Summary:
Carlsbad has 23 listed schools: 15 elementary, 3 middle, 4 high schools and 1 alternative school. In 2025–2026, the unweighted averages for the 22 schools with reported scores were 73% in ELA, 65% in math and 59% in science, compared with California averages of 49%, 38% and 36%. The most important takeaway is that Carlsbad’s school averages are well above state results, but school-to-school differences are substantial.
Top results vary by subject: Poinsettia Elementary led ELA at 87%, 37 points above the state; El Camino Creek Elementary led math at 85%, 47 points above; and La Costa Heights Elementary led science at 79%, 43 points above. Pacific Rim Elementary was strong across subjects, with 82% in ELA, 81% in math and 74% in science. At the low end, Carlsbad Village Academy had 45% in ELA, 14% in math and 21% in science—below state results by 4, 25 and 15 points, respectively. Among middle schools, Aviara Oaks Middle led in all three subjects; among high schools, La Costa Canyon High led ELA, while Sage Creek High led math and science.
Recent changes were mixed: the school average was nearly unchanged in ELA, up about a point in math and up about a point in science, while state science results rose 3 points. The academy’s ELA score fell 16 points; excluding it, the other schools’ average ELA score rose about a point. SchoolDigger ranks Sage Creek High in the 96th percentile and Pacific Rim Elementary in the 98th percentile among elementary schools; La Costa Canyon High rose from the 83rd to the 94th percentile from 2023–2024 to 2025–2026. The reported free/reduced lunch eligible measure for 2024–2025 ranges from 5% at El Camino Creek to 54% at Jefferson Elementary, while Buena Vista Elementary has 40% and strong scores; these figures do not form a simple pattern with achievement. Scores are reported for 22 schools; Carlsbad Seaside Academy’s entries are suppressed, and the academy’s 38 students make its results less comparable.
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