Parkside Intermediate, San Bruno CA

Original Research by School Decision on Parkside Intermediate

Parkside Intermediate is a middle school serving grades six through eight in San Bruno, a residential suburb on the San Francisco Peninsula south of the city. The school enrolls a student body that is majority Hispanic and Asian, with half of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. Most families have housing access to both traditional transit and car infrastructure: the Caltrain station and BART station are publicly reported to serve the area, and the surrounding residential neighborhoods mix century-old homes with postwar single-family tracts and some multifamily housing.

The school's recent profile includes a modernization effort tied to district-wide changes. The district closed one school in 2023 and redrew attendance boundaries for the first time in roughly three decades, reshaping which families were assigned where. Parkside was one of two schools slated for major renovation using bond funds and proceeds from a property sale, with construction aimed at modernizing the facility for current and future students. Separately, voters approved Measure X, the district's first parcel tax, in November 2024, establishing dedicated local revenue for STEM and arts programming and for competitive teacher and counselor salaries across the district's schools.

On California state assessments in 2024-25, Parkside's proficiency rates reflect the academic challenges facing this middle grade span. In English language arts, proficiency ranges from about forty percent in grade six to roughly forty percent by grade eight, with grade seven notably lower. Mathematics proficiency is lower, moving from about forty percent in grade six to roughly twenty-seven percent in grades seven and eight. Grade eight science proficiency sits at about twenty-eight percent. Taken together, Parkside's overall proficiency profile places it in the bottom quartile among districts in San Mateo County on a composite measure. This indicates that a substantial share of students are not meeting grade-level standards, particularly in mathematics, and suggests that a parent looking at Parkside should understand that the school serves a population with significant academic support needs and that achievement gaps widen as students move into higher grades.

The school serves a diverse student population economically and linguistically. About half the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on special education and English learner populations was not available, which is common for schools in this district context. The school's enrollment sits at approximately mid-sized for a middle school, with roughly balanced enrollment across the three grades.

San Bruno itself is a place of active growth and change. The city is planning for substantial new housing, including a major mixed-use transit-oriented redevelopment of the Tanforan shopping center next to the BART station that would replace retail space with homes, office, and lab space. Smaller residential projects are also adding housing along corridors. This growth, combined with the boundary remapping the district undertook, means that the student population and catchment area have shifted and may continue to shift. Families considering Parkside should be aware that enrollment patterns and the school's mission are in motion as the district adapts to these changes. For families seeking an intermediate school in San Bruno, Parkside offers a modernized campus and new district funding commitments, but the academic achievement data shows work ahead in supporting students to proficiency, especially in mathematics.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 640%

School 40% · District 40%

▲ 10 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 727%

School 27% · District 27%

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Grade 828%

School 28% · District 27%

even with state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 648%

School 48% · District 48%

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 739%

School 39% · District 39%

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

Grade 840%

School 40% · District 40%

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

Science

Grade 828%

School 28% · District 28%

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 841%

School 41% · District 41%

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 27 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-income25%Higher-income68%44 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income27%Higher-income61%34 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income28%Higher-income67%39 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income18%Higher-income59%41 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income15%Higher-income49%34 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income18%Higher-income48%31 pp gap