Old Orchard Elementary, Valencia CA

Original Research by School Decision on Old Orchard Elementary

Old Orchard Elementary serves the Old Orchard village of Valencia, a master-planned residential community in the western Santa Clarita Valley. The school sits within a built environment organized around schools, parks, and a distinctive network of more than thirty miles of pedestrian and bike paths called paseos, which allow families to walk or bike across neighborhoods without crossing streets at grade level. Valencia itself is in a period of rapid growth, driven by major new housing developments bringing younger families to the area, alongside established neighborhoods with schools spread across three different districts. Old Orchard is part of the Newhall School District.

The school serves kindergarten through sixth grade and has a student body of about five hundred. Roughly half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student population is predominantly Hispanic, with a meaningful share identifying as white, and smaller representations of multiracial and Asian students. Specific data on English learners and students receiving special education services were not available.

In state testing, Old Orchard shows mixed academic footing. In the most recent assessment cycle, overall proficiency in English language arts stood at around mid-range, with stronger performance in the upper elementary grades, particularly sixth grade. Mathematics proficiency was similar, with fourth grade dipping noticeably below the pattern of third, fifth, and sixth grades. Science proficiency in fifth grade, the only grade assessed, was substantially lower than both ELA and math. On the proficiency index that averages across tested grades and subjects, the school sits in the top quartile among districts in Los Angeles County, a meaningful position, though the underlying data shows unevenness between grade levels and subjects that a parent may want to look into further with the school.

The Newhall School District has made three recent program investments that shape what families encounter. Universal Pre-Kindergarten and Transitional Kindergarten became available in line with state mandate, giving families a free public entry point before kindergarten. Proposition 28 funding, approved statewide in 2022 and distributed to schools starting in 2023-24, supports an ongoing music program in which specialized teachers travel to each school site serving students from pre-K through third grade. Most notably for families considering Old Orchard specifically, the district operates a Spanish Dual Language Immersion program based at the school. Launched around a decade ago with a single grade, the program has expanded year by year and is filled by lottery, with enrollment intentionally balanced between native English speakers and native Spanish speakers. This has become a cornerstone offering for the district, drawing families who prioritize bilingual education.

The Valencia housing market is active and relatively expensive, with median home values substantially above the state benchmark. Rents are climbing and are high relative to regional income. The area is experiencing significant new construction, particularly in Valencia by FivePoint, a large master-planned development on former ranch land where homes began closing in 2021 and substantial population growth is projected to continue. However, the new-development areas do not yet have schools directly within them; schools serving the FivePoint neighborhoods are planned but not yet operational. This creates a longer-term enrollment question for districts including Newhall as the new residential communities mature.

For families drawn to Valencia's planned residential character and the walkable paseo system, Old Orchard sits in an established village. For those weighing dual language education, the Spanish immersion track is a concrete, durable program worth exploring with the school. For those looking at performance data, the proficiency picture is mixed by grade and subject, inviting direct conversation with the school about strengths, challenges, and support systems.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 364%

School 64% · District 64% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

Grade 451%

School 51% · District 62% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 563%

School 63% · District 61% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 33 pts above state median · ▲ 30 pts above county median

Grade 664%

School 64% · District 68% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 357%

School 57% · District 64% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Grade 451%

School 51% · District 66% · ▼ 15 pts below district

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

Grade 569%

School 69% · District 74% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Grade 674%

School 74% · District 74% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 30 pts above state median · ▲ 30 pts above county median

Science

Grade 542%

School 42% · District 58% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income50%Higher-income68%18 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income36%Higher-income67%31 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income54%Higher-income85%31 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income62%Higher-income82%20 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income58%Higher-income73%14 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income38%Higher-income65%27 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income49%Higher-income79%31 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income45%Higher-income76%31 pp gap