Newhall Elementary, Newhall CA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Newhall Elementary

Newhall Elementary serves kindergarten through sixth grade in the Newhall neighborhood of Santa Clarita, a historically rooted area in northern Los Angeles County distinct from the city's newer planned communities. The neighborhood has undergone sustained revitalization around its downtown Old Town core, centered on Main Street, with mixed-use development, a Laemmle theater, library, Metrolink station, and a weekly farmers market anchoring civic life. The school sits within this context of neighborhood reinvestment and a broader Santa Clarita Valley employment market anchored by Six Flags Magic Mountain, Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital, and aerospace and defense manufacturers.

The school enrolls a small population, nearly all Hispanic, with a preponderance of students from low-income households qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is nearly entirely Spanish-dominant or bilingual, though specific English learner enrollment data was not provided. This is a school serving a deeply economically constrained and linguistically distinct population concentrated in the Newhall area.

Academic performance on California state assessments is notably low. In English language arts, proficiency rates across grades three through six range from around one-quarter to just under two-fifths of students meeting standards. In mathematics, the picture is considerably weaker: proficiency starts near one-third in grade three, then drops sharply to around one-fifth in grades five and six. In science, the single grade tested (five) shows proficiency at around one-fifth. Across tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile among the county's elementary schools. A parent may want to look into further with the school what academic supports and interventions are in place to address these broad proficiency gaps, and what the school's learning agenda is for closing them.

The Newhall School District itself operates several lasting programs that shape the elementary experience. The district introduced a Spanish Dual Language Immersion program at Old Orchard Elementary, which has grown grade-by-grade since its launch and is filled by lottery; that program is a school-specific offering, not available at Newhall Elementary. The district has rolled out Universal Pre-Kindergarten and Transitional Kindergarten in alignment with state mandate, giving families an earlier public-school entry point. Beginning in 2023-24, Proposition 28 state funding for arts education has underwritten a district-wide music program in which traveling teachers deliver classroom music instruction in UPK through third grade at each site. These are durable curriculum and access features that parents weigh when considering the district.

The Newhall zip code's housing market sits above the state median by value, with mortgage carrying costs significantly higher than local rent, and rent-to-income ratios reflecting affordability pressure. This economic context mirrors the school population itself: while the neighborhood includes upper-middle-income owner-occupied homes and newer mixed-use residential infill, the school serves a predominantly low-income enrollment, suggesting either rental concentration near the school or family economic circumstance unaligned with neighborhood averages. A parent considering this school should understand that it serves a population with distinct language and economic needs, and verify directly with the school what support structures, staffing, and instructional time are committed to literacy development and mathematics proficiency, especially given the wide gap between district proficiency benchmarks and this school's performance.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 334%

School 34% · District 64% · ▼ 30 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 429%

School 29% · District 62% · ▼ 33 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 520%

School 20% · District 61% · ▼ 41 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 620%

School 20% · District 68% · ▼ 47 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 331%

School 31% · District 64% · ▼ 33 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 439%

School 39% · District 66% · ▼ 27 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 535%

School 35% · District 74% · ▼ 39 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 626%

School 26% · District 74% · ▼ 47 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Science

Grade 521%

School 21% · District 58% · ▼ 36 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

This schoolNewhall, 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.