The top reported proficiency rate is 85% in English language arts. The lowest is 72% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Emma C. Smith Elementary
Emma C. Smith Elementary sits on Ontario Drive in Livermore, a city in the eastern Alameda County hills that carries a genuinely unusual mix of identities: a wine-country heritage with dozens of wineries and vineyards, two major federally funded national laboratories as the dominant employers, a walkable historic downtown anchored by restaurants and theaters, and residential neighborhoods spread across what was once ranching and agricultural land. Families who work at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory or in the technology and advanced manufacturing sectors that cluster nearby form a big part of the community fabric.
The school serves kindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school within the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District. Its enrollment is on the larger side for an elementary school. The student body is racially and economically diverse, though the share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch is relatively modest, placing it well below the California norm for economic need. White and Asian students together make up the largest portions of enrollment, with Hispanic students representing a meaningful share as well. Data on English learner enrollment and students with IEPs were not available in the data provided.
Academically, Emma C. Smith posts strong results on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress. Across the tested grades in both English language arts and math, proficiency rates sit well above the state midpoint in every grade reported. The school's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile relative to districts across Alameda County, a set of nearly eighty districts. Reading and math proficiency for fourth graders are the highest reported across the grade levels tested, with third and fifth grade not far behind. Fifth-grade science results on the California Science Test are also solid, though somewhat lower than the ELA and math figures. Multi-year trend data were available only for the most recent year, so it is not possible to characterize whether results have been rising, falling, or holding steady over time.
A graduation rate does not apply here because the school does not serve high school grades. Program-specific information was not available in the data.
The housing market around Emma C. Smith is among the most expensive in the state. Typical home values in the zip code run dramatically higher than the California median, and far above the national figure, with values that have dipped modestly over the past year. Rents have edged slightly upward in the same period. The gap between carrying a mortgage and paying rent is very wide, meaning buying is a substantially heavier financial commitment than renting. Families considering this attendance zone should go in clear-eyed about that cost structure.
On the district side, there are two things worth tracking closely. The first is a parcel tax renewed by voters in 2022 that provides supplemental local funding for teachers, programs, and classroom technology through the end of the decade. The second is more pressing: in early 2026 the Livermore Valley Joint Unified board approved a substantial package of ongoing budget cuts for the coming school year, and the district shifted to a financial status indicating it may be unable to meet its obligations within a couple of years. Earlier proposals had included the closure of two elementary schools and the elimination of the International Baccalaureate program at the district's Granada High School; community opposition was strong enough that school closures were removed from consideration. Still, staff reductions are part of the approved plan, and the district's fiscal trajectory is something families should watch and ask the school about directly. A facilities bond that would have funded classroom upgrades, roofing, and systems improvements was defeated by voters in 2022, leaving aging infrastructure without a major capital funding source.
Livermore itself is growing, with large residential and mixed-use development planned near the I-580 corridor, an office-to-housing conversion underway in a nearby business park, and new affordable housing breaking ground downtown in 2026 after years of litigation. The city's downtown is genuinely lively, with a farmers' market, live theater, and restaurant density that make it feel more urban than the citywide walkability average would suggest. Schools sit on separated campuses rather than in the downtown core, so day-to-day school life is neighborhood-based rather than downtown-adjacent.
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