Is La Madera Elementary a good school?

La Madera Elementary ranks 1111 th of 5862 California elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 4 stars out of 5.

How many students attend La Madera Elementary?

In the 2023-24 school year, 602 students attended La Madera Elementary.

What is the racial makeup of La Madera Elementary?

Students at La Madera Elementary are 40% White, 31% Hispanic, 16% Asian, 14% Two or more races.

What schools do graduates of La Madera Elementary attend?

Students who attend La Madera Elementary usually go on to attend: Middle : Serrano Intermediate High : El Toro High

La Madera Elementary

Summary:

La Madera Elementary is a public elementary school located in Lake Forest, California, serving 606 students in grades K-6 as part of the Saddleback Valley Unified School District.

La Madera Elementary consistently outperforms the district and state in academic assessments, with proficiency rates of 60.55% in English Language Arts/Literacy and 58.06% in Mathematics, compared to the district's 59.15% and 50.69%, and the state's 47.04% and 35.54%. The school's performance is particularly strong for its Asian, multi-racial, and English Language Learner student populations, ranking among the top schools in California. However, the school faces challenges with a growing economically disadvantaged student population, with the percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch increasing from 20.07% in 2020-2021 to 32.84% in 2022-2023.

Compared to nearby schools, La Madera Elementary outperforms most district schools in academic achievement, but two local Oxford Preparatory Academy charter schools significantly outperform the school and the district, with proficiency rates often exceeding 80% in both English Language Arts and Mathematics. Additionally, La Madera Elementary has a relatively high student-teacher ratio of 24.4, which is higher than the nearby charter schools and some other district schools.

Detail:

Public K-6

25350 Serrano Rd.
Lake Forest, CA 92630-3599

(949) 770-1415

District: Saddleback Valley Unified

SchoolDigger Rank:
1111^th of 5,862 California Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $4,878

Students who attend La Madera Elementary usually attend:

Middle:	Serrano Intermediate
High:	El Toro High

Student/teacher ratio: 27.6

Number of students: 602

Racial breakdown:

White:

39.5%

Hispanic:

30.6%

Asian:

15.9%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 34.1%

See top rated California elementary schools

Compare La Madera Elementary to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details La Madera Elementary ranks better than 81% of elementary schools in California. It also ranks 7^th among 22 ranked elementary schools in the Saddleback Valley Unified School District. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 81.01. (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 La Madera Elementary is diverse. Racial makeup is: White (39.5%), Hispanic (30.6%), Asian (15.9%). (See more...)

Compare Details 34.1% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Compare Details (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at La Madera Elementary is 27.6. 18 elementary schools in the Saddleback Valley Unified School District have better student/teacher ratios. (See more...)

Compare La Madera Elementary employs 21.7 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at La Madera Elementary is $4,878. 20 elementary schools in the Saddleback Valley Unified School District spend more per student.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

La Madera Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks La Madera Elementary 1111^th of 5862 California public elementary schools. (See La Madera 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:

Saddleback Valley Unified:

SchoolDigger ranks Saddleback Valley Unified 376^th of 1568 California school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Rank History for La Madera Elementary

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Rank History for all students at La Madera Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2004	92.18	387^th	4809	92.0%
2005	91.99	386^th	4822	92.0%
2006	93.09	322^nd	4818	93.3%
2007	84.40	775^th	5113	84.8%
2008	83.32	823^rd	5113	83.9%
2009	82.15	876^th	5193	83.1%
2010	85.90	681^st	5314	87.2%
2011	79.98	1003^rd	5377	81.3%
2012	87.35	594^th	5390	89.0%
2013	86.82	659^th	5530	88.1%
2015	88.93	671^st	5611	88.0%
2016	85.75	866^th	5614	84.6%
2017	84.99	916^th	5692	83.9%
2018	82.56	1002^nd	5662	82.3%
2019	86.15	840^th	5789	85.5%
2022	87.58	825^th	5883	86.0%
2023	84.72	969^th	5874	83.5%
2024	81.01	1111^th	5862	81.0%

See the entire list of California Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at La Madera Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2022	87.99	23^rd	610	96.2%
2023	68.08	220^th	669	67.1%
2024	54.38	368^th	669	45.0%

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

Rank History for English Language Learner students at La Madera Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2018	58.06	927^th	3246	71.4%
2019	87.59	202^nd	3275	93.8%

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

Rank History for Special Education students at La Madera Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	81.48	290^th	2420	88.0%
2024	75.31	421^st	2634	84.0%

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

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at La Madera Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	63.15	1566^th	5084	69.2%
2019	59.52	1804^th	5173	65.1%
2022	70.48	1152^nd	5264	78.1%
2023	80.28	770^th	5374	85.7%
2024	65.19	1487^th	5511	73.0%

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

Rank History for Female students at La Madera Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	83.52	882^nd	5413	83.7%
2019	86.89	730^th	5492	86.7%
2022	86.89	780^th	5635	86.2%
2023	85.29	878^th	5617	84.4%
2024	77.74	1186^th	5605	78.8%

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

Rank History for Disabled students at La Madera Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	71.24	395^th	2128	81.4%
2019	79.09	348^th	2585	86.5%
2022	70.57	412^th	2227	81.5%

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

Rank History for Male students at La Madera Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	79.00	1105^th	5431	79.7%
2019	83.27	903^rd	5510	83.6%
2022	85.58	839^th	5663	85.2%
2023	81.19	1038^th	5650	81.6%
2024	81.83	1010^th	5636	82.1%

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

Rank History for Asian students at La Madera Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	58.37	573^rd	1071	46.5%
2019	72.12	321^st	1149	72.1%
2022	87.09	19^th	1154	98.4%
2023	68.41	441^st	1190	62.9%
2024	79.34	175^th	1203	85.5%

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

Rank History for Hispanic students at La Madera Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	55.00	1903^rd	4830	60.6%
2019	62.39	1557^th	4963	68.6%
2022	70.28	1147^th	5084	77.4%
2023	66.05	1359^th	5098	73.3%
2024	63.56	1496^th	5102	70.7%

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

Rank History for White students at La Madera Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	68.61	875^th	2737	68.0%
2019	66.19	969^th	2834	65.8%
2022	67.24	904^th	2726	66.8%
2023	67.06	893^rd	2662	66.5%
2024	68.76	839^th	2647	68.3%

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

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Enrollment information for La Madera Elementary

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	594	5	29	41	0	n/a	n/a	0	669
1989	601	4	28	35	0	n/a	n/a	0	668
1990	583	10	35	27	0	n/a	n/a	0	655
1991	585	3	38	35	0	n/a	n/a	0	661
1992	568	8	39	37	2	n/a	n/a	0	654
1993	567	5	41	51	0	n/a	n/a	0	664
1994	524	7	48	52	0	n/a	n/a	0	631
1995	506	10	53	64	1	n/a	n/a	0	634
1996	506	10	53	64	1	n/a	n/a	0	634
1997	543	9	62	76	0	n/a	n/a	0	690
1998	546	13	70	70	1	n/a	n/a	0	700
1999	573	7	66	80	2	n/a	n/a	0	728
2000	552	9	73	92	1	n/a	n/a	0	727
2001	557	4	83	102	0	n/a	n/a	0	746
2002	567	12	83	110	0	n/a	n/a	0	772
2003	567	12	83	110	0	n/a	n/a	0	772
2004	551	11	93	131	0	n/a	n/a	0	786
2005	523	18	90	112	2	n/a	n/a	0	745
2006	449	18	78	115	2	n/a	n/a	3	665
2007	401	15	69	130	5	n/a	n/a	10	630
2008	403	12	74	141	4	n/a	n/a	0	634
2009	365	9	76	132	4	2	27	0	615
2010	335	8	80	116	2	1	47	0	589
2011	326	9	67	125	1	1	34	0	563
2012	310	10	72	165	2	5	31	0	595
2013	303	6	81	188	3	3	31	0	615
2014	285	8	90	208	2	3	36	0	632
2015	281	9	98	196	2	3	37	0	626
2016	271	12	97	190	1	4	52	0	627
2017	274	8	82	160	2	3	55	0	584
2018	308	10	85	159	5	2	58	0	627
2019	305	7	95	152	3	0	76	0	638
2020	288	8	102	157	1	0	83	0	639
2021	261	6	83	161	1	0	81	0	593
2022	253	5	83	171	1	0	77	0	590
2023	250	5	94	173	0	0	84	0	606
2024	238	2	96	184	0	0	82	0	602

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 La Madera Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	669	24.9	26.8	n/a
1989	668	22.0	30.3	n/a
1990	655	24.8	26.4	n/a
1991	661	24.8	26.6	n/a
1992	654	25.2	25.9	2.8
1993	664	23.0	28.9	6.5
1994	631	24.0	26.3	7.8
1995	634	25.8	24.6	9.5
1996	634	25.8	24.6	9.5
1997	690	31.8	21.7	9
1998	700	33.0	21.2	8.3
1999	728	34.2	21.3	8
2000	727	34.8	20.9	8.7
2001	746	33.2	22.5	9
2002	772	33.0	23.4	11.5
2003	772	33.0	23.4	11.5
2004	786	30.4	25.9	11.7
2005	745	30.4	24.5	11.3
2006	665	27.4	24.3	9.7
2007	630	27.0	23.3	11.9
2008	634	28.4	22.3	16.1
2009	615	27.2	21.7	13.5
2010	589	24.0	24.5	15.6
2011	563	n/a	n/a	17.4
2012	595	21.1	28.1	n/a
2013	615	21.0	29.2	25.4
2014	632	21.0	30.0	25.9
2015	626	23.0	27.2	25.9
2016	627	22.0	28.5	24.9
2017	584	22.0	26.5	24.3
2018	627	23.1	27.0	26
2019	638	20.0	31.7	21.5
2020	639	n/a	n/a	18.5
2021	593	24.0	24.7	20.1
2022	590	24.4	24.1	21.4
2023	606	24.7	24.4	32.8
2024	602	21.7	27.6	34.1

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 La Madera Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	669	24.9	26.8	n/a
1989	668	22.0	30.3	n/a
1990	655	24.8	26.4	n/a
1991	661	24.8	26.6	n/a
1992	654	25.2	25.9	2.8
1993	664	23.0	28.9	6.5
1994	631	24.0	26.3	7.8
1995	634	25.8	24.6	9.5
1996	634	25.8	24.6	9.5
1997	690	31.8	21.7	9
1998	700	33.0	21.2	8.3
1999	728	34.2	21.3	8
2000	727	34.8	20.9	8.7
2001	746	33.2	22.5	9
2002	772	33.0	23.4	11.5
2003	772	33.0	23.4	11.5
2004	786	30.4	25.9	11.7
2005	745	30.4	24.5	11.3
2006	665	27.4	24.3	9.7
2007	630	27.0	23.3	11.9
2008	634	28.4	22.3	16.1
2009	615	27.2	21.7	13.5
2010	589	24.0	24.5	15.6
2011	563	n/a	n/a	17.4
2012	595	21.1	28.1	n/a
2013	615	21.0	29.2	25.4
2014	632	21.0	30.0	25.9
2015	626	23.0	27.2	25.9
2016	627	22.0	28.5	24.9
2017	584	22.0	26.5	24.3
2018	627	23.1	27.0	26
2019	638	20.0	31.7	21.5
2020	639	n/a	n/a	18.5
2021	593	24.0	24.7	20.1
2022	590	24.4	24.1	21.4
2023	606	24.7	24.4	32.8
2024	602	21.7	27.6	34.1

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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