Hoopa Valley Elementary, Hoopa CA

Original Research by School Decision on Hoopa Valley Elementary

Hoopa Valley Elementary serves students from kindergarten through eighth grade in a small rural community on the Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation in Humboldt County. The school's enrollment is just under four hundred students, with a notably high share of American Indian students and a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price meals. Classroom sizes across the grades run from the mid-thirties to the high forties.

The 2024-25 state testing data shows very low proficiency rates across both math and English language arts. In math, fewer than one in twenty students scored at proficiency or above across the grade span, and in English language arts, the rate was similarly low at around one in eighteen. In science, state testing results showed no students proficient across the tested grades. These results place the school in the bottom quartile when compared to other districts in Humboldt County. A parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand what academic supports are in place, whether assessment conditions or testing circumstances affected results, and what the school's own classroom-based assessments show about student learning.

The school sits within the Klamath-Trinity Joint Unified School District, which has faced serious disruptions. In early 2025, an independent audit uncovered substantial budgeting errors spanning two consecutive years. The district then proposed significant cuts to special education aides, special education teaching staff, and other support services. This instability is especially significant because the district depends on federal Impact Aid and Title 1 funding for a substantial portion of its annual budget, given that tribal lands are not subject to state property taxation. With federal education funding under pressure and now uncertain, families with students needing special education or other support services should understand that the district's capacity to maintain those services faces real constraints.

Hoopa itself is a spread-out rural community centered on tribal government and cultural institutions. Homes are predominantly on large lots in forested areas, and commercial activity is limited to a small downtown shopping center. The Hoopa Valley Tribe is the dominant employer, operating government offices, timber operations, the casino, a medical center, and a housing authority. The Kim Yerton Memorial Library holds the region's largest Native American collection and won a national service medal; it anchors civic life alongside the Trinity River and tribal facilities. Public transit is limited and connects mainly to nearby communities. Housing is tightly constrained, with growth driven by tribal housing programs rather than private development, and sale prices are well below state averages but inventory is sparse.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 30%

School 0% · District 10% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 43 pts below state median · ▼ 40 pts below county median

Grade 45%

School 5% · District 19% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 32 pts below state median · ▼ 31 pts below county median

Grade 50%

School 0% · District 10% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Grade 60%

School 0% · District 4% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 74%

School 4% · District 10% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 11% · ▼ 11 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 30%

School 0% · District 9% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 41 pts below state median · ▼ 35 pts below county median

Grade 412%

School 12% · District 28% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 55%

School 5% · District 15% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Grade 610%

School 10% · District 15% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▼ 34 pts below state median · ▼ 31 pts below county median

Grade 70%

School 0% · District 22% · ▼ 22 pts below district

▼ 45 pts below state median · ▼ 53 pts below county median

Grade 83%

School 3% · District 18% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 41 pts below state median · ▼ 43 pts below county median

Science

Grade 50%

School 0% · District 8% · ▼ 8 pts below district

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

Grade 80%

School 0% · District 14% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 32 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 83%

School 3% · District 12% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 46 pts below state median · ▼ 41 pts below county median

This schoolKlamath-Trinity Joint 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.