Holly Oak Elementary, San Jose CA

Original Research by School Decision on Holly Oak Elementary

Holly Oak Elementary serves students from kindergarten through sixth grade in San Jose, drawing from the Evergreen Elementary School District. The school sits in a neighborhood of mixed single-family residential development, part of the broader city that blends urban core and sprawling districts. The area is heavily Asian and Hispanic, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting a working-to-middle-income residential zone.

Academically, Holly Oak's performance shows area for growth. In English language arts across tested grades, the school's overall proficiency rate sits below the midpoint among Santa Clara County's district-serving elementary schools. Math proficiency is slightly lower still. Performance varies by grade, with fourth-grade math showing the strongest results and fifth grade notably weaker across both subjects. Science proficiency in fifth grade was quite low. These patterns suggest students are building foundational skills but struggling to reach grade-level proficiency benchmarks at a rate the school would likely want to see. The school has only one year of testing data available, so trend direction is not yet clear.

The enrollment sits at a moderate size for an elementary school, with relatively balanced grade-level cohorts except for a dip in fourth grade. The student body is majority Asian and Hispanic, with Asian students making up about one-third of enrollment and Hispanic students about half. A meaningful share of families are in economic circumstances that qualify their children for free or reduced-price lunch. The school does not report enrollment numbers for English learners or students with individualized education plans; these details may be available directly from the school or district.

The Evergreen Elementary School District has made recent strategic moves that affect school operations. In November 2024, voters approved Measure X, a parcel tax continuing the earlier Measure EE, which funds STEAM programming across schools. This means families buying into the area should expect an ongoing per-parcel property tax obligation. The district previously closed two schools due to enrollment decline and converted O.B. Whaley to a visual and performing arts magnet, leaving Holly Oak as a traditional elementary option. Starting in 2023-24, all district schools have been implementing California's Proposition 28 arts and music funding, bringing dedicated arts instruction to the school.

Housing in the zip code where Holly Oak sits is expensive relative to national norms, though below the state benchmark. Median home values have declined modestly year over year, and rents have risen. The local economy centers on technology and manufacturing, anchored by employers like Cisco, Google, and Apple across Silicon Valley, though San Jose itself is economically diverse and mixed in character.

A parent considering Holly Oak should understand that this is a school with below-midpoint test performance in both reading and math, where academic progress may need close monitoring and where the school's broader support structures would be worth asking about directly. The neighborhood is stable and ethnically integrated, with an established public school serving a working-class and middle-class population. The district's ongoing commitment to arts and STEAM programming is a strength, and the tax structure is in place to fund it. Parents may want to visit the school, speak with current families, and understand what academic interventions or enrichment programs the school offers to support students who are not yet meeting proficiency.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 340%

School 40% · District 64% · ▼ 24 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 448%

School 48% · District 63% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 526%

School 26% · District 56% · ▼ 30 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 640%

School 40% · District 61% · ▼ 20 pts below district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 344%

School 44% · District 61% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 442%

School 42% · District 61% · ▼ 18 pts below district

even with state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 529%

School 29% · District 68% · ▼ 38 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

Grade 641%

School 41% · District 68% · ▼ 27 pts below district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Science

Grade 519%

School 19% · District 48% · ▼ 29 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

This schoolEvergreen 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income37%Higher-income53%17 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income35%Higher-income50%15 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income32%Higher-income25%7 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income33%Higher-income55%21 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income29%Higher-income53%24 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income35%Higher-income63%28 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income25%Higher-income29%4 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income30%Higher-income57%27 pp gap