Woodland Star Charter, Glen Ellen CA

Original Research by School Decision on Woodland Star Charter

Woodland Star Charter is a small Waldorf-inspired charter school serving kindergarten through eighth grade, now located on the campus of the former Dunbar Elementary School in Glen Ellen, a rural wine-country hamlet in Sonoma Valley. The school relocated to this larger, more rural campus from its previous site in nearby Boyes Hot Springs, a move that places it within the Glen Ellen community but depends on an ongoing use agreement with the Sonoma Valley Unified School District, the district that owns the property. For families considering this school, the relocation is a significant recent change worth understanding, since the arrangement is term-limited and subject to district approval for any facility modifications.

The school enrolls around two hundred students across nine grades, with a relatively even distribution through the elementary years and smaller cohorts in the middle grades. The student body is predominantly white, with roughly one-third identifying as Hispanic and a small number of Asian students. About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting a mixed economic profile. Information about the school's special education enrollment and English learner population was not publicly available.

In state testing during 2024-25, Woodland Star shows proficiency patterns across grades three through eight that warrant careful attention. In English language arts, results are uneven: third and fourth grade students perform modestly, fifth grade performs noticeably stronger, and sixth through eighth grades dip again, with eighth graders at about the midpoint. In mathematics, the school faces a steeper challenge. Third grade performs reasonably, but proficiency falls sharply in fourth grade, recovers somewhat in fifth, then drops substantially through grades six, seven, and eighth. By eighth grade, math proficiency is particularly low. Science testing, available for grades five and eight, shows a similar pattern: fifth graders perform near the midpoint, but eighth graders perform poorly. These results suggest the school may struggle most with mathematics and with supporting students as they move into the middle grades. A parent may want to explore directly with the school what instructional strategies are in place to address these grade-level transitions and the mathematics gap, particularly if a child will be in grades six through eight.

Across all tested grades and subjects combined, Woodland Star's overall proficiency stands above the midpoint among the county's districts, placing it in a modest but better-than-median position within Sonoma County. This positioning reflects the strength of the school's earlier grades and English instruction at certain levels, even as the upper grades present concerns.

The Waldorf approach emphasizes integrated, arts-rich learning and long-term teacher-student relationships, and this is not reported data but rather the educational philosophy families choose when enrolling. The school's new rural location on a larger, wooded campus aligns with that philosophy and offers more outdoor and open space than the previous urban site. However, the property use agreement is a structural consideration: it is term-limited and requires district approval for changes, so families should understand that the school's long-term tenure in Glen Ellen depends on maintaining a working relationship with Sonoma Valley Unified. Glen Ellen itself is a very small village anchored by a tiny walkable downtown, though surrounded by vineyards, parkland, and a creative community. Families with younger children who want a smaller, arts-centered, Waldorf-style environment may find Woodland Star appealing, but those with children heading into sixth grade and beyond, or those prioritizing strong math outcomes, would benefit from a direct conversation with school leaders about instructional supports in those areas.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 360%

School 60% · district not reported

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 441%

School 41% · district not reported

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 556%

School 56% · district not reported

▲ 26 pts above state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

Grade 637%

School 37% · district not reported

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 750%

School 50% · district not reported

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 826%

School 26% · district not reported

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 352%

School 52% · district not reported

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 452%

School 52% · district not reported

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 572%

School 72% · district not reported

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Grade 659%

School 59% · district not reported

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 746%

School 46% · district not reported

even with state median · even with county median

Grade 853%

School 53% · district not reported

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Science

Grade 560%

School 60% · district not reported

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 28 pts above county median

Grade 826%

School 26% · district not reported

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

This schoolDistrict average, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income46%Higher-income57%12 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income50%Higher-income53%3 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income69%Higher-income75%6 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income36%Higher-income79%42 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income42%Higher-income40%2 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income46%Higher-income67%21 pp gap