Luigi Aprea Elementary, Gilroy CA

Original Research by School Decision on Luigi Aprea Elementary

Luigi Aprea Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Gilroy, a fast-growing city in Santa Clara County that has been reshaping its identity from agricultural roots toward more diverse residential and commercial development. The school sits in a community where new housing is clustering on the city's west side around the Glen Loma Ranch development, with master-planned neighborhoods anchored by builders including Lennar and KB Home. Gilroy itself mixes a historic downtown core along Monterey Street with large regional retail and food-processing operations that remain part of its economy. The area is car-oriented, though downtown hosts community events and the Caltrain station serves regional commuters.

The school enrolls a student body that is roughly half Hispanic, with a substantial share of Asian, white, and multiracial students represented. A meaningful portion of the enrollment qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting mixed economic circumstances in the catchment. The school's size is moderate for its grade band, with full kindergarten through fifth grade cohorts.

On California's state assessments for 2024-25, Aprea's proficiency rates cluster around the midpoint across tested subjects and grades. In mathematics, the school's proficiency results span a narrow band across third, fourth, and fifth grades, all hovering close to the boundary between lower and higher proficiency. English language arts shows similar positioning, though fifth-grade results in ELA are noticeably stronger than the third and fourth grade performance in that subject. Fifth-grade science proficiency is also in the near-midpoint range. Across the three tested subjects, the school's overall proficiency index places it below the midpoint among the county's elementary schools, meaning students are reaching grade-level benchmarks at a lower rate than the median elementary school in Santa Clara County.

State assessment data for special populations, such as the count or percentage of English learners or students receiving special education, was not available. Data on attendance and chronic absenteeism was also not provided.

The district context matters. Gilroy Unified is experiencing sustained enrollment decline well below its historical peak, a situation that has prompted ongoing discussions about school closures and program redistribution. The district's dual immersion program, one of only a handful of comprehensive K-12 Spanish-English immersion programs statewide, was restructured to spread across multiple elementary campuses rather than concentrate at one school. Families should be aware that enrollment pressures could prompt further changes to school assignments or program placement. Additionally, the district placed a ballot measure before voters in November 2026 for a general obligation bond to modernize facilities and build career technical education pathways, which would directly affect property taxes for homeowners in the district if passed.

The housing market around Gilroy is expensive. Home values and rents have climbed substantially, with the median home price well above state benchmarks and rents rising faster than wages, making affordability a real constraint for working families. The economic context includes a moderate unemployment rate and median household income that remains healthy in absolute terms but is offset by the high cost of housing.

For a family considering Aprea, the core question is whether the school's current academic performance trajectory and the district's enrollment and bond contexts align with their priorities. The school shows competent but below-midpoint results on state tests. Parents may want to look further into what the school is doing to strengthen proficiency, particularly in mathematics and lower grades, and to understand how the district's capacity planning might affect their child's path through elementary school.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 350%

School 50% · District 40% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 447%

School 47% · District 39% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 550%

School 50% · District 34% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 346%

School 46% · District 32% · ▲ 14 pts above district

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

Grade 451%

School 51% · District 41% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

Grade 559%

School 59% · District 44% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Science

Grade 549%

School 49% · District 28% · ▲ 21 pts above district

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

This schoolGilroy Unified, 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-income33%Higher-income57%24 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income33%Higher-income63%30 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income38%Higher-income69%31 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income30%Higher-income66%37 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income25%Higher-income62%37 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income27%Higher-income61%34 pp gap