Golden Hill K-8, San Diego CA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Golden Hill K-8

Golden Hill K-8 is a public school serving kindergarten through eighth grade in San Diego. The school enrolls a modest student population across nine grade levels, with particularly strong representation in the early grades and a notable presence in the middle years.

The student body is predominantly Hispanic, and a substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the school's location in an economically working neighborhood. The school serves a diverse group: students come from across the racial and ethnic spectrum, with a few students from Asian, Black, and white backgrounds alongside the larger Hispanic enrollment.

Test results from the most recent state assessment cycle show two distinct patterns across subjects. In English language arts, proficiency is notably lower in the upper grades. Students in grades three and four show levels just above half, but proficiency drops sharply in grades six through eight, falling to roughly a quarter or less. Grade seven performs at the lower end. Math proficiency is weaker overall and declines more steeply with grade level. Third grade shows about half the students meeting the benchmark, but by fourth grade it drops by roughly half again, and in the middle grades it reaches single digits. Grade seven in particular shows an extremely low proficiency rate in math. Science testing, available only for grades five and eight, reflects this same pattern: grade five is at a modest level, while grade eight is very low. English language arts outcomes in the early and middle elementary grades stand out as the school's strongest area, but the consistent decline in performance as students advance through the grades, most visible in mathematics, is a significant concern. A parent may want to look further into what support the school offers for middle-grade students, particularly in math, and what transition planning happens as students prepare for high school.

The school offers music instruction, though the full breadth of course and program offerings is not available in the data here. San Diego Unified, the district that operates Golden Hill K-8, has adopted standards-based grading for secondary grades, removing non-academic factors like punctuality from academic grades and placing them in a separate citizenship grade, a shift that affects how student work is evaluated and reported. The district has also passed a major facilities bond and made ethnic studies a high school graduation requirement, changes that shape the broader educational environment families encounter.

Housing in the San Diego area where the school is located is expensive relative to national norms. The neighborhood and the school's student demographics point toward a working-class community where affordability matters significantly to families.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 346%

School 46% · District 55% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 431%

School 31% · District 50% · ▼ 20 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 520%

School 20% · District 45% · ▼ 25 pts below district

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

Grade 610%

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

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

Grade 74%

School 4% · District 43% · ▼ 39 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 30 pts below county median

Grade 814%

School 14% · District 41% · ▼ 27 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 351%

School 51% · District 53% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 458%

School 58% · District 54% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 551%

School 51% · District 58% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 626%

School 26% · District 55% · ▼ 29 pts below district

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

Grade 738%

School 38% · District 57% · ▼ 20 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 832%

School 32% · District 55% · ▼ 22 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 538%

School 38% · District 42% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

Grade 814%

School 14% · District 39% · ▼ 25 pts below district

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

Social studies

Grade 856%

School 56% · District 57% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

This schoolSan Diego 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 4Lower-income44%Higher-income94%50 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income19%Higher-income63%44 pp gap