Thomas Edison Elementary, Daly City CA

Original Research by School Decision on Thomas Edison Elementary

Thomas Edison Elementary sits on Southgate Avenue in Daly City, serving kindergarten through fifth grade as part of the Jefferson Elementary School District. It is a regular public school, not a charter, with no magnet designation noted in the data.

Daly City itself is San Mateo County's largest city, densely populated and geographically diverse in character. The Westlake neighborhood around Southgate Avenue is defined by mid-century tract homes, quiet residential streets, and coastal fog. Everyday commercial life spreads across the Westlake and Serramonte shopping centers rather than any single downtown, and the Daly City BART station connects the area to San Francisco and the broader Peninsula. The city is largely built out but is actively pursuing infill along its corridors; a seven-story mixed-use building at 99 Southgate Avenue, within walking distance of the school's address, broke ground in 2025 with a targeted opening in late 2027. On the housing side, the zip code sits at a price point well above both the state and national medians, and estimated monthly ownership costs represent a substantial financial commitment. Rents have risen over the past year. These figures reflect where Daly City sits in the Bay Area market, not a verdict on value.

The school's enrollment is moderate for an elementary school of its grade span. The student body is strongly Asian-majority, with a meaningful Hispanic population and smaller representations of other groups. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and specific data on English learner and special education populations were not available in the data provided.

On the California state assessments, the most recent results show a clear pattern worth describing carefully. Third-grade math stands out as a genuine strength, with a large majority of tested students scoring proficient or above. ELA results are more mixed: third grade is near the midpoint, while fourth and fifth grade are somewhat higher. Fifth-grade math sits below the majority threshold, and the fifth-grade science assessment shows less than half of students meeting proficiency. Across all tested grades and subjects combined, the school's proficiency index places it above the midpoint relative to districts in San Mateo County, which is a real positive signal in a competitive county. The data available covers only the current year, so trend information is not yet possible to establish.

One pattern a parent might want to ask the school about directly is the apparent decline in math proficiency from third to fifth grade. Whether that reflects cohort differences, curriculum sequencing, or instructional capacity at particular grade levels is something the school is better positioned to explain than any external data can.

The Jefferson Elementary School District has made two property-related decisions that affect families considering a home purchase here. Voters approved a facilities bond in 2022, and a new parcel tax passed in March 2024, replacing an expiring one and set to begin in 2026. The parcel tax is designed to protect reading intervention staffing and library services, with a senior homeowner exemption available. Both measures add to carrying costs for property owners. On the retention side, the district publicly reported opening a workforce housing complex for teachers and staff in 2024, the first such development by an elementary district in San Mateo County. Units are offered well below market rate. The district framed this as a tool for reducing teacher turnover, and classroom continuity is something families reasonably weigh when choosing a school.

Program and staffing detail, chronic absenteeism data, and discipline information were not available in the data provided. Families who want a fuller picture of what enrichment, intervention, or specialty programming the school offers would need to ask those questions directly.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 379%

School 79% · District 50% · ▲ 29 pts above district

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Grade 458%

School 58% · District 48% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 549%

School 49% · District 39% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 355%

School 55% · District 43% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 463%

School 63% · District 49% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 566%

School 66% · District 54% · ▲ 13 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 535%

School 35% · District 33% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

This schoolJefferson 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-income56%Higher-income55%0 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income69%Higher-income58%11 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income58%Higher-income71%13 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income44%Higher-income55%10 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income72%Higher-income83%11 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income54%Higher-income61%7 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income37%Higher-income56%19 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income33%Higher-income55%21 pp gap