Fairmeadow Elementary, Palo Alto CA

Original Research by School Decision on Fairmeadow Elementary

Fairmeadow Elementary is a public school serving kindergarten through fifth grade in Palo Alto, located in a zip code where homes command very high prices and rents are substantial. The student body is small to mid-sized, with a plurality of students of Asian descent, followed by white, Hispanic, and multiracial students, and very few black students. A small share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, well below the rate typical of California schools overall.

In the most recent state assessments, Fairmeadow's students showed strong proficiency across the tested grades and subjects. In English language arts, students in fourth grade performed highest, while third grade showed the lowest proficiency; fifth grade fell between. Math proficiency was more consistent across grades three through five, clustered tightly in a narrow range. Science proficiency at fifth grade was also solid. Across tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile among the county's elementary and mid-level schools.

The school serves a population with extremely high housing costs relative to household income, a context visible in the gap between estimated mortgage and rental costs in the zip code. This is a distinctly affluent community environment. Palo Alto itself sits at the heart of the Bay Area's high-tech economy, anchored by Stanford University and home to major companies including Tesla, Hewlett-Packard, VMware, and others. The city has a walkable downtown core along University Avenue with nearby rail access via Caltrain, and a substantial share of residents bike or walk for daily trips. The area is currently in a growth phase, with new housing proposals and zoning changes aimed at increasing residential density, particularly in south Palo Alto along El Camino Real and near Stanford Road.

Within Palo Alto Unified, the parent district, recent years have brought substantial shifts in math curriculum and policy. The district removed early tracking in middle school mathematics starting in 2020, moving to a standardized sequence. This change followed a 2023 court ruling that found the district's former math placement policy violated state law, which prompted lasting adjustments to how students are placed into math courses. After extended community debate, the district also announced in 2025 that it would restore multivariable calculus as an on-campus option for high school students, reversing an earlier elimination that had drawn parent petition drives.

Enrollment data for students with disabilities or English learners was not available in the provided information. State testing results include only the most recent school year, so longer-term trend lines cannot be drawn.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 383%

School 83% · District 81% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Grade 487%

School 87% · District 83% · ▲ 4 pts above district

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

Grade 587%

School 87% · District 81% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 378%

School 78% · District 77% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 493%

School 93% · District 82% · ▲ 11 pts above district

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

Grade 590%

School 90% · District 84% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 580%

School 80% · District 75% · ▲ 5 pts above district

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

This schoolPalo Alto 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.