Named for the Coast Live Oak (Quercus agrifolia) which is an evergreen oak, highly variable and often shrubby, native to the California Floristic Province. It grows west of the Sierra Nevada from Mendocino County, California south to northern Baja California in Mexico. It is classified in the red oak section (Quercus sect. Lobatae). Live Oak is a census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz, California between the towns of Santa Cruz and Capitola. The population was 16,628 at the 2000 census.
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Live Oak School District
The Live Oak School District is the collection of publicly funded schools in Live Oak, Santa Cruz County, California. The district superintendent is Dr. David Paine, ED. The district was founded in 1872 by Martin Kinsley, an Irish immigrant. The first school in the district was the Live Oak School House.
Today, it has grown to include the following schools:
Live Oak Elementary School
Del Mar Elementary School
Shoreline Middle School
Ocean Alternative Education Center
Tierra Pacifica Charter School
Cypress Charter High School
Green Acres Elementary School
(Green Acres Elementary School won the California Distinguished School Award for 2006. Also, Shoreline Middle School was recognized for boosting its test scores and closing the gap between socially and economically disadvantaged groups and the rest of the student body).

