Is Discovery Elementary a good school?

Yes. Discovery Elementary ranks in the top 5.4% of California elementary schools.

How many students attend Discovery Elementary?

In the 2021-22 school year, 570 students attended Discovery Elementary.

What is the racial makeup of Discovery Elementary?

Students at Discovery Elementary are 51% White, 25% Hispanic, 13% Asian, 9% Two or more races, 1% African American.

What schools do graduates of Discovery Elementary attend?

Students who attend Discovery Elementary usually go on to attend: Middle : San Elijo Middle High : San Marcos High

Discovery Elementary School in San Marcos CA

Performance Trends

Compare Details Discovery Elementary ranks better than 94.6% of elementary schools in California. It also ranks first among 12 ranked elementary schools in the San Marcos Unified School District! (See more...)

Compare Details In 2022 the calculated Average Standard Score was 95.67. (See more...)

Student Body

Compare Details Discovery Elementary has the smallest elementary school student body size in the San Marcos Unified School District. Student population at Discovery Elementary is diverse. Racial makeup is: White (50.9%), Hispanic (25.4%), Asian (12.8%). (See more...)

Compare Details 23.2% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Compare Details (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Discovery Elementary is 21.9, which is the 2^nd best among 12 elementary schools in the San Marcos Unified School District. (See more...)

Compare Discovery Elementary employs 26 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Discovery Elementary is $7,719, which is the 6^th highest among 12 elementary schools in the San Marcos Unified School District.

Map and boundary of Discovery Elementary

School Attendance Areas provided by ATTOM.

Schooldigger 2022 Rankings:

Discovery Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks Discovery Elementary 320^th of 5883 California public elementary schools. (See Discovery Elementary in the ranking list.)

San Marcos Unified:

SchoolDigger ranks San Marcos Unified 380^th of 1535 California school districts. (See district ranking list.)

Average Parent Rating:

Read all reviews and ratings detail for Discovery Elementary.

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Your rating for Discovery Elementary?

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Rank History for Discovery Elementary

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Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2004	84.21	737^th	4809	84.7%
2005	81.03	890^th	4822	81.5%
2006	82.83	835^th	4818	82.7%
2007	84.07	791^st	5113	84.5%
2008	88.13	582^nd	5113	88.6%
2009	91.40	396^th	5193	92.4%
2010	89.44	474^th	5314	91.1%
2011	91.98	315^th	5377	94.1%
2012	90.01	421^st	5390	92.2%
2013	89.70	483^rd	5530	91.3%
2015	88.94	670^th	5611	88.1%
2016	89.44	650^th	5614	88.4%
2017	83.42	984^th	5692	82.7%
2018	88.23	729^th	5662	87.1%
2019	89.20	690^th	5789	88.1%
2022	95.67	320^th	5883	94.6%

Data source: test scores: California Department of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

Data source: California Department of Education

Review counts

All ratings (Avg rating: 1)

100%

Reviews:

by a parent
Friday, January 18, 2019

While I think there are some wonderful people at Discovery as teachers and other staff, I have to give a low rating based on the principal and vice principle. For all of the 2017/2018 school year, my son was repeatedly harmed on the playground by another child. He asked for help multiple times, and nothing was ever done. Within the first month of the 2018/2019 school year, my son finally got fed up and hit the other child back. This happened twice, and both times my son was labeled a fighter. Only when I explained in detail what had been happening to his teacher, did anything change. Somehow she managed to work it out with the other childs teacher so the boys would not be near each other on the playground. She miraculously made it all stop almost immediately with just a bit of effort. Shortly after that finally ended, my son was playing with a couple of friends, when another boy and his two friends approached them. Something rude was apparently said, and my son told them it wasn't nice. He proceeded to then get kicked in the legs and testicles. At that point he again fought back and hit the boy once. He was then strangled hard enough to leave hand marks on his neck for 3 days, as well as two fat, bruised lips that he cried in pain about for an entire week. My son was spoken to without me (by the principal, because as a supervisor brought my bleeding son to the vice principal she was told "don't bring that to me, I don't want to deal with it"), and then I was simply told that he needs to work on controlling himself when he gets frustrated. End of story. I previously worked there as a supervisor, and have seen kids hurt each other on a regular basis. I believe this is now the climate of the school as the kids have learned that they will not have consequences for physically hurting another child. I will not return to work there, and my son has been enrolled elsewhere as I do not feel as though I should have to worry whether my SEVEN year old is safe and protected at school every day. As I said before, the only stars given to this school were because of other staff members that work hard and are good at their jobs. Close Quote

by a parent on FaceBook
Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Less than average school. Bullying, stealing in school. Unresponsive, careless Principal. Close Quote

Enrollment information for Discovery Elementary

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1998	343	30	37	337	7	n/a	n/a	0	754
1999	385	40	40	391	5	n/a	n/a	0	861
2000	365	32	36	306	5	n/a	n/a	0	744
2001	417	31	58	279	8	n/a	n/a	0	793
2002	442	24	69	260	9	n/a	n/a	0	804
2003	442	24	69	260	9	n/a	n/a	0	804
2004	431	28	84	281	9	n/a	n/a	0	833
2005	443	34	89	293	9	n/a	n/a	0	868
2006	432	30	106	303	10	n/a	n/a	0	881
2007	443	36	102	312	10	n/a	n/a	8	911
2008	455	26	110	317	9	n/a	n/a	0	917
2009	463	25	114	243	9	9	24	0	887
2010	478	38	114	241	10	8	12	0	901
2011	524	39	109	245	12	6	5	0	940
2012	566	32	100	258	9	5	17	0	987
2013	579	30	102	285	7	4	28	0	1035
2014	571	25	99	263	7	4	35	0	1004
2015	570	18	95	257	5	3	34	0	982
2016	618	20	86	266	7	2	42	0	1041
2017	426	12	60	226	0	1	0	0	725
2018	384	8	57	201	1	1	0	0	652
2019	285	10	80	183	3	11	2	0	574
2020	293	2	72	173	2	3	45	0	590
2021	287	1	79	169	6	4	43	0	589
2022	290	6	73	145	2	1	52	1	570

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Discovery Elementary

Compare

Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1998	754	35.2	21.4	51.9
1999	861	40.0	21.5	44.8
2000	744	37.0	20.1	38.7
2001	793	38.9	20.4	32.4
2002	804	44.9	17.9	31.1
2003	804	44.9	17.9	31.1
2004	833	36.9	22.6	31.5
2005	868	38.9	22.3	29.8
2006	881	39.9	22.1	29.6
2007	911	39.4	23.1	28
2008	917	41.9	21.9	28.1
2009	887	38.9	20.5	23.6
2010	901	36.4	24.7	24.1
2011	940	n/a	n/a	24.1
2012	987	35.4	27.8	n/a
2013	1035	36.9	27.9	29.1
2014	1004	35.0	28.6	26.7
2015	982	37.0	26.5	22.9
2016	1041	38.0	27.3	21.9
2017	725	27.5	26.3	26.1
2018	652	12.5	52.1	30.1
2019	574	n/a	n/a	29.1
2020	590	n/a	n/a	22.7
2021	589	28.0	21.0	20
2022	570	26.0	21.9	23.2

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch

For information about the National School Lunch Program, see the USDA Website

Student/Teacher Ratio Discovery Elementary

Compare

Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1998	754	35.2	21.4	51.9
1999	861	40.0	21.5	44.8
2000	744	37.0	20.1	38.7
2001	793	38.9	20.4	32.4
2002	804	44.9	17.9	31.1
2003	804	44.9	17.9	31.1
2004	833	36.9	22.6	31.5
2005	868	38.9	22.3	29.8
2006	881	39.9	22.1	29.6
2007	911	39.4	23.1	28
2008	917	41.9	21.9	28.1
2009	887	38.9	20.5	23.6
2010	901	36.4	24.7	24.1
2011	940	n/a	n/a	24.1
2012	987	35.4	27.8	n/a
2013	1035	36.9	27.9	29.1
2014	1004	35.0	28.6	26.7
2015	982	37.0	26.5	22.9
2016	1041	38.0	27.3	21.9
2017	725	27.5	26.3	26.1
2018	652	12.5	52.1	30.1
2019	574	n/a	n/a	29.1
2020	590	n/a	n/a	22.7
2021	589	28.0	21.0	20
2022	570	26.0	21.9	23.2

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.

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