Summary
Carson Elementary is a K–5 school with 336 students in San Diego, serving families in the San Diego Unified area. In 2025–26, its proficiency was 26% in ELA, 27% in math and 21% in science, below both district and state results in every subject. It was also second-lowest among six nearby district schools in all three subjects, ahead only of Linda Vista Elementary—the clearest overall concern for families.
Math is Carson’s strongest subject relative to comparison results, though it still trails substantially: its 27% proficiency was 11 percentage points below the state, 19 points below the district and 27 points below the nearby-school average of 54%. ELA was the weakest relative to the state and district: Carson’s 26% was 23 points below the state and 28 below the district; it was 29 points below the nearby average of 55%. Science proficiency was 21%, 15 points below the state, 21 below the district and 28 below the nearby average of 48%. Attendance is another concern: chronic absenteeism was 26% in 2025–26, the highest among six nearby district schools, and 9 points above the district and 7 above the state.
Results have moved unevenly over time: from 2022–23 to 2025–26, ELA rose 5 percentage points, while math fell 6 and science fell 2; math and science also lost ground relative to the state. Chronic absenteeism improved considerably, dropping 34 points from 2021–22, but remains comparatively high. SchoolDigger ranked Carson at the 21st percentile statewide in 2025–26, with 1 star; its overall percentile was 62 in 2015–16. Carson’s 2024–25 student-teacher ratio was 24.3, above the nearby-school average of 22.4, and 88% of students were free/reduced lunch eligible that year, compared with a nearby-school average of 52%. SchoolDigger’s English Language Learner Students ranking fell from the 39th percentile in 2021–22 to the 12th in 2023–24, a sharper drop than the overall ranking’s 6-point decline. Its Male Students ranking improved from the 20th percentile in 2023–24 to the 33rd in 2025–26, compared with an overall rise from the 17th to the 21st percentile.
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