Del Mar Hills Elementary, Del Mar CA

Original Research by School Decision on Del Mar Hills Elementary

Del Mar Hills Elementary serves kindergarten through sixth grade in a small, affluent coastal community about twenty miles north of San Diego. The school sits on the eastern edge of Del Mar, a town known for its horse-racing heritage, walkable village downtown, and high real estate values. Most families in the area are high earners; the school's enrollment reflects a predominantly white student body with representation from Asian and multiracial families, and very few students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

The school is small, with just under three hundred students spread across seven grades. Its math proficiency is solid, particularly strong in fifth grade where performance is notably high, and remains above the midpoint through third and sixth grades. Fourth-grade math shows a dip, a pattern a parent may want to look into with the school. English language arts performance is similarly mixed by grade. Third-grade performance is strong, fifth grade shows strong results, but fourth and sixth grades trail noticeably. Fifth-grade science proficiency is solid. Across tested subjects and grades, the school sits in the top quartile when compared to other schools in San Diego County.

The school is part of Del Mar Union Elementary School District, a K-6 district that spans the coastal village and extends east across a broader area including Carmel Valley. The district has undergone significant modernization. A voter-approved bond measure funded a complete rebuild of Del Mar Heights Elementary, which reopened in 2024 after several years of displacement, bringing a new campus with learning studios and STEAM spaces. Del Mar Hills itself was modernized during 2024-25, with portables removed and classrooms improved. These are lasting capital investments that raised property taxes but have reshaped the district's physical infrastructure.

Families need to plan for what comes after sixth grade. There is no public high school within Del Mar; students feed into the San Dieguito Union High School District, with Torrey Pines High School located several miles inland in the Carmel Valley area. The wider school district's nine schools are mostly east of Interstate 5, separated from the walkable village core where civic life centers. Public transit to schools involves parent drop-off or a bus ride; the nearest commuter rail station is in Solana Beach, about a mile north.

Housing in Del Mar commands premium prices, among the highest in San Diego County. The median home value is substantially above state and national benchmarks, and rental costs are similarly elevated. The affordability gap between renting and buying through a mortgage is steep. This is a community where housing is a dominant family budget consideration, and families relocating here would be joining a much older and more affluent demographic than county and state averages. For families already established in Del Mar, the school offers a neighborhood elementary setting with strong achievement overall and access to modern facilities. For families considering the area, the real estate commitment and the need to navigate middle school placement outside the immediate community are central logistics to weigh alongside the school's academic profile.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 384%

School 84% · District 83% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 41 pts above state median · ▲ 35 pts above county median

Grade 472%

School 72% · District 82% · ▼ 10 pts below district

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

Grade 593%

School 93% · District 84% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 63 pts above state median · ▲ 58 pts above county median

Grade 680%

School 80% · District 84% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 381%

School 81% · District 79% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 41 pts above state median · ▲ 35 pts above county median

Grade 468%

School 68% · District 77% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Grade 590%

School 90% · District 86% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 44 pts above state median · ▲ 37 pts above county median

Grade 672%

School 72% · District 85% · ▼ 13 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 579%

School 79% · District 75% · ▲ 4 pts above district

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

This schoolDel Mar Union 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.