Beta You're viewing our redesigned school page. Prefer the classic layout?

Romero-Cruz Academy

Public Grades K-8
5820th
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 5,857 California Elementary Schools
Better than 1% of California elementary schools
Summary

Romero-Cruz Academy is a K-8 public school serving 827 students in the Santa Ana Unified School District, operating in a high-need community where nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

Academic performance at the school is a significant concern, as it ranks in the bottom 1% of all California elementary schools, with proficiency rates in English, math, and science far below both the district and state averages. This underperformance is severe and persistent, affecting all student groups, and the school's challenges are more pronounced than those of other schools in the same district, such as Fremont Elementary or Andrew Jackson Elementary. Interestingly, Romero-Cruz has a relatively low student-teacher ratio and per-student spending that is comparable to some nearby schools, suggesting its struggles are not simply due to class size or funding levels.

When compared to schools in the neighboring Garden Grove Unified district, like R. F. Hazard Elementary, the performance gap is even more striking, as these schools serve similar student populations but achieve much stronger results. The school's K-8 structure is also unusual for the area, and its academic results have not rebounded from a steep pre-pandemic decline, remaining critically low despite recent increases in funding and a slight improvement in chronic absenteeism rates.

827
Students ?
17.4
Student/teacher ratio ?
$24,122
Per pupil spending ?
95.8%
Free/discounted lunch ?
 2701 West Fifth St.
       Santa Ana, CA  92703-1821

(714) 480-2200

District: Santa Ana Unified

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
97.1%
Asian:
1.3%
White:
1.0%
more
 See top rated California elementary schools

 Compare Romero-Cruz Academy to nearby elementary schools!
At a glance
Ranking trend: Declining — 17th percentile in 2015 → 1st in 2025
Worth a look
!Test scores below the California average (10% vs 41% meeting standards)
!In the lower quartile statewide (1st percentile)
!Ranking has slipped — down 16 percentile points since 2015
Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?
This school10%
District avg26%
California avg41%
Elementary school
5,820th of 5,857
California public elementary schools ?
Bottom 1%▼ down 17 pts since 2015
From bottom 17% (2015) to bottom 1% (2025)
See the entire ranking list of California Elementary Schools →
SchoolDigger rating ?
Middle school
2,647th of 2,761
California public middle schools ?
Bottom 4%▲ up 2 pts since 2021
See the entire ranking list of California Middle Schools →
SchoolDigger rating ?
34th of 34Elementary Schools in the Santa Ana Unified
1254th of 1,543Santa Ana 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)
Elementary school ranking
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
20255.75820 of 58570.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20247.25802 of 58691.1%☆☆☆☆☆
20239.85703 of 58592.7%☆☆☆☆☆
20226.15865 of 58830.3%☆☆☆☆☆
20218.31401 of 14171.1%☆☆☆☆☆
201922.44593 of 578920.7%★☆☆☆☆
201823.84339 of 566223.4%★☆☆☆☆
201722.14505 of 569220.9%★☆☆☆☆
201615.45014 of 561410.7%★☆☆☆☆
201519.94640 of 561117.3%★☆☆☆☆
201328.94140 of 553025.1%★☆☆☆☆
201232.53767 of 539030.1%★★☆☆☆
201141.33148 of 537741.5%★★☆☆☆
201036.63379 of 531436.4%★★☆☆☆
200931.73572 of 519331.2%★★☆☆☆
200810.64900 of 51134.2%☆☆☆☆☆
200715.74599 of 511310.1%★☆☆☆☆
200610.64603 of 48184.5%☆☆☆☆☆
200517.14167 of 482213.6%★☆☆☆☆
200412.84499 of 48096.4%☆☆☆☆☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202423.72916 of 31627.8%☆☆☆☆☆
202319.63159 of 32452.7%☆☆☆☆☆
202224.82960 of 331110.6%★☆☆☆☆
202126.8535 of 60211.1%★☆☆☆☆
201925.42838 of 327513.3%★☆☆☆☆
201826.72609 of 324619.6%★☆☆☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
20256.45567 of 55970.5%☆☆☆☆☆
20248.05552 of 56121.1%☆☆☆☆☆
202310.15496 of 56092.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20226.75625 of 56350.2%☆☆☆☆☆
20219.41251 of 12671.3%☆☆☆☆☆
201928.13977 of 549227.6%★☆☆☆☆
201828.13904 of 541327.9%★☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
20256.65078 of 51070.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20248.15059 of 51070.9%☆☆☆☆☆
202310.74984 of 50872.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20226.05079 of 50840.1%☆☆☆☆☆
201931.63579 of 496327.9%★☆☆☆☆
201832.83363 of 483030.4%★★☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
20256.95416 of 54600.8%☆☆☆☆☆
20247.55475 of 55170.8%☆☆☆☆☆
202310.05265 of 53631.8%☆☆☆☆☆
20226.35248 of 52640.3%☆☆☆☆☆
20219.81098 of 11101.1%☆☆☆☆☆
201931.23773 of 517327.1%★☆☆☆☆
201831.03698 of 508427.3%★☆☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
20255.95599 of 56280.5%☆☆☆☆☆
20247.65585 of 56431.0%☆☆☆☆☆
202311.15447 of 56383.4%☆☆☆☆☆
20226.95640 of 56630.4%☆☆☆☆☆
201917.84836 of 551012.2%★☆☆☆☆
201821.34443 of 543118.2%★☆☆☆☆
Middle school ranking
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
20259.02647 of 27614.1%☆☆☆☆☆
20248.42708 of 27832.7%☆☆☆☆☆
202310.32681 of 27813.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20228.82669 of 27402.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20218.4872 of 8942.5%☆☆☆☆☆

Disabled

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202220.41437 of 15316.1%☆☆☆☆☆
202120.9346 of 3542.3%☆☆☆☆☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202428.81295 of 147812.4%★☆☆☆☆
202326.31427 of 15216.2%☆☆☆☆☆
202227.81337 of 154013.2%★☆☆☆☆
202124.1359 of 3631.1%☆☆☆☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202510.82410 of 25334.9%☆☆☆☆☆
20248.62506 of 25511.8%☆☆☆☆☆
202310.82444 of 25313.4%☆☆☆☆☆
20229.42447 of 25092.5%☆☆☆☆☆
20218.3730 of 7381.1%☆☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202510.52291 of 23954.3%☆☆☆☆☆
20249.02332 of 23882.3%☆☆☆☆☆
202311.72272 of 23744.3%☆☆☆☆☆
20229.62311 of 23592.0%☆☆☆☆☆

Homeless

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202523.7406 of 47714.9%★☆☆☆☆
202418.7364 of 3947.6%☆☆☆☆☆
202318.7292 of 3208.8%☆☆☆☆☆
202216.4318 of 3365.4%☆☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202511.22413 of 25425.1%☆☆☆☆☆
20249.32509 of 25792.7%☆☆☆☆☆
202311.82420 of 25314.4%☆☆☆☆☆
202211.22369 of 24583.6%☆☆☆☆☆
202111.9697 of 7213.3%☆☆☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
20257.82472 of 25342.4%☆☆☆☆☆
20248.62505 of 25521.8%☆☆☆☆☆
202310.52446 of 25383.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20229.02477 of 25272.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20219.3748 of 7632.0%☆☆☆☆☆

Military Connected

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
20255.3192 of 1941.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20245.6191 of 1920.5%☆☆☆☆☆
202313.4179 of 1979.1%☆☆☆☆☆

Special Education

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202520.11452 of 15667.3%☆☆☆☆☆
202422.21382 of 155211.0%★☆☆☆☆
202321.61401 of 15318.5%☆☆☆☆☆
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)
Elementary school
English Language Learner (2024)8th percentile+7 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2025)1st percentile~ school
Hispanic (2025)1st percentile~ school
Female (2025)1st percentile~ school
Male (2025)1st percentile~ school
Middle school
Homeless (2025)15th percentile+11 vs school
English Language Learner (2024)12th percentile+10 vs school
Special Education (2025)7th percentile+3 vs school
Disabled (2022)6th percentile+4 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2025)5th percentile~ school
Female (2025)5th percentile~ school
Hispanic (2025)4th percentile~ school
Male (2025)2nd percentile~ school
Military Connected (2025)1st percentile-3 vs school
By subject vs California (2024-2025) ?
English Language Arts/Literacy12%-37 vs state
Mathematics10%-27 vs state
Science6%-27 vs state

No ratings yet
Be the first to rate Romero-Cruz Academy and help other families decide.
Rate Romero-Cruz Academy
Have first-hand experience? A quick rating - and a sentence or two about what stands out (teachers, academics, safety, communication) - helps other families know what to expect.
Takes about a minute. We email you a link to verify your review - your address is never shown publicly.
Tap a star to rate
Reviews
No written reviews yet. If you know this school, be the first to share what stands out.



Schools Near Romero-Cruz Academy









Frequently Asked Questions about Romero-Cruz Academy

In the 2024-25 school year, 827 students attended Romero-Cruz Academy.

Romero-Cruz Academy ranks in the bottom 0.6% of California elementary schools.

Students at Romero-Cruz Academy are 97% Hispanic, 1% Asian.


Rate Romero-Cruz Academy!



Sign up for updates!

Be the first to know when there is an update for Romero-Cruz Academy!




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.





Diagnostics

None retrieved from Database in 1050 milliseconds.