Oak Hills Elementary, Valencia CA

Original Research by School Decision on Oak Hills Elementary

Oak Hills Elementary sits on Old Rock Road in Valencia's western Santa Clarita Valley, a community built around the master-planned village model that Newhall Land and Farming began assembling in the 1960s. The school serves kindergarten through sixth grade within the Newhall School District, a K-8 district in Los Angeles County that feeds into William S. Hart Union for secondary.

On California's CAASPP state assessments, Oak Hills posts strong results. Math proficiency runs solidly in the upper two-thirds or higher across every tested grade, with fifth and sixth graders reaching the highest marks. English language arts results are even stronger: fifth and sixth graders clear a high-proficiency threshold that places them well above what most California elementary schools report, and the third and fourth grade ELA results, while somewhat lower, are still well above the state midpoint. The fifth grade California Science Test result follows a similar pattern, landing in the upper range statewide. Taken together, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile relative to districts across Los Angeles County, which is the comparison set the data uses. Trend data covers only the most recent year, so directional change over time cannot be described.

The school draws a racially and ethnically mixed student body. Asian students represent the largest single group, followed by white students, then Hispanic students, with smaller shares of Black students and students of two or more races. The share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch is well below the California average for public elementary schools, reflecting the relatively higher-income character of Valencia's residential villages. Data on English learner enrollment and special education rates were not available in the data provided, so parents with specific questions about those programs would want to ask the school directly.

The Newhall School District has made a few program commitments worth knowing. Classroom music instruction, supported by Proposition 28 arts funding that California voters approved in 2022, reaches students from pre-kindergarten through third grade via traveling music teachers at each school site. The district also implemented Universal Pre-Kindergarten aligned with the state's TK expansion mandate, giving families an earlier free public-school entry point. A Spanish Dual Language Immersion program operates at Old Orchard Elementary, a different site within the district, filled by lottery and adding a grade level each year since its launch; families interested in that pathway should weigh enrollment logistics separately from Oak Hills' attendance boundary.

Valencia itself gives families a very specific kind of suburban environment. The paseo system, publicly reported as more than thirty miles of paved, lighted pedestrian and bike paths that use bridges and tunnels to avoid street crossings, makes getting between neighborhoods, schools, and parks on foot or by bike genuinely practical in a way that most Southern California suburbs are not. The broader built form is still auto-oriented, with major commercial boulevards and freeway-adjacent retail, but the village design means Oak Hills families tend to live within the same walkable cluster as the school. The community is actively growing: Valencia by FivePoint is adding a substantial number of planned homes on the historic Newhall Ranch property, with county approval of additional villages granted in 2025. Schools to serve those newer neighborhoods are still in the planning stage, which means enrollment patterns for Newhall District schools may shift as those residents arrive.

On housing, the Valencia zip code carrying this school reflects home values well above the California statewide median and dramatically above the national median, with rents that make the price-to-income ratio a real planning consideration. The estimated monthly mortgage cost at current rates runs meaningfully higher than the typical rent in the area, according to the affordability data provided.

Discipline, chronic absenteeism, and attendance data were not available in this dataset; parents with questions on school climate would want to follow up directly with Oak Hills or the Newhall School District.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 374%

School 74% · District 64% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

Grade 473%

School 73% · District 62% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 32 pts above county median

Grade 579%

School 79% · District 61% · ▲ 19 pts above district

▲ 49 pts above state median · ▲ 46 pts above county median

Grade 680%

School 80% · District 68% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 50 pts above state median · ▲ 49 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 373%

School 73% · District 64% · ▲ 9 pts above district

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

Grade 477%

School 77% · District 66% · ▲ 11 pts above district

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

Grade 588%

School 88% · District 74% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 43 pts above state median · ▲ 41 pts above county median

Grade 687%

School 87% · District 74% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 43 pts above state median · ▲ 42 pts above county median

Science

Grade 572%

School 72% · District 58% · ▲ 14 pts above district

▲ 44 pts above state median · ▲ 45 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-income60%Higher-income77%17 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income68%Higher-income81%13 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income95%Higher-income86%9 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income84%Higher-income87%3 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income60%Higher-income78%18 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income61%Higher-income78%17 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income86%Higher-income77%8 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income73%Higher-income83%10 pp gap