Summary
Ellwood Elementary is a 303-student school serving kindergarten through sixth grade in Goleta, in the coastal Santa Barbara area. In 2025–2026, its English and math proficiency rates were just above California’s, while science was below the state; the school was below the Goleta Union Elementary district in all three subjects. The central concern is that Ellwood’s results have declined in every subject even as statewide results rose.
Sixth-grade English is a clear bright spot: 72% of students were proficient, compared with 48% statewide and 67% districtwide; that was the third-highest result among Ellwood and the nine nearby K–6 schools, behind Mountain View Elementary and Foothill Elementary. Science is the sharpest weakness: Ellwood’s 32% proficiency was below the state’s 36% and the district’s 48%, and was the lowest among the nine nearby K–6 schools, which averaged 49%. Math was 42%, above the state’s 38% but below the district’s 55% and nearby-school average of 56%. English overall was 51%, also above the state but 12 points below the nearby-school average.
The decline is substantial: from 2022–2023 to 2025–2026, Ellwood’s proficiency fell 15 points in English, 7 in math, and 34 in science, while state results rose 3, 4, and 6 points, respectively. SchoolDigger ranks Ellwood 2,309th of 5,804 schools, at the 60th percentile with 3 stars; its percentile fell from 74 in 2023–2024. Its student–teacher ratio was 17.8 in 2024–2025, the lowest among nearby schools. In that same year, 44% of students were free/reduced lunch eligible; this is an eligibility measure, not a measure of who pays for meals. SchoolDigger’s statewide ranking for Hispanic Students was at the 41st percentile in 2025–2026, down from 71st in 2023–2024, while its ranking for Low Socio Economic Status Students was at the 25th percentile, down from 52nd.
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