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Central Elementary

Public Grades K-6
5334th
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 5,817 California Elementary Schools
Better than 8% of California elementary schools
Summary

Central Elementary is a K–6 school with 350 students in Imperial Beach, served by the South Bay Union district. Its 2025–2026 results were below district and state levels in English, math and science: 22% in English versus 38% districtwide and 49% statewide, and 15% in math versus 25% and 38%. Among Central and 10 nearby schools, it ranked lowest in English and third-lowest in math. The clearest concern is that Central’s English and math results are near the bottom of its local comparison group as well as below district and state results.

Science is Central’s strongest subject compared with nearby schools, though it still trails the state. Its 21% result was close to the district’s 22%, above the nearby-school average of 19%, and fourth-highest among the 11 schools; the state result was 36%. English is its weakest local comparison: the nearby average was 35%, and Central was the only school below 23%. In math, Central’s 15% result was below the nearby average of 24%, but above two nearby schools. These comparisons show that science is a relative bright spot, while English and math remain challenges.

Science has improved substantially, while English has fluctuated and math has risen more gradually. From 2022–2023 to 2025–2026, science increased 17 percentage points, including a 15-point rise in the latest year; English fell 2 points overall, and math rose 5 points. Central’s science gap with the state narrowed from 25 points to 15, but the latest results remain below state levels in every subject. SchoolDigger placed Central at the 8th percentile with 0 stars in 2025–2026, tied for the lowest percentile among nearby schools. Its student-teacher ratio was 26.9 in 2024–2025, the highest in the local group, whose average was 24.4. Central reported 74% free/reduced lunch eligible in 2024–2025, close to the nearby average of 72%. SchoolDigger’s special-education subgroup ranking was 8th percentile in 2025–2026, after 47th and 42nd in the two previous years; its English-learner ranking reached the 44th percentile in 2023–2024, while the school overall was at the 8th percentile that year.

350
Students ?
26.9
Student/teacher ratio ?
$20,526
Per pupil spending ?
73.7%
Free/reduced lunch eligible (2024-25) ?
All students in California receive free school meals.
97%
Kindergartners with all required immunizations (2024-25)
Exemptions: 0% (any vaccine)
 1290 Ebony Ave.
       Imperial Beach, CA  91932-2920

(619) 628-5000

District: South Bay Union


Students who attend Central Elementary usually attend:

Middle:    Mar Vista Academy
High:    Mar Vista Senior High
Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
84.0%
Two or more races:
5.4%
White:
4.6%
more
 See top rated California elementary schools

 Compare Central Elementary to nearby elementary schools!
At a glance
▬ Ranking trend: Holding steady — 8th percentile in 2016 → 8th in 2026
Worth a look
!Test scores below the California average (19% vs 42% meeting standards)
!In the lower quartile statewide (8th percentile)
!High chronic absenteeism (31% vs 18% California)
Students meeting standards (2025-2026) ?
This school19%
District avg30%
California avg42%
5,334th of 5,817
California public elementary schools ?
Bottom 8%▲ up 1 pts since 2016
See the entire ranking list of California Elementary Schools →
★★★★★
SchoolDigger rating ?
10th of 11Elementary Schools in the South Bay Union
1157th of 1,530South Bay Union 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

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202613.85334 of 58178.3%☆☆☆☆☆
202510.05634 of 58573.8%☆☆☆☆☆
202413.85410 of 58697.8%☆☆☆☆☆
202313.85409 of 58597.7%☆☆☆☆☆
202212.15594 of 58834.9%☆☆☆☆☆
202117.41226 of 141713.5%★☆☆☆☆
201911.35497 of 57895.0%☆☆☆☆☆
201811.55347 of 56625.6%☆☆☆☆☆
201711.45409 of 56925.0%☆☆☆☆☆
201613.35184 of 56147.7%☆☆☆☆☆
201514.25187 of 56117.6%☆☆☆☆☆
201312.85172 of 55306.5%☆☆☆☆☆
201225.94255 of 539021.1%★☆☆☆☆
201129.83993 of 537725.7%★☆☆☆☆
201035.03490 of 531434.3%★★☆☆☆
200935.33343 of 519335.6%★★☆☆☆
200836.73151 of 511338.4%★★☆☆☆
200722.24114 of 511319.5%★☆☆☆☆
200633.63077 of 481836.1%★★☆☆☆
200527.23464 of 482228.2%★☆☆☆☆
200427.23402 of 480929.3%★☆☆☆☆

Disabled

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202218.42148 of 22273.5%☆☆☆☆☆
202123.5233 of 29320.5%★☆☆☆☆
201926.12002 of 258522.6%★☆☆☆☆
201834.91221 of 212842.6%★★☆☆☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202440.91760 of 316244.3%★★☆☆☆
202333.52276 of 324529.9%★☆☆☆☆
202228.22741 of 331117.2%★☆☆☆☆
202134.8404 of 60232.9%★★☆☆☆
201929.92503 of 327523.6%★☆☆☆☆
201846.81408 of 324656.6%★★★☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202613.65155 of 55817.6%☆☆☆☆☆
20257.25546 of 55970.9%☆☆☆☆☆
202412.95295 of 56125.6%☆☆☆☆☆
202313.65259 of 56096.2%☆☆☆☆☆
202214.75206 of 56357.6%☆☆☆☆☆
202117.91100 of 126713.2%★☆☆☆☆
20198.45382 of 54922.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20187.55335 of 54131.4%☆☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202612.04889 of 50944.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20258.65034 of 51071.4%☆☆☆☆☆
202414.94768 of 51076.6%☆☆☆☆☆
202313.14896 of 50873.8%☆☆☆☆☆
202211.64965 of 50842.3%☆☆☆☆☆
201912.64768 of 49633.9%☆☆☆☆☆
201815.94469 of 48307.5%☆☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202614.85046 of 54237.0%☆☆☆☆☆
20259.35342 of 54602.2%☆☆☆☆☆
202415.85096 of 55177.6%☆☆☆☆☆
202314.85046 of 53635.9%☆☆☆☆☆
202214.15014 of 52644.7%☆☆☆☆☆
202125.4910 of 111018.0%★☆☆☆☆
201913.44920 of 51734.9%☆☆☆☆☆
201813.74807 of 50845.4%☆☆☆☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202617.64884 of 560312.8%★☆☆☆☆
202515.45092 of 56289.5%☆☆☆☆☆
202416.45041 of 564310.7%★☆☆☆☆
202315.25139 of 56388.9%☆☆☆☆☆
202211.25493 of 56633.0%☆☆☆☆☆
202118.71067 of 127216.1%★☆☆☆☆
201915.94990 of 55109.4%☆☆☆☆☆
201817.84760 of 543112.4%★☆☆☆☆

Special Education

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202619.72695 of 29277.9%☆☆☆☆☆
202536.11651 of 284742.0%★★☆☆☆
202438.91385 of 263547.4%★★☆☆☆
202327.01799 of 242025.7%★☆☆☆☆
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)
English Language Learner (2024)44th percentile+37 vs school
Male (2026)13th percentile+5 vs school
Special Education (2026)8th percentile~ school
Female (2026)8th percentile~ school
Low Socio Economic Status (2026)7th percentile~ school
Hispanic (2026)4th percentile-4 vs school
Disabled (2022)4th percentile~ school
By subject vs California (2025-2026) ?
English Language Arts/Literacy22%-28 vs state
Science21%-15 vs state
Mathematics15%-23 vs state

★
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Frequently Asked Questions about Central Elementary

Students who attend Central Elementary usually go on to attend:

Middle : Mar Vista Academy
High : Mar Vista Senior High

Students at Central Elementary are 84% Hispanic, 5% Two or more races, 5% White, 4% African American, 1% Asian.

In the 2024-25 school year, 350 students attended Central Elementary.

Central Elementary ranks in the bottom 8.3% of California elementary schools.

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Latest California data All new data »
2024–25 school spending data (updated)NewNov 2, 2026
2013–14 through 2024–25 immunization rates (updated)Oct 19, 2026
2025–26 attendance data, dropout rates & graduation ratesOct 15, 2026
2025–26 CAST, CSA Spanish & Smarter Balanced Assessments scoresOct 15, 2026


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.

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