Summary
Montecito Union is a K–6 elementary school serving 353 students in Montecito, in the Santa Barbara area. Its 2025–2026 proficiency rates were 95% in English language arts (ELA), 95% in math and 89% in science, all well above California’s rates of 49%, 38% and 36%. The clearest takeaway is that the school’s results are strong across all three subjects, not just one.
Compared with the state, the school’s largest advantage was in math, at 57 percentage points; its ELA advantage was 46 points, and its science advantage was 53 points. The reported rates for Montecito Union Elementary matched the school’s in all three subjects. Among seven nearby K–6 schools with current results, the average was 50% in ELA, 48% in math and 37% in science; Montecito Union was 46, 48 and 52 points higher, respectively. Science is therefore its biggest separator from nearby peers, while math is its biggest strength against the state. Cold Spring Elementary was the nearby exception, scoring higher in all three subjects, at 100% in ELA, 99% in math and 97% in science.
Results rose from 2022–2023 to 2025–2026: ELA increased 8 percentage points, math 5 and science 12. The school’s already-large leads over the state widened by 5 points in ELA, 2 in math and 7 in science. SchoolDigger ranked Montecito Union No. 3 of 5,804 California schools for 2025–2026, with 5 stars; it had been No. 67 in 2022–2023. Its 2024–2025 student-teacher ratio was 12:1, below the nearby-school range of 13.6:1 to 22.2:1. Its free/reduced lunch eligible rate was 5% that year, the lowest reported among nearby schools with the same measure and year; this is context, not an explanation for achievement. Nearby averages exclude schools without 2025–2026 results and the K–5 school.
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