North Park Elementary, Valencia CA

Original Research by School Decision on North Park Elementary

North Park Elementary sits in Valencia, a large master-planned community in the western Santa Clarita Valley of Los Angeles County. The school serves kindergarten through sixth grade and enrolls a small to mid-sized group of students, with relatively even distribution across grades, though the oldest cohort is noticeably larger.

The student body is diverse in racial and ethnic composition. White students form the largest share, with Hispanic students representing a meaningful second group, alongside smaller populations of Asian students, multiracial students, and Black students. About a quarter of the enrollment qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school in a relatively mixed economic profile for the Valencia area.

On the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress, North Park shows a pattern of strength in literacy and a zone of concern in mathematics. In English language arts across grades three through six, proficiency rates are generally solid, with fifth and sixth graders outperforming lower grades. Fifth-grade performance is particularly strong. Mathematics proficiency is lower. Third grade performs at a respectable rate, but fourth and fifth grades both fall below that mark, with a modest rebound in sixth grade. Science proficiency, tested in fifth grade only, sits in the middle range. Overall, the school's proficiency index places it in the top quartile among elementary schools across Los Angeles County districts, a meaningful position that reflects the strength of the upper grades and the literacy results.

The school has only one year of state testing data, so long-term trends cannot yet be assessed. A parent may want to ask the school directly about instructional priorities and any targeted support for mathematics in the intermediate grades, particularly around the fourth and fifth-grade transition where proficiency drops most.

Valencia itself is organized into self-contained residential villages, each centered on schools and parks, with an extensive system of paved pedestrian and bike paths connecting neighborhoods and amenities. The community is experiencing significant growth. Valencia by FivePoint, a large new master-planned neighborhood on the historic Newhall Ranch, has been adding homes since 2021, with builders including Lennar, Toll Brothers, and others. Housing values in the area reflect Southern California market conditions; homes in the immediate area command prices well above the national median and modestly above the California state benchmark, though newer FivePoint homes are being marketed at price points below the Los Angeles County median. Rental rates in the zip code have also risen in the recent period.

The parent district, Saugus Union School District, has faced significant headwinds. A school facilities bond failed in November 2024, leaving no new funding for campus modernization and seismic retrofits that many aging schools require. The district also closed Santa Clarita Elementary permanently in June 2024 due to declining enrollment, seismic safety concerns, and the cost of required upgrades, creating tension around facility decisions. Looking forward, the district is shifting instructional emphasis toward foundational literacy and mathematics through professional development and curriculum work, signaling a substantive change in how core instruction is organized. Parents should be aware that the district is navigating both fiscal constraint and instructional redesign, which may affect professional resources and pedagogical direction over the coming years.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 377%

School 77% · District 70% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 34 pts above state median · ▲ 31 pts above county median

Grade 459%

School 59% · District 65% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 559%

School 59% · District 59% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 665%

School 65% · District 64% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 34 pts above state median · ▲ 34 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 375%

School 75% · District 65% · ▲ 11 pts above district

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

Grade 471%

School 71% · District 67% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

Grade 580%

School 80% · District 69% · ▲ 11 pts above district

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

Grade 681%

School 81% · District 75% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 564%

School 64% · District 56% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

This schoolSaugus Union, 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-income43%Higher-income83%40 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income62%Higher-income76%14 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income69%Higher-income82%13 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income67%Higher-income86%19 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income50%Higher-income83%33 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income52%Higher-income62%10 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income39%Higher-income65%26 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income44%Higher-income72%28 pp gap