Lucia Mar Unified

The 19 schools in Lucia Mar Unified include 11 elementary schools, three middle schools, four high schools and one alternative school. In 2025–26, the unweighted averages across schools were 53% in English language arts (ELA), 37% in math and 35% in science, compared with state averages of 49%, 38% and 36%. The most important finding is how widely results vary from school to school: the top-to-bottom spreads are 78 points in ELA, 71 in math and 70 in science.

Central Coast New Technical High leads in ELA at 91%, 41 points above the state; Branch Elementary leads in math at 72% and science at 76%, respectively 34 and 40 points above the state. At the other end, Lopez Continuation High scores 13% in ELA, 2% in math and 5% in science—37, 37 and 31 points below state results. Among middle schools, Paulding Middle leads and Mesa Middle trails in all-grades scores; the grade-seven comparison also favors Paulding in ELA and math. Among elementary schools, Ocean View Elementary and Shell Beach Elementary are consistently strong, while Nipomo Elementary is lowest among elementary schools in all three subjects.

Recent changes are mixed: the average ELA score was nearly unchanged from 2024–25, math rose by less than a point, and science rose by about a point, while state averages rose in all three subjects. Central Coast New Technical High gained 13 points in ELA but lost 11 in math and six in science; Pacific View Academy gained 14 points in math and 11 in science but lost two in ELA. SchoolDigger ranks Branch at the 95th percentile among California elementary schools and Lopez at the 8th percentile among high schools. The 2024–25 measure is free/reduced lunch eligible: 35% at Branch and 84% at Nipomo Elementary, for example; it provides context, not an explanation for results. Ratios also do not neatly track scores: Branch’s is 20.3, while Lopez’s is 10.9. Averages are unweighted, and schools’ grade spans and programs differ.