South Hillsborough, Hillsborough CA

Original Research by School Decision on South Hillsborough

South Hillsborough is a kindergarten-through-fifth-grade elementary school in Hillsborough, a small, affluent residential town of the Peninsula in San Mateo County. The school serves a school community of roughly the size typical for this grade band, with enrollment distributed evenly across the six grades. The student body is predominantly white and Asian, with very low English learner or special education identification rates reported as missing from available data. Only a small share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the town's economic profile.

Academically, South Hillsborough shows strong performance across tested subjects. In mathematics, proficiency across the grade band averages well above the midpoint; third and fourth graders show especially high proficiency, while fifth-grade proficiency in math is notably lower, though still solid. English language arts proficiency is strong across grades three and four, with fifth-grade performance declining alongside math. Science proficiency in fifth grade, the only grade assessed, is below the school's performance in other subjects. Overall, the school's proficiency index places it in the top quartile relative to districts in San Mateo County. Because the school serves only early grades, there is no graduation rate, no high school course access, and no secondary pathway data.

The school sits within the Hillsborough City Elementary School District, a basic-aid district whose per-student state funding is capped under Proposition 13. This funding structure means the district depends heavily on a private foundation and annual parent donations, called the Additional Cost to Educate, to maintain small class sizes, specialists, and non-state-mandated programs. Parents considering the school should understand that ongoing annual giving to support core academic and enrichment offerings is a structural feature of how these schools operate, not an optional supplement.

The district recently passed a facilities bond, Measure H, in June 2022 to modernize aging school buildings through roof repairs, systems upgrades, and classroom enhancements for STEAM instruction. The bond funding flows through a property tax, representing a multi-year cost borne by homeowners. South Hillsborough's location on El Cerrito Avenue places it in a town where large estates on wooded, hilly lots are the norm, commercial activity is prohibited by zoning, and daily life is oriented around neighborhoods, parks, and regional trails rather than a downtown. Nearby downtown Burlingame, a short distance away, serves as the de facto commercial and transit center. Housing values in the Hillsborough ZIP code are very high, and the local rental market is costly, reflecting the area's desirability for families able to afford estate-scale residential living.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 397%

School 97% · District 93% · ▲ 4 pts above district

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

Grade 498%

School 98% · District 94% · ▲ 4 pts above district

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

Grade 584%

School 84% · District 87% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 392%

School 92% · District 87% · ▲ 5 pts above district

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

Grade 491%

School 91% · District 91%

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

Grade 580%

School 80% · District 87% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Science

Grade 573%

School 73% · District 77% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

This schoolHillsborough City 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.