The top reported proficiency rate is 90% in English language arts. The lowest is 73% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Palm Crest Elementary
Palm Crest Elementary is a small, regular public school serving kindergarten through sixth grade in La Cañada Flintridge, an affluent, family-oriented city nestled in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains northeast of Los Angeles. The school draws from a highly educated community where residential character, spacious custom homes, and highly regarded public schools define daily life. The neighborhood is car-oriented and spread out, with commercial activity concentrated along Foothill Boulevard rather than in a walkable downtown, though the area offers extensive hiking trails and several civic anchors including a botanical garden and library branch.
The school's enrollment is small for its grade band, with roughly balanced class sizes across kindergarten through sixth grade. The student body is predominantly white and Asian, with a much smaller representation of Hispanic students and very few Black students or students of other backgrounds. Fewer than one in twenty students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the overall affluence of the community. Data on English learner and special education enrollment was not available, so a parent may want to look into these details directly with the school if they are relevant to their family's needs.
Academic performance across Palm Crest is a strength. Most students tested in 2024-25 are proficient in English language arts and math. In ELA, fourth and sixth graders show particularly strong results, with proficiency near or above one in twenty. Third graders in ELA and fifth graders in math show slightly lower proficiency rates but still well above one in five. Fifth-grade science proficiency, the only science data reported, shows room for growth but is still solidly in the proficient range. Overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places Palm Crest in the top quartile relative to schools countywide across Los Angeles County.
The school is part of La Cañada Unified, a small district with three elementary schools (La Cañada Elementary, Palm Crest, and Paradise Canyon Elementary) plus a combined junior-senior high. The district has recently undergone curriculum changes in secondary math, reverting from Common Core-era course names back to traditional algebra and geometry titles and adding AP Precalculus. This change does not affect Palm Crest directly since it serves only through sixth grade, but it signals the district's instructional approach at the high school level. Families in the district also fund schools through an ongoing parcel tax that supports advanced academic programs, specialized teachers, librarians, and technology. Additionally, a new school bond measure is on the June 2026 ballot to fund facility upgrades, including replacing portable classrooms.
For elementary families, the district has restructured schedules so third graders now attend full day from mid-morning until early afternoon, a practical consideration for parents arranging childcare. A parent interested in this school should also be aware that the school serves only through sixth grade, so students move on to the district's combined seventh through twelfth grade campus.
Housing in the 91011 zip code where Palm Crest sits is expensive, with home values well above the state benchmark and significantly higher than the national average. Monthly mortgage estimates are correspondingly high, and rental costs also exceed the national typical, though still somewhat lower than purchase costs relative to income. This is a wealthy community, and housing access is a substantial barrier for families without significant resources or existing property ownership in the area. The dominant employer, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, supports a knowledge-based, white-collar workforce, though JPL has faced recent layoffs and an uncertain management future.
See more original research from School Decision →