	24	165	101	0	0	66	1	522
2022	161	37	140	115	2	1	72	0	528
2023	178	47	176	103	2	1	70	0	577
2024	199	44	198	106	2	1	73	1	624

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 Los Penasquitos Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	770	29.0	26.5	n/a
1989	762	29.0	26.2	n/a
1990	741	28.0	26.4	n/a
1991	754	31.8	23.7	n/a
1992	754	32.3	23.3	17.1
1993	745	29.0	25.7	25
1994	741	30.1	24.6	22.3
1995	706	30.0	23.5	43.3
1996	706	30.0	23.5	43.3
1997	686	34.0	20.2	41.7
1998	658	33.8	19.5	42.4
1999	641	32.0	20.0	40.4
2000	634	34.5	18.4	37.2
2001	633	31.0	20.4	39.5
2002	770	35.3	21.8	34.5
2003	770	35.3	21.8	34.5
2004	746	34.1	21.9	36
2005	666	31.0	21.5	41.1
2006	621	29.5	21.1	41.4
2007	574	25.0	23.0	39
2008	522	25.5	20.5	44.6
2009	520	23.0	19.7	40
2010	518	20.5	25.2	40.7
2011	513	n/a	n/a	39.8
2012	525	18.0	29.1	n/a
2013	540	18.0	30.0	40.2
2014	556	19.0	29.2	40.1
2015	539	20.0	26.9	42.1
2016	551	21.0	26.2	43.6
2017	548	22.0	24.9	38.7
2018	530	21.0	25.2	44.9
2019	533	20.5	26.0	42.6
2020	535	n/a	n/a	35.7
2021	522	22.7	22.9	33.5
2022	528	21.0	25.1	35.8
2023	577	21.7	26.5	36.6
2024	624	25.2	24.7	38.5

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 Los Penasquitos Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	770	29.0	26.5	n/a
1989	762	29.0	26.2	n/a
1990	741	28.0	26.4	n/a
1991	754	31.8	23.7	n/a
1992	754	32.3	23.3	17.1
1993	745	29.0	25.7	25
1994	741	30.1	24.6	22.3
1995	706	30.0	23.5	43.3
1996	706	30.0	23.5	43.3
1997	686	34.0	20.2	41.7
1998	658	33.8	19.5	42.4
1999	641	32.0	20.0	40.4
2000	634	34.5	18.4	37.2
2001	633	31.0	20.4	39.5
2002	770	35.3	21.8	34.5
2003	770	35.3	21.8	34.5
2004	746	34.1	21.9	36
2005	666	31.0	21.5	41.1
2006	621	29.5	21.1	41.4
2007	574	25.0	23.0	39
2008	522	25.5	20.5	44.6
2009	520	23.0	19.7	40
2010	518	20.5	25.2	40.7
2011	513	n/a	n/a	39.8
2012	525	18.0	29.1	n/a
2013	540	18.0	30.0	40.2
2014	556	19.0	29.2	40.1
2015	539	20.0	26.9	42.1
2016	551	21.0	26.2	43.6
2017	548	22.0	24.9	38.7
2018	530	21.0	25.2	44.9
2019	533	20.5	26.0	42.6
2020	535	n/a	n/a	35.7
2021	522	22.7	22.9	33.5
2022	528	21.0	25.1	35.8
2023	577	21.7	26.5	36.6
2024	624	25.2	24.7	38.5

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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