Faith Ringgold School of Arts and Science, Hayward CA

Original Research by School Decision on Faith Ringgold School of Arts and Science

Faith Ringgold School of Arts and Science is a small kindergarten-through-eighth-grade public school located in Hayward, serving a student body drawn almost entirely from low-income families. The school sits in a mid-sized East Bay city with a historic downtown and a strong role as a college town, anchored by California State University, East Bay and Chabot College. Hayward has a diverse economy mixing education, warehousing and logistics, manufacturing, and food production, alongside civic investment in a recently rebuilt downtown library and public plaza.

The school's enrollment is small, around a hundred students spread across nine grades. The overwhelming majority qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting a neighborhood of significant economic hardship. The student body is predominantly Latinx, with smaller populations of Black, Asian, and multiracial students. No data on English learner enrollment or special education enrollment are available; the school does not report these counts.

Academically, Faith Ringgold's test results are very low across the board. In the most recent state testing window, overall proficiency in English language arts sat at around a fifth of students across tested grades, while math proficiency was under a tenth. Grade-by-grade results show the pattern continuing from early elementary through middle school. Science proficiency in the tested grade was roughly a quarter. These results place the school in the bottom quartile for overall proficiency among county districts. No trend data spanning multiple years is available to judge whether proficiency is improving, declining, or stable.

The school carries the name of a legendary artist and arts educator, and the district has recently expanded arts curriculum district-wide using state arts funding that took effect in the 2024-25 school year. Whether Faith Ringgold has been a site for expanded arts offerings or how arts education factors into the school's identity remains unclear from available sources.

The district has publicly acknowledged a budget shortfall and held community meetings in late 2024, which could affect staffing and programming across schools in the coming years. A parent considering this school may want to contact the school and district directly to understand current staffing levels, any recent changes in academic support services, and what role arts education plays in its model, as well as the district's outlook on the budget situation and any anticipated changes.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 36%

School 6% · District 24% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 37 pts below state median · ▼ 49 pts below county median

Grade 413%

School 13% · District 23% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 38 pts below county median

Grade 514%

School 14% · District 18% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 311%

School 11% · District 26% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 39 pts below county median

Grade 425%

School 25% · District 30% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

Grade 529%

School 29% · District 32% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 523%

School 23% · District 17% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grade 843%

School 43% · District 38% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

This schoolHayward 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.