Redwood Shores Elementary, Redwood City CA

Original Research by School Decision on Redwood Shores Elementary

Redwood Shores Elementary is a small elementary school in the Belmont-Redwood Shores district serving kindergarten through fifth grade in Redwood City. The school enrolls about four hundred students, with the largest group being Asian students, followed by white students, and smaller shares of mixed-race, Hispanic, and other backgrounds. A small share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which reflects the generally high-income character of the Redwood Shores neighborhood, though the school serves a diverse population.

The school's recent state test results show solid proficiency across math, English language arts, and science. In math, students in the upper grades performed particularly strongly, with fifth-graders and third-graders showing high proficiency. Fourth-grade math proficiency was somewhat lower, though still above the halfway point. English language arts results ranged from solid to strong across tested grades, with fifth grade performing especially well. Fifth-grade science proficiency landed in the mid-range. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile when compared to districts in San Mateo County, a position that reflects both the school's performance and the demographic composition of its student population. Because only one year of test data is available, year-to-year trends cannot be determined.

The school sits within the Belmont-Redwood Shores Elementary district, which serves a relatively affluent area. The district approved a parcel tax in 2022, locking in a stable funding source through the next decade that supports art, music, libraries, reading specialists, and counselors alongside core academics and small class sizes. Currently, the district is rolling out a new math curriculum aligned with California's 2023 revised math framework; schools including Redwood Shores will see new materials in place over the coming years, which will affect how math is taught to current students and those entering in the near term.

Redwood City itself is a mixed downtown and residential community anchored by the Caltrain station and Courthouse Square, with Redwood Shores being one of several quiet residential enclaves. The area has historically been shaped by large technology employers, though Oracle, which once dominated local employment, has since moved its headquarters and cut staff. Housing values in the zip code are very high, and rental costs are substantial as well. The city is on a significant growth trajectory with multiple housing projects in the pipeline and a redesigned downtown plan emphasizing transit connectivity, walkability, and new mixed-use development. For a family choosing this school, the key considerations are its strong tested performance relative to the county, the stable funding commitment from the parcel tax, the affluent and diverse character of the school and neighborhood, and the high cost of housing in the area.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 388%

School 88% · District 81% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 45 pts above state median · ▲ 29 pts above county median

Grade 475%

School 75% · District 77% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 38 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 588%

School 88% · District 80% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 57 pts above state median · ▲ 34 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 373%

School 73% · District 77% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

Grade 471%

School 71% · District 73% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 586%

School 86% · District 81% · ▲ 5 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 577%

School 77% · District 72% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 48 pts above state median · ▲ 29 pts above county median

This schoolBelmont-Redwood Shores Elementary, 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.