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Wilson Elementary

Public Grades K-6

4842^nd

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 5,857 California Elementary Schools

Better than 17% of California elementary schools

Summary

Wilson Elementary is a K-6 public school serving 323 students in Costa Mesa, part of the Newport-Mesa Unified district, but it faces significant academic challenges while serving a student body with very high economic need.

The school's academic performance is well below both district and state averages, with only about 26% of students proficient in English and 22% in math, placing it in the bottom 17-21% of California elementary schools. This is a stark contrast to higher-performing nearby schools like Heinz Kaiser Elementary (69% ELA proficiency) in the same district and Ralph E. Hawes Elementary (81% ELA proficiency) in the neighboring Huntington Beach City Elementary district. A key finding is that Wilson and other local schools with the highest percentages of students from low-income families, such as Everett A. Rea Elementary and Pomona Elementary, form a cluster with similarly low test scores, highlighting a pattern of neighborhood-level inequality.

Despite receiving substantial funding of over $26,700 per student—more than many nearby schools—these resources have not yet translated into academic improvement, and the school's statewide ranking has declined over the past decade. A positive sign is a dramatic 63% reduction in chronic student absenteeism since the pandemic, showing that some interventions are working. For parents, the data suggests that while Wilson serves a community with great need and is investing significant funds, it has not found the formula to match the academic success seen at other schools in the area, even those with similar student demographics or lower spending.

323

Students ?

18.5

Student/teacher ratio ?

$26,761

Per pupil spending ?

94.1%

Free/discounted lunch ?

801 Wilson St.
Costa Mesa, CA 92627-3333

(949) 515-6995

District: Newport-Mesa Unified

Students who attend Wilson Elementary usually attend:

Middle:	Charles W. Tewinkle Middle
High:	Estancia High

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

96.0%

White:

2.2%

African American:

0.9%

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At a glance

▼ Ranking trend: Declining — 36th percentile in 2015 → 17th in 2025

Worth a look

!Test scores below the California average (23% vs 41% meeting standards)

!In the lower quartile statewide (17th percentile)

!Ranking has slipped — down 19 percentile points since 2015

Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?

This school23%

District avg53%

California avg41%

4,842^nd of 5,857

California public elementary schools ?

Bottom 17%▼ down 19 pts since 2015

From bottom 36% (2015) to bottom 17% (2025)

See the entire ranking list of California Elementary Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

21^st of 21Elementary Schools in the Newport-Mesa Unified

437^th of 1,543Newport-Mesa Unified among California districts

Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)

Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	19.8	4842 of 5857	17.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	22.5	4629 of 5869	21.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	27.0	4161 of 5859	29.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	25.1	4323 of 5883	26.5%	★☆☆☆☆
2021	35.7	854 of 1417	39.7%	★★☆☆☆
2019	22.9	4548 of 5789	21.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	28.4	3958 of 5662	30.1%	★★☆☆☆
2017	31.2	3737 of 5692	34.3%	★★☆☆☆
2016	35.2	3400 of 5614	39.4%	★★☆☆☆
2015	31.6	3575 of 5611	36.3%	★★☆☆☆
2013	35.8	3619 of 5530	34.6%	★★☆☆☆
2012	22.8	4469 of 5390	17.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2011	20.7	4633 of 5377	13.8%	★☆☆☆☆
2010	17.6	4734 of 5314	10.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2009	17.2	4606 of 5193	11.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2008	23.3	4098 of 5113	19.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2007	26.2	3847 of 5113	24.8%	★☆☆☆☆
2006	21.8	3868 of 4818	19.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2005	18.7	4055 of 4822	15.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2004	14.4	4384 of 4809	8.8%	☆☆☆☆☆

English Language Learner

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2024	32.4	2391 of 3162	24.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	31.3	2448 of 3245	24.6%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	38.7	1902 of 3311	42.6%	★★☆☆☆
2021	57.8	140 of 602	76.7%	★★★★☆
2019	53.2	1083 of 3275	66.9%	★★★☆☆
2018	42.8	1624 of 3246	50.0%	★★★☆☆

Female

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	17.2	4920 of 5597	12.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	27.7	4008 of 5612	28.6%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	30.2	3745 of 5609	33.2%	★★☆☆☆
2022	38.4	3102 of 5635	45.0%	★★☆☆☆
2021	41.1	682 of 1267	46.2%	★★☆☆☆
2019	25.8	4164 of 5492	24.2%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	28.2	3899 of 5413	28.0%	★☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	26.7	3990 of 5107	21.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	30.9	3674 of 5107	28.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	36.4	3189 of 5087	37.3%	★★☆☆☆
2022	35.1	3285 of 5084	35.4%	★★☆☆☆
2019	33.3	3440 of 4963	30.7%	★★☆☆☆
2018	37.8	3018 of 4830	37.5%	★★☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	27.2	4198 of 5460	23.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	31.0	3852 of 5517	30.2%	★★☆☆☆
2023	37.0	3318 of 5363	38.1%	★★☆☆☆
2022	35.3	3393 of 5264	35.5%	★★☆☆☆
2021	56.8	396 of 1110	64.3%	★★★☆☆
2019	31.9	3717 of 5173	28.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	39.1	3076 of 5084	39.5%	★★☆☆☆

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	25.5	4234 of 5628	24.8%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	19.6	4777 of 5643	15.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	25.1	4242 of 5638	24.8%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	16.3	5093 of 5663	10.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2021	32.0	804 of 1272	36.8%	★★☆☆☆
2019	23.4	4341 of 5510	21.2%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	30.4	3665 of 5431	32.5%	★★☆☆☆

How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)

Male (2025)25th percentile+7 vs school

English Language Learner (2024)24th percentile+3 vs school

Low Socio Economic Status (2025)23rd percentile+6 vs school

Hispanic (2025)22nd percentile+5 vs school

Female (2025)12th percentile-5 vs school

By subject vs California (2024-2025) ?

English Language Arts/Literacy26%-23 vs state

Mathematics22%-15 vs state

Science12%-20 vs state

★

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Schools Near Wilson Elementary

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Immunizations Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				CSA Spanish Overall (2025)					CSA Spanish Listening (2025)					CSA Spanish Writing (2025)					CSA Spanish Reading (2025)					CAST Science (2025)		Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy (2025)					Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics (2025)					% Completely Immunized (2022)	% Polio (2022)	% DTP (2022)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	CSA Spanish Overall 3rd Grade	CSA Spanish Overall 4th Grade	CSA Spanish Overall 5th Grade	CSA Spanish Overall 6th Grade	CSA Spanish Overall All Grades	CSA Spanish Listening 3rd Grade	CSA Spanish Listening 4th Grade	CSA Spanish Listening 5th Grade	CSA Spanish Listening 6th Grade	CSA Spanish Listening All Grades	CSA Spanish Writing 3rd Grade	CSA Spanish Writing 4th Grade	CSA Spanish Writing 5th Grade	CSA Spanish Writing 6th Grade	CSA Spanish Writing All Grades	CSA Spanish Reading 3rd Grade	CSA Spanish Reading 4th Grade	CSA Spanish Reading 5th Grade	CSA Spanish Reading 6th Grade	CSA Spanish Reading All Grades	CAST Science 5th Grade	CAST Science All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 3rd Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 4th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 3rd Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 4th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics All Grades	% Completely Immunized KG	% Polio KG	% DTP KG	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Wilson Elementary	Public	K-6	801 Wilson St.	Costa Mesa	92627	Orange County	Newport-Mesa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 515-6995	323	17	18.5	94.1%	7 (2.2%)	3 (0.9%)	310 (96.0%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	19.8	4842^nd of 5857 public elementary schools	17.3%		22.5	4629^th of 5869 public elementary schools	21.1%	213																					12.5	12.5	28.9	22.2	25.5	27.5	26.0	43.5	15.2	12.5	16.7	22.0				$26,761	$24,394	$2,367
Pomona Elementary	Public	K-6	2051 Pomona Ave.	Costa Mesa	92627	Orange County	Newport-Mesa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 515-6980	264	16	16.7	94.3%	2 (0.8%)	3 (1.1%)	257 (97.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	34.3	3634^th of 5857 public elementary schools	38.0%		22.7	4606^th of 5869 public elementary schools	21.5%	972																					11.4	11.4	32.4	62.2	27.3	48.2	41.6	29.4	51.4	13.6	14.3	27.3				$31,608	$28,936	$2,672
Everett A. Rea Elementary	Public	K-6	661 Hamilton St.	Costa Mesa	92627	Orange County	Newport-Mesa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 515-6905	344	21	16.2	93.3%	8 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	331 (96.2%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.6%)	46.9	2768^th of 5857 public elementary schools	52.7%		43.2	2981^st of 5869 public elementary schools	49.2%	213																					31.8	31.8	28.2	39.0	60.0	32.0	40.0	40.0	38.1	48.9	35.3	40.5				$27,171	$24,712	$2,459
Victoria Elementary	Public	K-6	1025 Victoria St.	Costa Mesa	92627	Orange County	Newport-Mesa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 515-6985	301	21	14.4	57.1%	114 (37.9%)	0 (0.0%)	163 (54.2%)	4 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	19 (6.3%)	52.5	2469^th of 5857 public elementary schools	57.8%		61.5	2006^th of 5869 public elementary schools	65.8%	463																					32.5	32.5	46.9	61.5	57.5	40.4	49.7	40.8	50.0	27.5	35.3	37.4				$25,716	$23,896	$1,820
Whittier Elementary	Public	K-6	1800 Whittier Ave.	Costa Mesa	92627	Orange County	Newport-Mesa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 515-6990	454	26	17.2	89.4%	8 (1.8%)	1 (0.2%)	435 (95.8%)	4 (0.9%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.9%)	25.4	4361^st of 5857 public elementary schools	25.5%		22.5	4628^th of 5869 public elementary schools	21.1%	267	2.3	23.8	0.0	2.8	7.8	32.6	28.6	21.2	11.1	24.0	9.3	33.3	0.0	13.9	14.9	0.0	21.4	0.0	0.0	5.8	4.9	4.9	33.3	33.3	21.3	38.8	31.9	49.2	28.0	8.2	15.7	24.9	97.1			$26,324	$24,188	$2,136
Adams Elementary	Public	K-6	2850 Club House Rd.	Costa Mesa	92626	Orange County	Newport-Mesa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 424-7935	321	23	13.7	73.8%	54 (16.8%)	6 (1.9%)	237 (73.8%)	12 (3.7%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (3.1%)	73	1473^rd of 5857 public elementary schools	74.9%		59.6	2081^st of 5869 public elementary schools	64.5%	608																					40.0	40.0	65.6	65.6	57.6	68.2	64.5	48.5	59.4	45.7	40.0	47.6				$26,133	$23,990	$2,143
College Park Elementary	Public	K-6	2380 Notre Dame Rd.	Costa Mesa	92626	Orange County	Newport-Mesa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 424-7960	473	25	18.6	78.4%	68 (14.4%)	2 (0.4%)	368 (77.8%)	6 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	27 (5.7%)	42.1	3062^nd of 5857 public elementary schools	47.7%		32.7	3717^th of 5869 public elementary schools	36.7%	655																					25.7	25.7	43.8	35.2	47.1	36.1	41.1	51.3	27.3	37.1	19.4	35.2				$25,408	$23,362	$2,046
Ralph E. Hawes Elementary	Public	K-5	9682 Yellowstone Dr.	Huntington Beach	92646	Orange County	Huntington Beach City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 963-8302	516	23	22.4	18.4%	254 (49.2%)	2 (0.4%)	99 (19.2%)	62 (12.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	97 (18.8%)	95.1	318^th of 5857 public elementary schools	94.6%		96.6	204^th of 5869 public elementary schools	96.5%	114																					75.6	75.6	71.1	86.1	86.1		81.2	69.7	89.2	68.6		75.4	98.5	98.5	98.5	$16,790	$15,756	$1,034
Heinz Kaiser Elementary	Public	3-6	2130 Santa Ana Ave.	Costa Mesa	92627	Orange County	Newport-Mesa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 515-6950	539	25	21.3	34.9%	311 (57.7%)	2 (0.4%)	145 (26.9%)	14 (2.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	65 (12.1%)	88.5	746^th of 5857 public elementary schools	87.3%		91.9	578^th of 5869 public elementary schools	90.2%	168																					54.6	54.6	65.7	73.7	65.0	74.6	69.5	63.4	72.9	62.2	70.8	67.1				$20,419	$19,140	$1,279
Woodland Elementary	Public	K-2	2025 Garden Ln.	Costa Mesa	92627	Orange County	Newport-Mesa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 515-6945	487	22	21.7	26.7%	297 (61.0%)	1 (0.2%)	117 (24.0%)	10 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	62 (12.7%)								(n/a)																																				$22,020	$20,776	$1,244

Frequently Asked Questions about Wilson Elementary

What is the racial makeup of Wilson Elementary?

Students at Wilson Elementary are 96% Hispanic, 2% White.

What district is Wilson Elementary in?

Newport-Mesa Unified

Is Wilson Elementary a good school?

Wilson Elementary ranks in the bottom 17.3% of California elementary schools.

How many students attend Wilson Elementary?

In the 2024-25 school year, 323 students attended Wilson Elementary.

What schools do graduates of Wilson Elementary attend?

Students who attend Wilson Elementary usually go on to attend:

Middle : Charles W. Tewinkle Middle
High : Estancia High

Rate Wilson Elementary!

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Latest California data All new data »

2024–25 school spending dataJul 1, 2026

2024–25 attendance dataMar 13, 2026

2024–25 CSA Spanish test scoresDec 22, 2025

2024–25 dropout rates & graduation ratesNov 14, 2025

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.