Summary:
Pacifica has seven schools—six elementary schools and one middle school—serving different grade spans; six have reported 2025–26 all-grades results, while Pacifica Independent Home Study’s scores are suppressed. Across the six reporting schools, average proficiency was 54% in ELA, 51% in math, and 50% in science, compared with state results of 49%, 38%, and 36%. The most important takeaway is that results vary substantially by school, especially in math, where the top-to-bottom gap was 29 percentage points.
Vallemar Elementary led in all three subjects, with 61% proficiency in ELA, 69% in math, and 65% in science—about 12, 30, and 29 points above state results. Ocean Shore Elementary had the lowest ELA and math scores, at 41% and 40%; its ELA result was 8 points below the state, while its math result was 1 point above. In science, Ingrid B. Lacy Middle was lowest at 39%, though still 3 points above the state. These differences mean an area-wide average can hide meaningful contrasts between schools.
Recent changes were sharply mixed: Sunset Ridge Elementary gained 21 points in ELA, 9 in math, and 28 in science from 2024–25 to 2025–26, while Ocean Shore fell 19, 16, and 5 points, respectively. SchoolDigger’s ranking history also moved in opposite directions: Sunset Ridge rose from the 38th to the 68th percentile, while Ocean Shore fell from the 79th to the 54th. Other context does not neatly track results: Sunset Ridge’s student–teacher ratio was 19.3, compared with Vallemar’s 23.9, even though Vallemar led in every subject. For 2024–25, the reported free/reduced lunch eligible shares among schools with scores ranged from 14% at Cabrillo Elementary and Ortega Elementary to 42% at Sunset Ridge; these figures provide context, not an explanation for test results.
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