Lake Hills Elementary, Riverside CA

Original Research by School Decision on Lake Hills Elementary

Lake Hills Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Riverside, drawing from a diverse student body spread fairly evenly across its grade levels. The school sits within Alvord Unified, a district that in 2022 approved a major facilities bond to upgrade schools across its footprint, including safety enhancements, technology, and new construction for career programs. That investment will shape the physical learning environment for years to come.

Academically, Lake Hills shows mixed performance. In third grade, students reach proficiency rates in the solid range across both English language arts and math, with fewer than a quarter falling below standards in each subject. By fourth and fifth grade, that picture narrows. Fourth-grade proficiency drops notably in both subjects, and while fifth-grade English language arts rebounds somewhat, math remains substantially lower. Science proficiency in fifth grade falls to just under half of students. Across all tested grades and subjects, the school's overall proficiency sits at a level that places it in the top quartile among the county's other elementary schools, a real strength. Still, the grade-by-grade trend suggests that growth in the upper elementary grades faces headwinds a parent would want to understand better.

About three-fifths of Lake Hills students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting a working-class community. The enrollment is predominantly Hispanic and Asian, with meaningful representation of white students and smaller numbers of Black students and others. English learner and special education counts were not available in the data, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about the scope and nature of those support services.

The Riverside neighborhood where Lake Hills sits has a median home price that exceeds most of California's state benchmark, placing it in a market where homeownership requires substantial household income. Rental costs have been rising and are moderate relative to income in the area. The local job market carries an unemployment rate in line with recent national experience, and household incomes locally run close to the national median. This is a community where families are working steadily but housing costs remain a real constraint.

The school is neither a magnet nor a charter, so it serves as a neighborhood anchor serving students from the surrounding area. Specific information about the school's culture, class sizes, special programs, or support offerings was not available, so prospective families would benefit from visiting, speaking with current parents, and asking about the transition from third to fourth grade in particular, given where proficiency rates shift noticeably.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 375%

School 75% · District 33% · ▲ 42 pts above district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 38 pts above county median

Grade 460%

School 60% · District 29% · ▲ 31 pts above district

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 30 pts above county median

Grade 557%

School 57% · District 25% · ▲ 32 pts above district

▲ 26 pts above state median · ▲ 33 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 374%

School 74% · District 32% · ▲ 42 pts above district

▲ 33 pts above state median · ▲ 36 pts above county median

Grade 457%

School 57% · District 34% · ▲ 23 pts above district

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

Grade 570%

School 70% · District 38% · ▲ 32 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 546%

School 46% · District 22% · ▲ 24 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

This schoolAlvord Unified, 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-income62%Higher-income85%23 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income53%Higher-income63%9 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income67%Higher-income72%5 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income64%Higher-income85%21 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income43%Higher-income80%37 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income52%Higher-income63%11 pp gap