Crocker Highlands Elementary, Oakland CA

Original Research by School Decision on Crocker Highlands Elementary

Crocker Highlands Elementary sits in the Oakland neighborhood of that name, a residential hillside area on the city's eastern edge where single-family homes dominate and tree-lined streets connect to the broader neighborhoods of Piedmont Avenue and the foothills above. The school itself serves kindergarten through fifth grade and enrolls students from the immediate area; the enrollment is small for an elementary school, with roughly even distributions across grade levels and a slight lean toward older grades.

The school's 2024-25 math proficiency sits in the mid-range. In tested grades, third and fourth graders show stronger performance in math, while fifth graders score lower. English language arts performance is more uneven: third graders begin solidly, fourth graders hold steady at about the same level, but fifth graders show marked improvement. Science testing, available only for fifth grade, falls in the middle of the span. When math and ELA proficiency are averaged across all tested grades, the school sits in the top quartile among districts in Alameda County—a meaningful strength, particularly given that the county includes many schools serving far more economically disadvantaged populations.

The school's student body leans slightly toward white students and multiracial students; Asian, Hispanic, and Black students each make up meaningful shares of enrollment. About one in five students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate notably lower than many urban schools and suggesting that the school draws from a more economically stable catchment. Data on special education enrollment and English learner status were not available.

The Crocker Highlands neighborhood itself sits within Oakland's hillside and residential tier. The area is car-oriented rather than walkable, typical of Oakland's higher elevations. Housing values in the 94610 zip code are substantial, reflecting the area's long-standing status as a stable, owner-occupied residential enclave. Home values and rents are both high relative to national benchmarks and typical for the East Bay's desirable neighborhoods. Mortgage costs for a home in the area substantially exceed rental costs, a common pattern in a tight Bay Area ownership market.

Oakland as a whole presents a patchwork of distinct districts: a walkable, dense downtown core anchored by City Hall and Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, with Lake Merritt at the city's center offering trails and gathering space; neighborhood commercial nodes like College Avenue in Rockridge and International Boulevard in Fruitvale; and hillside residential grids where Crocker Highlands sits. The city's identity is both residential and culturally active, with museums, performing arts venues, and considerable immigrant and racial diversity. Major employers include Kaiser Permanente, Alameda County government, the Port of Oakland, and health care broadly.

State testing data was current as of the 2024-25 school year. The district brief did not surface a specific recent Oakland Unified-wide initiative affecting school operations or parent decisions, so context on systemwide changes was not included. A parent considering this school may want to inquire directly with the school about program offerings, classroom composition, and how fifth-grade performance is being addressed given the dip visible in the math data.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 376%

School 76% · District 36% · ▲ 40 pts above district

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

Grade 475%

School 75% · District 33% · ▲ 42 pts above district

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

Grade 567%

School 67% · District 28% · ▲ 39 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 366%

School 66% · District 31% · ▲ 35 pts above district

▲ 26 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 473%

School 73% · District 34% · ▲ 39 pts above district

▲ 30 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 582%

School 82% · District 36% · ▲ 45 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 568%

School 68% · District 25% · ▲ 43 pts above district

▲ 40 pts above state median · ▲ 29 pts above county median

This schoolOakland Unified, 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-income18%Higher-income82%64 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income53%Higher-income80%27 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income70%Higher-income86%16 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income41%Higher-income87%46 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income50%Higher-income84%34 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income35%Higher-income79%44 pp gap