Vallemar Elementary, Pacifica CA

Original Research by School Decision on Vallemar Elementary

Vallemar Elementary is a K-8 school of modest size serving Pacifica's Vallemar neighborhood, a woodsy residential pocket known for a sense of community and walking. The school sits on Reina del Mar Avenue within a city that lacks a traditional downtown and instead spreads schools and civic life across separate neighborhoods.

The school serves about that size in enrollment across nine grade levels, with a student body that is roughly evenly split between white students, Hispanic students, and mixed-race students, with smaller shares of Asian, Black, and Native Hawaiian students. A small portion of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, suggesting relative economic stability among the school's families, though Pacifica's housing costs are high and the broader community includes many families who commute out of town for work.

In state testing for 2024-25, Vallemar's results show a dip in proficiency as students progress through middle school. In grades three and four, a solid majority of students meet proficiency standards in both English language arts and math. By fifth grade, that consensus begins to fracture: math proficiency drops noticeably, and English language arts holds but narrows. In grades six and seven, the school's proficiency rates fall further in both subjects, particularly in math where performance dips below a threshold that would suggest strength. By eighth grade, results recover somewhat. The pattern mirrors what many schools experience when students transition from elementary to middle school structures, and a parent may want to look into with the school directly whether it has identified the source of the middle grades decline and what supports it offers in that span.

Science proficiency data is available only for grades five and eight. In fifth grade, roughly half of students meet the proficiency standard; in eighth grade, that improves modestly. When all tested grades and subjects are averaged, the school's overall proficiency sits above the midpoint among districts in San Mateo County, a positioning that suggests it holds its ground relative to comparable schools in the region despite the middle-grade dips.

The school operates within the Pacifica School District, which has undergone significant recent transitions. Voters approved a major bond measure in March 2024 to modernize aging classrooms and science labs and improve disability access, directly affecting school conditions. In November 2024, they also approved a parcel tax renewal to support teacher compensation and maintain programs. More significantly, the district has moved to consolidate its schools, a change that reshapes which campuses children attend and is a major factor for families choosing where to live within the district. The consolidation was underway in early 2025 and worth understanding directly with the district if school assignment or campus continuity are concerns for your family.

Pacifica itself is a primarily residential coastal community that evolved from separate beach towns and retains that fractured geography. It is mostly car-oriented with spotty public transit, though the Vallemar neighborhood itself is noted for community life and walking. Housing costs are high and the city's local job market is small; most residents commute out of town. The city is investing heavily in planned growth centered on a Sharp Park downtown, with significant new housing and mixed-use development underway, a change that may reshape traffic and school enrollment over the next several years.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 371%

School 71% · District 55% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 472%

School 72% · District 58% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 34 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 551%

School 51% · District 50% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 641%

School 41% · District 48% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▲ 11 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 748%

School 48% · District 48%

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

Grade 863%

School 63% · District 51% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 357%

School 57% · District 46% · ▲ 11 pts above district

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

Grade 470%

School 70% · District 54% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 570%

School 70% · District 58% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 648%

School 48% · District 55% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 756%

School 56% · District 56%

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

Grade 860%

School 60% · District 58% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 553%

School 53% · District 42% · ▲ 11 pts above district

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

Grade 858%

School 58% · District 44% · ▲ 14 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grade 869%

School 69% · District 66% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

This schoolPacifica, 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 4Lower-income64%Higher-income71%8 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income55%Higher-income75%20 pp gap