About NMUSD

About Newport-Mesa Unified School District

Get introduced to our district.

District Mission Statement

The mission of Newport-Mesa Unified School District, in partnership with the Costa Mesa and Newport Beach communities, is to graduate students who have acquired the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to achieve significant career, educational, civic and personal goals, which will enrich our society.

District Vision

To achieve individual success, Newport-Mesa Unified School District will demonstrate continuous improvement in . . .

Student Achievement
Attendance Rates
Graduation Rates
Dropout Rates
Family/Student/Staff/Community Satisfaction
Responsiveness to those we serve.
Involvement of Stakeholders
Family Involvement
Honoring Diversity
Budget Alignment.

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District Beliefs

Our first responsibility is to provide a quality educational program that meets the needs of all students in the district.
That we teach the whole child. We expect academic achievement, personal responsibility, honesty, cultural sensitivity, and respect for people, property and the environment.
That all children can learn best in a safe, clean, caring, and aesthetically pleasing environment.
That when we come together as one community, we are enriched by our cultural diversity.
That people are our most important resource and should be treated with respect and dignity.
That we need families as partners with the school and district in sharing ideas and giving input to major decisions affecting their children’s education.
That when students’ families are engaged in their learning, their student will be engaged in learning.
That we have a responsibility to demonstrate the effective and wise use of money and resources.
That we serve our students and our community best when we work together as a team.
This belief statement was developed by families, community members, teachers, classified staff, administrators, businesspeople, students, and board members reflecting the diverse cultures and values of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District.

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District Facilities Profile

Newport Mesa Unified is a unique coastal School District that spans communities in both Newport Beach and Costa Mesa in the heart of beautiful Southern California.

Founded on July 1^st, 1966, Newport Mesa Unified is a unique coastal School District that spans communities in both Newport Beach and Costa Mesa in the heart of beautiful Southern California. The district serves approximately 18,000 students with the following extensive school facilities:

24 Elementary Schools
2 Intermediate Schools
4 High Schools
6 Alternative Education or Specialty Campuses
37 School Sites; 38 Total Properties
2.5 million square feet of Building Area
8.4 million square feet of Green Space

Founded on July 1^st, 1966, Newport Mesa Unified was formed through the combination several older school districts: Costa Mesa Union School District, the Newport Beach City School District and the Newport Harbor Union High School District. Most campuses predate the founding of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. Below are some helpful statistics regarding the facilities at Newport-Mesa Unified School District.

Average Date of Original Campus Construction: 1958
Average Age of Campuses: 66 years
Oldest Campus: Newport Elementary School, Constructed in 1894, is 130 years old.
Oldest High School: Newport Harbor High School, Constructed in 1930, is 94 years old.
The Newest Campus: Newport Coast Elementary School, Constructed in 1999, is 25 years old.
The Second Newest Campus: Andersen Elementary School, Constructed in 1973, is 51 years old.

These statistics help illustrate one of the more significant challenges facing the district: aging facilities, infrastructure, and continued deferred maintenance.

Modernizations and Measure F

The district has been steadily modernizing campuses since its formation. The district has typically conducted these modernization efforts in structured initiatives. Such initiatives occurred in 1999-2000, 2002-2003, and 2005-2018. The last district bond, passed in 2005, was Measure F. The Measure F bond provided $282 Million Dollars in funding. This funding source, combined with State Matching funds and grants, paid for improvements to date.

As of 2024, the remaining funds available from Measure F are $0.00.

Conditions assessments conducted for this master plan highlight a growing need for modernization across the district as improvements related to Measure F trail off. As time progresses, the need for modernization will continue to grow

Enrollment Projections & Trends

Examining the current and potential enrollment changes over the coming years.

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District has commissioned Powerschool to prepare a District-wide forecast of projected enrollment based upon student residence. The projected students generated by this study covers a nine-year period through the year 2032. Four unique factors go into the calculation of the projections:

Examining the current and planned residential development over the next seven years,

Calculating student yield factors to apply to new dwelling units,

Determining birth factors for each District area,

Calculating mobility factors, which examines the in/out migration of students within existing housing units.

According to the Public Policy Institute of California, “Enrollment in California’s K–12 system grew rapidly year-to-year from 1980 to 2000, increasing by over 50 percent from 4 million to over 6 million students.” It reached its peak around 2010. “Starting in 2016–17, enrollment began to decline gradually in California schools,” with accelerated declines resulting from the COVID pandemic. Statewide, “California saw record year-over-year statewide enrollment declines, with drops of 160,000 in 2020–21 and 110,000 in 2021–22. The decline slowed in 2022–23, with a smaller decline of roughly 40,000 students.”

figure 1 - Enrollment rose in California public schools for decades, plateaued, and began to drop in recent years, with projections indicating continued declines — *SOURCES: California Department of Education; California Department of Finance; National Center for Education Statistics; authors’ calculations.*

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District Trends

Newport-Mesa Unified is not immune to these state-wide enrollment trends of declining enrollment. Yet, while many school districts across the region, especially within coastal zones, are experiencing dramatic rates of declining enrollment, Newport Mesa Unified School District is projected to experience more modest declines across all grade levels. Total student enrollment is projected to decline by roughly 8% between 2023 and 2032 from 17,396 to 15,963 students.

Transitional Kindergarten

In 2021, with support from Governor Gavin Newsom, the state legislature passed legislation requiring all school districts to offer access to transitional kindergarten for all four-year-old children by the 2025-2026 school year. The Newport Mesa Unified School District has been slowly ramping up its offerings at this new grade level. As a result, it provides the one exception to the trend of enrollment decline at Newport Mesa Unified School District and is projected to increase enrollment from 441 students to 697 students from 2023 to 2032 - an increase of nearly 60%.

District Projected Enrollment by Grade Level and Year

^{Source: PowerSchool}