Carlsbad Unified School District administers K-12 public education across Carlsbad from its central office on El Camino Real, overseeing a 2025-26 enrollment of approximately 10,683 students under CDS code 37-73551-0000000. The district operates nine elementary schools, three middle schools, and two comprehensive high schools — Carlsbad High and Sage Creek High School — plus two alternative-education campuses, Carlsbad Village Academy and Carlsbad Seaside Academy. An open-enrollment policy allows incoming ninth graders to select either high school during the January filing period, with a lottery determining placements when applications exceed a campus's capacity. Transitional kindergarten programs concentrate at Jefferson Elementary and Poinsettia Elementary, each serving feeder clusters of four to five neighborhood campuses across ZIPs 92008 through 92011. Community funding partnerships through the Carlsbad Educational Foundation supplement state allocations with grants targeting arts, STEM, and enrichment programming district-wide. The district's 16-campus footprint spans four ZIP codes and requires annual California Department of Education performance reporting across Academic Performance Index metrics, English Learner reclassification rates, and college-readiness indicators for both high school sites.