Is Cielo Vista Elementary a good school?

Cielo Vista Elementary ranks 2352 nd of 5862 California elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 3 stars out of 5.

How many students attend Cielo Vista Elementary?

In the 2023-24 school year, 488 students attended Cielo Vista Elementary.

What is the racial makeup of Cielo Vista Elementary?

Students at Cielo Vista Elementary are 55% Hispanic, 27% White, 11% Asian, 6% Two or more races, 1% African American.

What schools do graduates of Cielo Vista Elementary attend?

Students who attend Cielo Vista Elementary usually go on to attend: Middle : Rancho Santa Margarita Intermediate High : Trabuco Hills High

Cielo Vista Elementary

Summary:

Cielo Vista Elementary is a public elementary school located in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, serving 526 students in grades K-6. It is part of the Saddleback Valley Unified School District, which is ranked 376 out of 1,568 districts in the state.

Cielo Vista Elementary faces some challenges compared to nearby schools. Its test scores are generally lower than the district and state averages across various grade levels and subjects, with proficiency rates ranging from 32.26% to 63.38% in English Language Arts/Literacy, 39.71% to 41.94% in Mathematics, and 32.26% in Science. The school has also experienced a significant increase in chronic absenteeism, rising from 8.1% in 2020-2021 to 20.9% in 2022-2023, which is notably higher than nearby schools like Del Lago Elementary (27.7%), Portola Hills Elementary (13.8%), and Melinda Heights Elementary (12.9%). Additionally, Cielo Vista has a high percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch, reaching 64.07% in 2022-2023, which is significantly higher than the nearby schools.

The high percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch, along with the relatively high student-teacher ratio at Cielo Vista Elementary, may be contributing factors to the school's lower academic performance compared to its peers. Addressing these areas through targeted interventions and support could help the school improve and better serve its student population. Cielo Vista Elementary's performance, as measured by test scores, chronic absenteeism, and socioeconomic factors, is generally lower than the nearby schools within the Saddleback Valley Unified School District, as well as the Oxford Preparatory Academy - South Orange County District.

Detail:

Public K-6

21811 Avenida De Los Fundadore
Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688-5444

(949) 589-7456

District: Saddleback Valley Unified

SchoolDigger Rank:
2352^nd of 5,862 California Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $5,263

Students who attend Cielo Vista Elementary usually attend:

Middle:	Rancho Santa Margarita Intermediate
High:	Trabuco Hills High

Student/teacher ratio: 21.8

Number of students: 488

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

54.7%

White:

27.3%

Asian:

11.3%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 61.1%

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Compare Cielo Vista Elementary to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Cielo Vista Elementary ranks better than 59.9% of elementary schools in California. It also ranks 18^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 53.78. (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 Racial makeup is: Hispanic (54.7%), White (27.3%), Asian (11.3%). (See more...)

Compare Details 61.1% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Compare Details (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Cielo Vista Elementary is 21.8, which is the 8^th best among 22 elementary schools in the Saddleback Valley Unified School District. (See more...)

Compare Cielo Vista Elementary employs 22.3 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Cielo Vista Elementary is $5,263. 13 elementary schools in the Saddleback Valley Unified School District spend more per student.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Cielo Vista Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks Cielo Vista Elementary 2352^nd of 5862 California public elementary schools. (See Cielo Vista Elementary in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

English Language Learner students:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Male students:

Hispanic students:

White students:

Saddleback Valley Unified:

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

Average Parent Rating:

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Rank History for Cielo Vista Elementary

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Rank History for all students at Cielo Vista Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2004	73.08	1189^th	4809	75.3%
2005	71.97	1252^nd	4822	74.0%
2006	73.51	1192^nd	4818	75.3%
2007	75.78	1144^th	5113	77.6%
2008	68.78	1461^st	5113	71.4%
2009	60.00	1917^th	5193	63.1%
2010	59.16	2030^th	5314	61.8%
2011	65.06	1740^th	5377	67.6%
2012	64.37	1822^nd	5390	66.2%
2013	66.46	1748^th	5530	68.4%
2015	65.79	1667^th	5611	70.3%
2016	62.34	1891^st	5614	66.3%
2017	58.15	2111^th	5692	62.9%
2018	57.66	2153^rd	5662	62.0%
2019	57.34	2195^th	5789	62.1%
2022	45.14	2787^th	5883	52.6%
2023	48.36	2618^th	5874	55.4%
2024	53.78	2352^nd	5862	59.9%

See the entire list of California Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Cielo Vista Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	69.73	555^th	3246	82.9%
2019	72.28	475^th	3275	85.5%
2022	53.63	1017^th	3311	69.3%
2023	60.08	773^rd	3250	76.2%
2024	48.77	1253^rd	3160	60.3%

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

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Cielo Vista Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	45.90	2621^st	5084	48.4%
2019	49.16	2461^st	5173	52.4%
2022	55.66	1939^th	5264	63.2%
2023	57.17	1927^th	5374	64.1%
2024	54.25	2096^th	5511	62.0%

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

Rank History for Female students at Cielo Vista Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	49.97	2497^th	5413	53.9%
2019	50.32	2477^th	5492	54.9%
2022	45.90	2640^th	5635	53.1%
2023	49.06	2458^th	5617	56.2%
2024	56.76	2087^th	5605	62.8%

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

Rank History for Disabled students at Cielo Vista Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	55.92	662^nd	2128	68.9%
2019	57.73	777^th	2585	69.9%
2022	29.46	1519^th	2227	31.8%

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

Rank History for Male students at Cielo Vista Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	63.04	1808^th	5431	66.7%
2019	62.50	1851^st	5510	66.4%
2022	44.32	2752^nd	5663	51.4%
2023	47.29	2606^th	5650	53.9%
2024	50.26	2448^th	5636	56.6%

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

Rank History for Hispanic students at Cielo Vista Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	46.96	2407^th	4830	50.2%
2019	49.15	2339^th	4963	52.9%
2022	39.29	2951^st	5084	42.0%
2023	41.12	2824^th	5098	44.6%
2024	40.15	2949^th	5102	42.2%

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

Rank History for White students at Cielo Vista Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	57.70	1271^st	2737	53.6%
2019	55.10	1369^th	2834	51.7%
2022	43.79	1636^th	2726	40.0%
2023	50.34	1417^th	2662	46.8%
2024	64.13	991^st	2647	62.6%

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
Wednesday, January 20, 2010

My second grader child has improved so much thank to the great teachers. Close Quote

Enrollment information for Cielo Vista Elementary

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1991	459	8	42	73	1	n/a	n/a	0	583
1992	689	16	53	100	1	n/a	n/a	0	859
1993	701	20	62	95	1	n/a	n/a	0	879
1994	775	20	67	119	0	n/a	n/a	0	981
1995	799	29	77	147	8	n/a	n/a	0	1060
1996	799	29	77	147	8	n/a	n/a	0	1060
1997	896	31	102	176	5	n/a	n/a	0	1210
1998	786	23	82	163	3	n/a	n/a	0	1057
1999	805	19	98	183	4	n/a	n/a	0	1109
2000	797	34	101	208	4	n/a	n/a	0	1144
2001	770	27	103	269	8	n/a	n/a	0	1177
2002	706	31	85	313	5	n/a	n/a	0	1140
2003	706	31	85	313	5	n/a	n/a	0	1140
2004	650	24	87	326	4	n/a	n/a	0	1091
2005	596	23	85	341	4	n/a	n/a	0	1049
2006	520	20	77	358	3	n/a	n/a	27	1005
2007	512	14	66	335	3	n/a	n/a	28	958
2008	476	20	79	351	3	n/a	n/a	0	929
2009	432	11	72	353	4	0	42	0	914
2010	359	8	65	433	10	2	44	0	921
2011	362	12	63	452	6	2	33	0	930
2012	337	16	59	396	4	1	31	0	844
2013	366	18	63	430	3	4	27	0	911
2014	345	21	59	427	4	2	22	0	880
2015	307	18	60	409	3	4	20	0	821
2016	294	15	58	368	1	7	18	0	761
2017	275	10	49	362	1	6	15	0	718
2018	288	16	72	370	2	6	22	0	776
2019	261	8	55	369	2	5	29	0	729
2020	244	9	48	363	0	5	34	0	703
2021	204	4	45	334	1	5	39	0	632
2022	178	7	46	319	0	4	46	0	600
2023	148	2	49	294	0	2	31	0	526
2024	133	6	55	267	0	0	27	0	488

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 Cielo Vista Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1991	583	22.0	26.5	n/a
1992	859	22.4	38.3	5.5
1993	879	34.0	25.9	6.7
1994	981	37.0	26.5	9
1995	1060	40.6	26.1	9.4
1996	1060	40.6	26.1	9.4
1997	1210	54.4	22.2	8.6
1998	1057	51.8	20.4	7.7
1999	1109	53.2	20.8	9
2000	1144	57.6	19.9	10.3
2001	1177	55.6	21.2	10.7
2002	1140	51.4	22.2	13.6
2003	1140	51.4	22.2	13.6
2004	1091	45.8	23.8	18.5
2005	1049	47.4	22.1	21.9
2006	1005	45.4	22.1	24.8
2007	958	42.4	22.6	23.2
2008	929	44.7	20.8	26.2
2009	914	39.1	22.8	27.2
2010	921	37.1	24.7	35
2011	930	n/a	n/a	39.1
2012	844	31.5	26.7	n/a
2013	911	35.2	25.8	43.6
2014	880	30.0	29.3	46.8
2015	821	30.0	27.3	41.8
2016	761	29.0	26.2	40.7
2017	718	27.0	26.5	38.9
2018	776	27.5	28.1	46.6
2019	729	23.0	31.6	42.4
2020	703	n/a	n/a	44
2021	632	25.0	25.2	43.2
2022	600	24.6	24.3	45.7
2023	526	24.1	21.8	64.1
2024	488	22.3	21.8	61.1

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 Cielo Vista Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1991	583	22.0	26.5	n/a
1992	859	22.4	38.3	5.5
1993	879	34.0	25.9	6.7
1994	981	37.0	26.5	9
1995	1060	40.6	26.1	9.4
1996	1060	40.6	26.1	9.4
1997	1210	54.4	22.2	8.6
1998	1057	51.8	20.4	7.7
1999	1109	53.2	20.8	9
2000	1144	57.6	19.9	10.3
2001	1177	55.6	21.2	10.7
2002	1140	51.4	22.2	13.6
2003	1140	51.4	22.2	13.6
2004	1091	45.8	23.8	18.5
2005	1049	47.4	22.1	21.9
2006	1005	45.4	22.1	24.8
2007	958	42.4	22.6	23.2
2008	929	44.7	20.8	26.2
2009	914	39.1	22.8	27.2
2010	921	37.1	24.7	35
2011	930	n/a	n/a	39.1
2012	844	31.5	26.7	n/a
2013	911	35.2	25.8	43.6
2014	880	30.0	29.3	46.8
2015	821	30.0	27.3	41.8
2016	761	29.0	26.2	40.7
2017	718	27.0	26.5	38.9
2018	776	27.5	28.1	46.6
2019	729	23.0	31.6	42.4
2020	703	n/a	n/a	44
2021	632	25.0	25.2	43.2
2022	600	24.6	24.3	45.7
2023	526	24.1	21.8	64.1
2024	488	22.3	21.8	61.1

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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