3 Laguna Beach Schools Ranked For Grades K-8: U.S. News

LAGUNA BEACH, CA — A few elementary and middle schools in Laguna Beach were ranked among the best in California, according to a brand-new ranking released Tuesday by U.S. News & World Report.

Statewide, more than 7,850 elementary and middle schools have been ranked among the best in California, according to the report.

Nationally, California has 5,534 ranked elementary schools — the most of any state — followed by Texas at 4,446; New York at 2,211; Florida at 2,128; and Illinois at 2,038 schools. California also has the most ranked middle schools with 2,319, followed by Texas at 1,942; Illinois at 1,243; New York at 1,219; and Florida at 997.

For the inaugural list, U.S. News published rankings and data on more than 80,000 public elementary and middle schools across the United States.

Schools are ranked at the state and district levels. The best charter schools and best magnet schools ranked as stand-alone categories.

U.S. News ranked Top of the World Elementary — which hosts grades K-5 — as the highest in the state among elementary schools in Laguna Beach, ranking no. 124 in the state. El Morro Elementary came in behind it at no. 161.

The report ranked Thurston Middle at no. 127 out of all middle schools in the state.

All three ranked schools are of the Laguna Beach Unified School District.

Here’s a look at how elementary schools throughout California ranked:

See the full list here.

To determine the rankings, U.S. News used data from the U.S. Department of Education to analyze two areas at each school:

• Math and reading proficiency — or how well students perform on state assessments.
• Math and reading performance — or how well they perform compared with expectations.

Here's how middle schools in the Golden State stacked up:

See the full list here.

The state assessment data used in the rankings are from the 2018-19 school year and, therefore, predates any effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on test-taking.

See the complete list of 2021’s Best K-8 Schools.