The top reported proficiency rate is 60% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on La Honda Elementary
La Honda Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in a small, rural unincorporated community in the Santa Cruz Mountains of southern San Mateo County. The school enrolls a small group of students from a tight-knit residential area where most families own their homes and many are older or retired. The school's location on Sears Ranch Road sits apart from the town's scattered commercial core, and the district itself is distributed across two sites: La Honda Elementary here and Pescadero Elementary and Middle School miles away in Pescadero.
The school's most recent testing data shows academic performance that is mixed by grade level. In third grade, proficiency in both English language arts and mathematics stands at just under half of students. Fourth grade shows a substantial jump, with three-quarters of students meeting proficiency in both subjects. Fifth grade results were suppressed, likely due to the small number of test-takers at that grade level. Taking all tested grades together, the school's overall proficiency index sits above the midpoint among school districts in San Mateo County, a positioning that reflects stronger performance in grade four offsetting lower results in grade three. Trend data is limited to a single year, so no direction of change can be discerned.
The student population reflects the community's demographics. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is predominantly white, with a meaningful proportion identifying as Hispanic, and a very small Asian population. Data on the number and rate of students receiving special education services or identified as English learners was not available. The school's enrollment is small, with the total and individual grade cohorts ranging from very small to modest in size; a parent may want to look into how the school manages mixed-grade instruction, peer dynamics, and resource allocation given these numbers.
La Honda itself is rural and car-dependent, strung along State Route 84 and defined more by surrounding open space than commercial activity. The town sits at elevation in redwood forest and is home to the large La Honda Creek Open Space Preserve, a popular regional destination for trails and birding. The nearest large employers are in the Silicon Valley or coast, and most working residents commute. Housing in the area is expensive relative to national benchmarks, with median home values well above the national average and carrying mortgage costs and rent both steep relative to median income. Population is small and relatively flat, with most people owning their homes.
The school district does not appear to have undergone major recent changes affecting parents, though search results were limited.
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