Is Santiago Hills Elementary a good school?

Yes! Santiago Hills Elementary is one of the best elementary schools in the state. It ranks 73 rd of 5862 California elementary schools.

How many students attend Santiago Hills Elementary?

In the 2023-24 school year, 561 students attended Santiago Hills Elementary.

What is the racial makeup of Santiago Hills Elementary?

Students at Santiago Hills Elementary are 66% Asian, 16% White, 11% Two or more races, 7% Hispanic.

What schools do graduates of Santiago Hills Elementary attend?

Students who attend Santiago Hills Elementary usually go on to attend: Middle : Sierra Vista Middle High : Northwood High

Santiago Hills Elementary

Summary:

Santiago Hills Elementary is a highly-ranked public elementary school in Irvine, California, serving 548 students in grades K-6 and part of the acclaimed Irvine Unified School District. This school consistently outperforms the district and state in academic achievement, with 84.72% of students proficient or better in English Language Arts/Literacy and 86.86% proficient or better in Mathematics, compared to 73.94% and 69.35% in the district, respectively.

Santiago Hills Elementary excels in supporting the academic success of diverse student subgroups, ranking within the top 5% of California elementary schools for English Language Learners and low socioeconomic status students, and within the top 10% for Asian and multi-racial students. The school also maintains relatively low chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 3.4% to 9.0% in recent years, lower than the district and state averages. While Santiago Hills Elementary outperforms the district and state, it is not the only high-performing school in the area, as nearby Canyon View Elementary and Stonegate Elementary also demonstrate strong academic achievement.

Santiago Hills Elementary has maintained its exceptional performance over an extended period, with a 5-star rating from SchoolDigger and consistent top rankings in the state for the past decade. This suggests a well-established culture of academic excellence and effective instructional practices. While the school serves a relatively affluent student population, with a low percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, it still supports the success of a diverse student body, including strong performance among Asian, Hispanic, and multi-racial students. Potential areas for improvement may include the performance of White students, who rank lower than other subgroups, and further reducing chronic absenteeism rates.

Detail:

Public K-6

29 Christamon West
Irvine, CA 92620-1836

(949) 936-6000

District: Irvine Unified

SchoolDigger Rank:
73^rd of 5,862 California Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $5,787

Students who attend Santiago Hills Elementary usually attend:

Middle:	Sierra Vista Middle
High:	Northwood High

Student/teacher ratio: 29.5

Number of students: 561

Racial breakdown:

Asian:

65.6%

White:

15.7%

Two or more races:

10.9%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 12.8%

See top rated California elementary schools

Compare Santiago Hills Elementary to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Santiago Hills Elementary ranks better than 98.8% of elementary schools in California. It also ranks first among 26 ranked elementary schools in the Irvine Unified School District! (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 98.14. (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 Racial makeup is: Asian (65.6%), White (15.7%), two or more races (10.9%). (See more...)

Compare Details 12.8% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Compare Details (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Santiago Hills Elementary is 29.5. 19 elementary schools in the Irvine Unified School District have better student/teacher ratios. (See more...)

Compare Santiago Hills Elementary employs 18.9 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Santiago Hills Elementary is $5,787, which is the 9^th highest among 26 elementary schools in the Irvine Unified School District.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Santiago Hills Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks Santiago Hills Elementary 73^rd of 5862 California public elementary schools. (See Santiago Hills 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:

Asian students:

White students:

Irvine Unified:

SchoolDigger ranks Irvine Unified 108^th of 1568 California school districts. (See district ranking list.)

Average Parent Rating:

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Rank History for Santiago Hills Elementary

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Rank History for all students at Santiago Hills Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2004	95.84	187^th	4809	96.1%
2005	97.01	106^th	4822	97.8%
2006	95.25	210^th	4818	95.6%
2007	93.66	309^th	5113	94.0%
2008	95.03	181^st	5113	96.5%
2009	93.68	244^th	5193	95.3%
2010	95.76	93^rd	5314	98.2%
2011	96.14	61^st	5377	98.9%
2012	95.17	81^st	5390	98.5%
2013	94.88	118^th	5530	97.9%
2015	98.42	63^rd	5611	98.9%
2016	96.88	169^th	5614	97.0%
2017	96.84	191^st	5692	96.6%
2018	97.59	98^th	5662	98.3%
2019	97.79	81^st	5789	98.6%
2022	97.95	104^th	5883	98.2%
2023	98.16	83^rd	5874	98.6%
2024	98.14	73^rd	5862	98.8%

See the entire list of California Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at Santiago Hills Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	83.85	31^st	339	90.9%
2019	79.33	68^th	445	84.7%
2022	79.71	97^th	610	84.1%
2023	87.01	38^th	669	94.3%

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

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Santiago Hills Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2019	99.97	3^rd	3275	99.9%
2024	97.64	31^st	3160	99.0%

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

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Santiago Hills Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2019	99.03	16^th	5173	99.7%
2023	98.93	40^th	5374	99.3%
2024	99.24	41^st	5511	99.3%

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

Rank History for Female students at Santiago Hills Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	96.75	99^th	5413	98.2%
2019	96.30	142^nd	5492	97.4%
2022	98.01	63^rd	5635	98.9%
2023	97.33	105^th	5617	98.1%
2024	95.49	252^nd	5605	95.5%

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

Rank History for Disabled students at Santiago Hills Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2018	95.40	84^th	2128	96.1%

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

Rank History for Male students at Santiago Hills Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	97.45	91^st	5431	98.3%
2019	97.73	71^st	5510	98.7%
2022	97.05	146^th	5663	97.4%
2023	98.07	69^th	5650	98.8%
2024	98.62	28^th	5636	99.5%

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

Rank History for Asian students at Santiago Hills Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	82.20	75^th	1071	93.0%
2019	83.82	51^st	1149	95.6%
2022	85.85	40^th	1154	96.5%
2023	81.86	110^th	1190	90.8%
2024	83.58	81^st	1203	93.3%

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

Rank History for Hispanic students at Santiago Hills Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2022	93.75	238^th	5084	95.3%

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

Rank History for White students at Santiago Hills Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	84.03	293^rd	2737	89.3%
2019	79.66	477^th	2834	83.2%
2022	65.83	960^th	2726	64.8%
2023	74.24	647^th	2662	75.7%
2024	65.15	952^nd	2647	64.0%

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: 3)

100%

Reviews:

by a parent
Sunday, June 9, 2013

Santiago Hills used to be a great school, despite the fact that it has gone through couple principals, good and bad. Current principal is new and first-time being principal, and is condescending to minority parents (perhaps because he was VP @ Rancho Middle School and dealt with lots of fobbish parents), often using big words in the wrong context. School under him let go of good teachers, and received new teachers who are either okay or incompetent. Whereas before, SH usually get very exceptional new teachers. Very few PTA activities now but school nickels and dimes parents by making many events mandatory fundraisers which you need to purchase admission. Many combo classes combining 2 different grades. Hits and misses with teachers but you may get lucky. Going through personnel/teacher changes this summer so don't register until fall 2013. Close Quote

Enrollment information for Santiago Hills Elementary

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	562	2	57	11	0	n/a	n/a	0	632
1989	549	3	45	9	0	n/a	n/a	0	606
1990	552	7	42	7	0	n/a	n/a	0	608
1991	560	5	57	6	0	n/a	n/a	0	628
1992	525	5	86	21	0	n/a	n/a	0	637
1993	477	7	110	19	0	n/a	n/a	0	613
1994	459	4	124	15	0	n/a	n/a	0	602
1995	416	12	151	25	1	n/a	n/a	0	605
1996	416	12	151	25	1	n/a	n/a	0	605
1997	472	12	204	28	1	n/a	n/a	0	717
1998	510	8	233	26	2	n/a	n/a	0	779
1999	416	8	215	25	1	n/a	n/a	8	673
2000	382	13	240	21	3	n/a	n/a	17	676
2001	345	9	254	22	3	n/a	n/a	27	660
2002	328	10	263	24	2	n/a	n/a	36	663
2003	328	10	263	24	2	n/a	n/a	36	663
2004	317	7	275	31	3	n/a	n/a	43	676
2005	284	6	281	28	3	n/a	n/a	50	652
2006	254	7	193	29	3	n/a	n/a	55	541
2007	235	4	217	29	2	n/a	n/a	49	536
2008	211	5	242	33	3	n/a	n/a	0	494
2009	188	6	223	37	3	1	54	0	512
2010	184	9	232	36	3	1	57	0	522
2011	184	9	253	38	3	1	43	0	531
2012	193	16	284	42	2	1	23	0	561
2013	191	14	352	47	0	1	33	0	638
2014	184	16	383	57	0	1	54	0	695
2015	147	9	365	53	0	0	45	0	619
2016	141	3	357	59	0	0	65	0	625
2017	130	4	349	55	0	0	67	0	605
2018	121	4	335	68	0	0	83	0	611
2019	113	6	335	54	1	0	73	0	582
2020	100	4	312	53	0	0	68	0	537
2021	75	2	89	28	0	0	42	0	236
2022	99	1	282	42	0	1	104	1	530
2023	99	1	329	37	0	1	79	2	548
2024	88	2	368	40	1	1	61	0	561

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 Santiago Hills Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	632	28.2	22.4	n/a
1989	606	24.1	25.1	n/a
1990	608	25.1	24.2	n/a
1991	628	21.8	28.8	n/a
1992	637	22.2	28.6	2.7
1993	613	21.0	29.2	3.4
1994	602	24.8	24.3	2.2
1995	605	21.8	27.8	3.1
1996	605	21.8	27.8	3.1
1997	717	30.0	23.9	3.8
1998	779	38.0	20.5	3.2
1999	673	29.9	22.5	3.3
2000	676	29.0	23.3	3
2001	660	29.0	22.8	3.6
2002	663	28.8	23.0	3.5
2003	663	28.8	23.0	3.5
2004	676	28.8	23.5	3.8
2005	652	27.8	23.5	3.2
2006	541	24.0	22.5	4.5
2007	536	25.0	21.4	4.5
2008	494	26.1	18.9	4.9
2009	512	23.0	19.0	4.5
2010	522	19.6	26.6	7.1
2011	531	n/a	n/a	5.8
2012	561	20.0	28.0	n/a
2013	638	23.0	27.7	7.4
2014	695	22.0	31.5	8.6
2015	619	24.0	25.7	10
2016	625	25.0	25.0	10.2
2017	605	22.9	26.3	9.6
2018	611	22.8	26.7	14.7
2019	582	20.2	28.8	15.5
2020	537	n/a	n/a	11.2
2021	236	10.8	21.8	14.8
2022	530	19.0	27.8	10.8
2023	548	18.9	28.8	11.1
2024	561	18.9	29.5	12.8

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 Santiago Hills Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	632	28.2	22.4	n/a
1989	606	24.1	25.1	n/a
1990	608	25.1	24.2	n/a
1991	628	21.8	28.8	n/a
1992	637	22.2	28.6	2.7
1993	613	21.0	29.2	3.4
1994	602	24.8	24.3	2.2
1995	605	21.8	27.8	3.1
1996	605	21.8	27.8	3.1
1997	717	30.0	23.9	3.8
1998	779	38.0	20.5	3.2
1999	673	29.9	22.5	3.3
2000	676	29.0	23.3	3
2001	660	29.0	22.8	3.6
2002	663	28.8	23.0	3.5
2003	663	28.8	23.0	3.5
2004	676	28.8	23.5	3.8
2005	652	27.8	23.5	3.2
2006	541	24.0	22.5	4.5
2007	536	25.0	21.4	4.5
2008	494	26.1	18.9	4.9
2009	512	23.0	19.0	4.5
2010	522	19.6	26.6	7.1
2011	531	n/a	n/a	5.8
2012	561	20.0	28.0	n/a
2013	638	23.0	27.7	7.4
2014	695	22.0	31.5	8.6
2015	619	24.0	25.7	10
2016	625	25.0	25.0	10.2
2017	605	22.9	26.3	9.6
2018	611	22.8	26.7	14.7
2019	582	20.2	28.8	15.5
2020	537	n/a	n/a	11.2
2021	236	10.8	21.8	14.8
2022	530	19.0	27.8	10.8
2023	548	18.9	28.8	11.1
2024	561	18.9	29.5	12.8

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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