Belle Air Elementary, San Bruno CA

Original Research by School Decision on Belle Air Elementary

Belle Air Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in San Bruno, a Peninsula suburb with both historic neighborhoods and mid-century housing stock. The school sits in a residential area and is part of the San Bruno Park Elementary School District, a small, historically under-resourced district that recently passed its first voter-approved parcel tax in November 2024 to fund STEM and arts programming and competitive staff salaries.

The school enrolls about that size for its grade band, with a student body that is predominantly Hispanic and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, with smaller populations of Asian students and other backgrounds. About three in five students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating substantial economic need. Data on English learners and students with disabilities were not available.

Academic performance is a significant concern. State testing results from the most recent year show proficiency rates well below state and county benchmarks across subjects and grades. In English language arts, proficiency ranges from below a fifth of students in third grade to under a third in fourth grade. Math proficiency is similarly low, with a small fraction of fifth graders meeting the standard and less than half of third graders proficient. Science proficiency in fifth grade is in the single digits. When compared to the county's school districts, Belle Air's overall proficiency index places it at the bottom quartile, reflecting performance substantially below the midpoint. State assessment data from prior years was not available, so it is unclear whether these results represent a change or where the school stands on a trajectory.

The locale offers some structural supports. San Bruno has both Caltrain and BART transit access, a walkable downtown along San Mateo Avenue, and strong civic amenities including a library, senior center, and recreation facilities. The city is on a growth trajectory centered on transit-oriented redevelopment, particularly the planned redevelopment of the Tanforan mall site into a mixed-use village next to the BART station, which will reshape housing and employment. Housing costs in the area are high, reflective of the Peninsula's overall market.

The broader district context has shifted notably. The school closure of Rollingwood Elementary in 2023 and the subsequent redrawing of attendance boundaries for the first time in roughly three decades changed which school students are assigned to, and the district's recent passage of Measure X represents a meaningful shift in local funding that had previously been unavailable. Allen Elementary was rebuilt and reopened in 2023 with district bond and land-sale proceeds. These changes signal a district working to stabilize and upgrade its facilities and revenue base after years of decline.

For families considering Belle Air, the immediate academic picture requires serious attention. The proficiency rates indicate students are not meeting grade-level standards at expected rates, and a parent may want to look further into the school's instructional approach, whether improvement efforts are underway, and what academic support is available for students below standard. The school's enrollment profile and high poverty rate reflect the community it serves. The new parcel tax funding and recent facility investments suggest the district is committed to improvement, though such changes take time to show results. Proximity to transit and the neighborhood setting are assets for families who prioritize walkability and public transportation access.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 349%

School 49% · District 57% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 421%

School 21% · District 51% · ▼ 30 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 38 pts below county median

Grade 57%

School 7% · District 43% · ▼ 36 pts below district

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 47 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 323%

School 23% · District 48% · ▼ 25 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 31 pts below county median

Grade 427%

School 27% · District 53% · ▼ 26 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 31 pts below county median

Grade 519%

School 19% · District 52% · ▼ 32 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 44 pts below county median

Science

Grade 510%

School 10% · District 44% · ▼ 34 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 38 pts below county median

This schoolSan Bruno Park Elementary, 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 6Lower-income42%Higher-income75%33 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income58%Higher-income58%0 pp gap