Newland (william T.) Elementary, Huntington Beach CA

Original Research by School Decision on Newland (william T.) Elementary

William T. Newland Elementary sits in a residential pocket of Huntington Beach, a coastal Orange County city shaped by beach culture, surf identity, and a housing market that places it well above California's statewide median home value, which is itself already well above the national one. The surrounding zip code commands home prices and rents that put this neighborhood among the more expensive in Southern California, and the gap between renting and owning is wide by any measure. Buyers and renters arriving here are entering one of the tightest real estate environments in the state.

The school serves kindergarten through fifth grade and draws a student population that is predominantly white, with meaningful Asian, Hispanic, and multiracial representation. The share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price meals is quite low relative to California norms, reflecting the economic character of the surrounding neighborhood. Data on English learner enrollment and students with IEPs was not available in the source material.

The academic results on California's CAASPP Smarter Balanced assessments are genuinely strong. In math, third graders post proficiency rates in the high nineties, fourth graders in the low nineties, and fifth graders in the mid-eighties. ELA proficiency across the three tested grades clusters in the mid-to-upper eighties. Taken together, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile relative to districts across Orange County, a comparison set that already contains many high-performing communities. That position reflects consistent strength in reading and particularly in math. Fifth-grade science results on the CAST, while still above the statewide midpoint for most California schools, sit noticeably lower than the school's math and ELA numbers; a parent interested in the science curriculum would be worth asking the school about directly.

Only a single year of assessment data was available, so multi-year trends cannot be described here.

Newland is a regular public elementary in the Fountain Valley Elementary school district, not a charter or magnet. Program details were not available in the data provided. The district brief search found no confirmed parent-relevant changes or announcements to report.

The city itself is in a period of housing pressure and planned development. Several larger projects are publicly reported as approved or advancing, including a major redevelopment of a former oil site near Magnolia and Pacific Coast Highway that would add hundreds of homes, as well as proposed downtown mixed-use projects. Whether new housing adds families to local attendance boundaries over time is something prospective residents may want to track.

For a family prioritizing elementary-level academic outcomes, the proficiency picture here is among the stronger ones available in Orange County. The peer environment and community reflect an affluent coastal neighborhood. The entry cost to live in this attendance area is high, and the affordability math on both buying and renting is demanding by any standard outside of the most expensive coastal markets.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 396%

School 96% · District 85% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 53 pts above state median · ▲ 40 pts above county median

Grade 492%

School 92% · District 82% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

Grade 585%

School 85% · District 76% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 55 pts above state median · ▲ 39 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 386%

School 86% · District 76% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

Grade 487%

School 87% · District 77% · ▲ 9 pts above district

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

Grade 589%

School 89% · District 83% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 44 pts above state median · ▲ 31 pts above county median

Science

Grade 565%

School 65% · District 66% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

This schoolFountain Valley 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-income75%Higher-income88%13 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income92%Higher-income97%5 pp gap