Ladd Lane Elementary, Hollister CA

Original Research by School Decision on Ladd Lane Elementary

Ladd Lane Elementary serves kindergarten through eighth grade in Hollister, a town in San Benito County. The school enrolls a school-sized group, spanning nine grades from early elementary through middle school under one roof.

The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. About half the school meets that criterion, indicating a population with meaningful economic pressure. Enrollment is distributed fairly evenly across the elementary grades, though grades six through eight are noticeably smaller, suggesting either feeder patterns or that this is a consolidation point.

Math proficiency on California's Smarter Balanced assessment shows a concerning pattern that a parent may want to look into directly with the school. Proficiency rates decline steeply across grade levels, beginning in the low-to-mid range in third grade and dropping sharply by middle school. By eighth grade, no students met the proficiency benchmark in math. English language arts proficiency is somewhat higher overall and more stable, with third and fourth grades performing near the same rate and fifth grade achieving about half the cohort at proficiency; proficiency dips sharply again in the sixth and seventh grades before recovering somewhat in eighth. Science results, available only for grades five and eight, show low proficiency at both levels.

The school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in San Benito County. This reflects performance that lags the county median across tested subjects and grade levels. Because only one year of test data was available, trend information was not accessible to assess whether results are stable, improving, or declining.

The school sits in Hollister, where housing is moderately priced in the county context. Rent costs remain substantial relative to household income. Locally, a recent referendum in the neighboring San Benito High School District tells part of the larger story: voters defeated two bond measures in November 2024 that would have funded classroom additions and a second high school to address overcrowding. That outcome signals capacity constraints and unmet facility needs in the high school district serving students who graduate from Ladd Lane. For families considering this school, the academic data and the middle-grade proficiency decline warrant direct conversation with school leadership about assessment supports, intervention strategies, and the instructional approach to math and literacy in the upper grades.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 343%

School 43% · District 35% · ▲ 8 pts above district

even with state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 434%

School 34% · District 30% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 3 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 528%

School 28% · District 26% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 614%

School 14% · District 23% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 719%

School 19% · District 22% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 15% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 344%

School 44% · District 35% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 448%

School 48% · District 39% · ▲ 9 pts above district

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

Grade 550%

School 50% · District 41% · ▲ 9 pts above district

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

Grade 618%

School 18% · District 36% · ▼ 18 pts below district

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

Grade 729%

School 29% · District 38% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Grade 836%

School 36% · District 40% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 527%

School 27% · District 28% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

Grade 818%

School 18% · District 23% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

This schoolHollister, 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-income31%Higher-income55%24 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income38%Higher-income57%20 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income44%Higher-income61%17 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income31%Higher-income53%21 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income21%Higher-income46%25 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income22%Higher-income39%17 pp gap