Martin Elementary, South San Francisco CA

Original Research by School Decision on Martin Elementary

Martin Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in South San Francisco, a biotech-anchored city in San Mateo County where the economy is dominated by life sciences companies and the residential landscape blends industrial heritage with growing new development. The school sits on a suburban campus; the city itself is anchored by a recognizable Downtown core along Grand Avenue, a mix of Craftsman-era neighborhoods and newer residential sections, with transit connections via BART, Caltrain, and ferry service.

The school's current enrollment is small to mid-range for the grade band, with a substantial majority of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with smaller populations of Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, multiracial, and other students; the exact count of English learner and special education students was not available in the data provided.

State testing results from the most recent school year show a significant academic challenge. Across all tested grades and subjects, proficiency rates are low. In math, third-grade proficiency sits in the low range, fourth-grade proficiency is in the very low range, and fifth-grade proficiency is extremely low. In English language arts, third-grade proficiency is similarly low, fourth-grade proficiency very low, and fifth-grade proficiency low. Fifth-grade science proficiency is also very low. The all-grade proficiency index places Martin Elementary in the bottom quartile relative to districts in San Mateo County. This is not a soft spot to overlook; it reflects a student population facing genuine academic difficulty. A parent may want to look into this further with the school, understanding what supports and interventions are in place, how the school is addressing the math progression decline in particular, and what goals the staff have set for student growth.

The school is not a charter or magnet school. It is part of the South San Francisco Unified School District, which has undergone several parent-relevant changes in recent years. The district passed a general obligation bond in November 2022 that funds modernization of classroom infrastructure, systems, and learning technology, as well as affordable rental housing for teachers. Bond-funded construction is already underway at other schools in the district. Additionally, the district reorganized its middle school math curriculum starting in the 2023-24 school year, shifting acceleration pathways to begin in eighth grade rather than seventh, while maintaining routes to Geometry by ninth grade. These changes affect the long-term academic trajectory for families in the district.

The housing market in the zip code is expensive. Home values are substantially above the state median, and rental costs are high relative to median household income; affordability presents a real constraint for families seeking to live near the school. The city itself is on a growth trajectory, with the General Plan anticipating substantial new housing units over the coming years, focused in Downtown, around the Caltrain station, and in traditionally industrial areas being rezoned for mixed-use development.

No enrollment trend data, detailed staffing information, attendance rates, or discipline data were available. The school website information was not provided in the available materials. A parent seeking to understand Martin Elementary's response to low proficiency, its specific interventions for students below grade level, and its plans for improvement would need to contact the school or district directly.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 324%

School 24% · District 53% · ▼ 29 pts below district

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 35 pts below county median

Grade 419%

School 19% · District 50% · ▼ 31 pts below district

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 40 pts below county median

Grade 56%

School 6% · District 42% · ▼ 36 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 319%

School 19% · District 45% · ▼ 26 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 35 pts below county median

Grade 414%

School 14% · District 51% · ▼ 36 pts below district

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

Grade 520%

School 20% · District 52% · ▼ 33 pts below district

▼ 26 pts below state median · ▼ 43 pts below county median

Science

Grade 58%

School 8% · District 38% · ▼ 30 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 40 pts below county median

This schoolSouth San Francisco 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 3Lower-income16%Higher-income28%12 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income10%Higher-income33%24 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income19%Higher-income21%2 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income27%Higher-income17%10 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income10%Higher-income54%44 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income6%Higher-income7%1 pp gap