As a Gifted and Talented designated campus, Carlton Hills School in Santee serves approximately 600 students in grades K through 8 on Pike Road in the Carlton Hills neighborhood. The school feeds into the Grossmont Union High School District's secondary pipeline, with graduates advancing to campuses including Santana High School on Magnolia Avenue. Carlton Hills opened in 1980 under Santee School District and holds CDS code 37-68361-6040356, maintaining a 21:1 student-to-teacher ratio across 27 full-time educators. Students performing above grade level access the district's enrichment track, and literacy-focused programming connects to community reading resources at the Friendly Used Bookstore & Friends of Santee Library on Carlton Hills Boulevard. The campus reports 60 percent reading proficiency and 49 percent math proficiency on California state assessments, both exceeding statewide averages of 43 and 35 percent respectively.