Portola Springs Elementary

Summary:

Portola Springs Elementary is a highly-ranked public elementary school in Irvine, California, serving 887 students in grades K-6. As part of the Irvine Unified School District, which is ranked 108 out of 1,568 districts in the state, Portola Springs Elementary has consistently been one of the top-performing elementary schools in California, ranking in the top 6% of all elementary schools in the state for the past several years.

Portola Springs Elementary's academic performance is exceptional, with students consistently outperforming the district and state averages in Smarter Balanced Assessments for English Language Arts and Mathematics. In the 2023-2024 school year, the school's proficiency rates in ELA and Math were significantly higher than the district and state averages, with some grade levels exceeding 80% proficiency. The school also excels in supporting various student subgroups, including English Language Learners, Low Socioeconomic Status students, and students with disabilities, with rankings in the top 1-2% of California elementary schools for these subgroups.

When compared to nearby elementary schools in the Irvine Unified School District, such as Santiago Hills Elementary and Stonegate Elementary, Portola Springs Elementary generally outperforms its peers in academic achievement, with higher proficiency rates in ELA and Math. However, some of these nearby schools also demonstrate exceptional performance, suggesting a high level of educational quality across the district. While Portola Springs Elementary's performance is exceptional, there may be opportunities to further enhance the school's outcomes, particularly for certain student subgroups, and to reduce the school's already relatively low chronic absenteeism rates.


Detail:

Public K-6

 12100 Portola Springs
       Irvine, CA  92618-8875


(949) 936-8800

District: Irvine Unified

SchoolDigger Rank:
334th of 5,862 California Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures:  $4,816 Help


Students who attend Portola Springs Elementary usually attend:

Middle:    Jeffrey Trail Middle
High:    Portola High

Student/teacher ratio:  27.1 Help
Number of students:  887

Racial breakdown:

Asian:
54.6%
White:
18.9%
Hispanic:
12.4%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  15.2% Help


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Performance Trends
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Compare Details Portola Springs Elementary ranks better than 94.3% of elementary schools in California. It also ranks 11th among 26 ranked elementary schools in the Irvine Unified School District. (See more...)
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Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 95.14. (See more...)
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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
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Compare Details Student population at Portola Springs Elementary is diverse. Racial makeup is: Asian (54.6%), White (18.9%), Hispanic (12.4%). (See more...)
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Compare Details 15.2% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)
Teachers
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Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Portola Springs Elementary is 27.1, which is the 10th best among 26 elementary schools in the Irvine Unified School District. (See more...)
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Compare Portola Springs Elementary employs 32.7 full-time teachers.
Finance
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Compare Details The average total spent per student at Portola Springs Elementary is $4,816. 23 elementary schools in the Irvine Unified School District spend more per student.
Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Portola Springs Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks Portola Springs Elementary 334th of 5862 California public elementary schools. (See Portola Springs 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:
Hispanic students:
White students:


Irvine Unified:

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


What do you think?

Your rating for Portola Springs Elementary?

Rank History for Portola Springs Elementary

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Compare

Rank History for all students at Portola Springs Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2017 97.45 140th 5692 97.5%
2018 96.04 213th 5662 96.2%
2019 95.39 260th 5789 95.5%
2022 93.19 501st 5883 91.5%
2023 94.51 390th 5874 93.4%
2024 95.14 334th 5862 94.3%
See the entire list of California Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at Portola Springs Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2019 66.72 155th 445 65.2%
2022 65.36 240th 610 60.7%
2023 75.35 157th 669 76.5%
See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Multi-racial Students!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Portola Springs Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 99.91 5th 3246 99.8%
2019 99.87 12th 3275 99.6%
2022 98.43 53rd 3311 98.4%
2024 97.88 29th 3160 99.1%
See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Portola Springs Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 95.31 120th 5084 97.6%
2019 93.05 199th 5173 96.2%
2022 83.70 612th 5264 88.4%
2023 93.08 262nd 5374 95.1%
2024 88.99 482nd 5511 91.3%
See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Portola Springs Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 93.32 332nd 5413 93.9%
2019 94.24 279th 5492 94.9%
2022 93.45 415th 5635 92.6%
2023 94.42 334th 5617 94.1%
2024 94.07 349th 5605 93.8%
See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Disabled students at Portola Springs Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2019 85.71 251st 2585 90.3%
See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Disabled Students!

Rank History for Male students at Portola Springs Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 96.58 147th 5431 97.3%
2019 94.95 253rd 5510 95.4%
2022 91.11 568th 5663 90.0%
2023 92.23 483rd 5650 91.5%
2024 94.01 353rd 5636 93.7%
See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Asian students at Portola Springs Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 76.22 232nd 1071 78.3%
2019 72.89 306th 1149 73.4%
2022 70.10 385th 1154 66.6%
2023 71.04 379th 1190 68.2%
2024 73.31 342nd 1203 71.6%
See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Asian Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Portola Springs Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 93.88 170th 4830 96.5%
2019 89.32 328th 4963 93.4%
2022 76.21 889th 5084 82.5%
2023 83.76 585th 5098 88.5%
2024 87.40 453rd 5102 91.1%
See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for White students at Portola Springs Elementary

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Elementary Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 67.96 900th 2737 67.1%
2019 69.91 826th 2834 70.9%
2022 68.25 870th 2726 68.1%
2023 61.29 1070th 2662 59.8%
2024 61.58 1075th 2647 59.4%
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.

Portola Springs Elementary Test Scores
Tests: 
  
Grades: 
  
Years: 
  
Group by: 
District Scores:
State Scores:    
  
Subgroup: 







Data source: California Department of Education

Review counts

All ratings (Avg rating: 3)
50%

0%

0%

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50%

  

by a parent
Saturday, August 25, 2018

Open Quote The school has been privy to poor leadership and some negligent teachers and the kids are suffering due to this. Irvine school district has one of the highest paid staffs and our children deserve better than this. When talking to the principal she simply made a statement that "she must protect her teachers first." As a parent I no longer want to feel helpless please help by filing an official complaint with iusd.org, calling the director Stan Machesky, Executive Director, Elementary Education, (949) 936-5055, [email protected], attending the board meeting at 5050 Barrancs pkwy on Sept 11 at 6:30pm Close Quote



Enrollment information for Portola Springs Elementary

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Compare
Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
2015 51 0 132 36 0 0 23 0 242
2016 134 9 365 64 1 0 53 0 626
2017 158 8 463 73 1 0 73 0 776
2018 174 8 570 108 1 0 82 0 943
2019 178 16 627 114 3 1 91 0 1030
2020 156 13 547 112 2 1 90 0 921
2021 99 6 202 67 0 0 54 0 428
2022 157 19 452 104 1 2 108 0 843
2023 168 13 484 110 1 5 106 0 887

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 Portola Springs Elementary

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
2015 242 11.0 22.0 11.2
2016 626 24.0 26.0 4.8
2017 776 28.1 27.5 6.1
2018 943 32.7 28.8 11.6
2019 1030 37.7 27.3 13.4
2020 921 n/a n/a 14.3
2021 428 19.0 22.5 19.2
2022 843 32.0 26.3 14.5
2023 887 32.7 27.1 15.2

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 Portola Springs Elementary

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
2015 242 11.0 22.0 11.2
2016 626 24.0 26.0 4.8
2017 776 28.1 27.5 6.1
2018 943 32.7 28.8 11.6
2019 1030 37.7 27.3 13.4
2020 921 n/a n/a 14.3
2021 428 19.0 22.5 19.2
2022 843 32.0 26.3 14.5
2023 887 32.7 27.1 15.2

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.

Kindergarten Immunization Rates

Portola Springs Elementary

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Compare
YearCompletely ImmunizedReligious ExemptionMedical ExemptionConditionalPolioHepatitis BVaricellaDTPMMR
201581.0%0.0%0.0%19.0%91.0%97.0%97.0%85.0%92.0%
201695.0%1.0%0.0%4.0%96.0%99.0%99.0%96.0%96.0%
201787.0%0.0%0.0%13.0%95.0%≥99.0%≥99.0%89.0%93.0%
201885.0%0.0%1.0%15.0%92.0%≥99.0%≥99.0%93.0%93.0%
201997.0%1.0%2.0%≥99.0%97.0%≥99.0%≥99.0%98.0%
202197.4%0.7%0.7%

Data source: California Department of Public Health
Finances

Per Pupil Expenditures for Portola Springs Elementary

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YearTotal Expenditures Per Pupil
2018 $4,816

Data source: California Department of Education
Pre and Post Pandemic Data

Impact of COVID-19 on Portola Springs Elementary

The coronavirus has had a profound impact on education in America. Learning shifted online overnight, attendance numbers dwindled, and enrollment decreased. SchoolDigger.com is making it easier for you to better assess how COVID-19 has impacted your school. Through the collection of pre-pandemic (2019) and current data, SchoolDigger.com is sharing test scores, enrollment numbers and school demographics from schools across the country – and we make it easy to see how impacted schools compare locally and statewide.

Rankings

Rank
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Rank
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Ranks 260th of 5789 Elementary schoolsRanks 390th of 5874 Elementary schools
 2.1%

Test Scores

% proficient
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
% proficient
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
3rd Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Portola Springs Elementary)79.666.2
 13.4%
   3rd Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Irvine Unified)74.570.5
 4%
   3rd Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (California)48.543
 5.6%
3rd Grade Mathematics (Portola Springs Elementary)81.572.5
 9.1%
   3rd Grade Mathematics (Irvine Unified)75.672.8
 2.8%
   3rd Grade Mathematics (California)50.245.1
 5.1%
4th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Portola Springs Elementary)7977.8
 1.2%
   4th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Irvine Unified)7574.5
 0.5%
   4th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (California)49.543.7
 5.7%
4th Grade Mathematics (Portola Springs Elementary)81.379.5
 1.8%
   4th Grade Mathematics (Irvine Unified)74.373.9
 0.4%
   4th Grade Mathematics (California)44.940.8
 4.1%
5th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Portola Springs Elementary)81.878.2
 3.6%
   5th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Irvine Unified)78.376.3
 2%
   5th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (California)51.746.7
 5%
5th Grade Mathematics (Portola Springs Elementary)79.570.2
 9.3%
   5th Grade Mathematics (Irvine Unified)68.464.4
 3.9%
   5th Grade Mathematics (California)3833.4
 4.6%
5th Grade Science (Portola Springs Elementary)59.868.8
 9%
   5th Grade Science (Irvine Unified)61.665.3
 3.7%
   5th Grade Science (California)31.731.9
 0.1%
6th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Portola Springs Elementary)85.579
 6.5%
   6th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Irvine Unified)76.476
 0.4%
   6th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (California)48.544.2
 4.3%
6th Grade Mathematics (Portola Springs Elementary)76.877.2
 0.4%
   6th Grade Mathematics (Irvine Unified)72.271.8
 0.4%
   6th Grade Mathematics (California)38.533.2
 5.3%

Student Body

Number of students
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Number of students
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Total Students1030887
 13.9%
African American1613
 18.8%
American Indian31
 66.7%
Asian627484
 22.8%
Hispanic114110
 3.5%
Pacific Islander15
 400%
White178168
 5.6%
Two or More Races91106
 16.5%
% Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients13.4%15.2%
 1.8%


Schools Near Portola Springs Elementary









Frequently Asked Questions about Portola Springs Elementary

Students at Portola Springs Elementary are 55% Asian, 19% White, 12% Hispanic, 12% Two or more races, 1% African American.

Students who attend Portola Springs Elementary usually go on to attend:

Middle : Jeffrey Trail Middle
High : Portola High

Yes. Portola Springs Elementary ranks in the top 5.7% of California elementary schools.

In the 2022-23 school year, 887 students attended Portola Springs Elementary.


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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.





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