Summary:
ZIP code 92694 has six Capistrano Unified schools: four elementary schools serving kindergarten through grade five and two middle schools serving grades six through eight; there are no high schools in the list. All six schools scored above the supplied California figures in every tested grade and subject, but elementary results vary notably, especially in fifth-grade math: scores range from 61% at Esencia Elementary to 92% at Chaparral Elementary, a 31-point difference. Even Esencia’s lower result is 25 points above the state figure. The most important takeaway is that strong results area-wide do not mean every school or grade performs at the same level.
Chaparral Elementary is the clearest elementary standout, leading its peers in all-grades ELA (84%), math (87%) and science (81%); its science result is 17 points above the other elementary schools’ average. Esencia Elementary is lowest among elementary schools in all three subjects, at 76% in ELA, 73% in math and 62% in science. The two middle schools are much closer: Ladera Ranch Middle leads Esencia Middle by about 1 point in ELA, 2 in math and less than 1 in science, though grade-level results differ.
Across the six schools, the average change from 2024–25 to 2025–26 was a 2-point ELA decline, a 1-point math increase and a 6-point science increase; ELA fell at five schools, while science rose at five. SchoolDigger lists all six schools in its 90th percentile or higher statewide and gives each five stars in 2025–26. Its three-year rankings remain high overall, though they moved in different directions: Chaparral rose from the 98th to the 99th percentile, while Ladera Ranch Elementary fell from the 97th to the 94th. The reported free/reduced lunch eligible figures for 2024–25 range from 14% at Oso Grande Elementary to 25% at Ladera Ranch Elementary; these measures and school results are useful context, but do not show why results differ.
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