The top reported proficiency rate is 57% in English language arts. The lowest is 24% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on El Granada Elementary
El Granada Elementary sits on Santiago Street in El Granada, one of the small Coastside communities served by Cabrillo Unified School District, a few miles north of Half Moon Bay's downtown core. It is a regular public elementary school serving kindergarten through fifth grade, with an enrollment that puts it on the smaller side for a K-5 school. The surrounding community has a coastal, somewhat rural character, and families who enroll here will eventually see their children join students from the district's other elementary schools at Cunha Middle School and Half Moon Bay High School.
The school's academic picture on California's CAASPP assessments is mixed and worth examining closely. In English language arts, performance varies considerably by grade: the fourth grade came in meaningfully above the midpoint, while the third and fifth grades landed lower, with the fifth grade reading results being notably weaker. Math follows a similar uneven pattern. Third and fourth grade math results sit in roughly the middle range, but fifth grade math proficiency drops sharply. The fifth grade science score on the CAST is also low. Across all tested grades and subjects combined, El Granada's overall proficiency index sits below the midpoint among districts in San Mateo County. That gap is real and a parent may want to ask the school directly about its instructional supports, particularly in the upper elementary grades where the dip is most visible. Trend data is not yet available to show whether scores are improving, holding, or declining, since only a single year of results appears in the data.
About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, making it a school with a meaningful share of economically disadvantaged families alongside those who are not. Hispanic students make up just over half the enrollment, white students roughly two-fifths, with smaller shares of Asian and multiracial students. Data on English learner rates and special education rates were not available in the underlying records.
Any family buying into the El Granada or Half Moon Bay area should understand the local housing market clearly. Home values here run dramatically above the California statewide median and far above the national median, placing this among the most expensive coastal markets in the Bay Area. That price-to-income ratio, publicly reported through housing data, is extreme by any national comparison. Renters face similarly steep costs. Owning here also now carries an additional layer of school-related property tax obligations. In November 2024, Cabrillo Unified voters approved both a general obligation bond for facility improvements and a new parcel tax replacing the prior levy, with the parcel tax collection beginning in 2025. Both pass costs directly to property owners for years to come, which is a concrete factor in any housing decision.
On the district side, publicly reported news indicates that Cabrillo Unified reached its first multi-year labor contracts in recent memory in early 2026, covering both teachers and classified staff through 2027-28. That represents a shift away from the labor instability that had marked recent years, though the district is still projecting deficit spending. For families, more stable staffing is generally a positive sign for continuity in classrooms.
The broader Half Moon Bay area has a relaxed, small-town coastal texture, with a walkable downtown, a public library with a children's room and makerspace on Correas Street, and Half Moon Bay State Beach nearby. The local economy blends tourism, agriculture, and a working harbor, with many residents commuting to Silicon Valley for professional employment. Growth in the city is focused on affordable housing projects in the Town Center, constrained by coastal hazard overlays and Coastal Commission review.
Programs data for El Granada Elementary was not available in the records, so extracurriculars, enrichment offerings, and specific instructional programs beyond the standard curriculum cannot be described here.
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