Anaverde Hills, Palmdale CA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Anaverde Hills

Anaverde Hills is a kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school in Palmdale, a suburban desert community in northern Los Angeles County that is anchored by aerospace and defense employment and shaped by ongoing regional development. The school enrolls a small student body of about three-quarters of typical size for its grade span, with substantial economic need: just over half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The school serves a mostly Hispanic student body with meaningful Black and white representation and a smaller Asian contingent.

Academic performance, measured by California's CAASPP assessments, is low across both mathematics and English language arts. In tested grades spanning third through sixth, proficiency in math ranges from very low in the early grades up through low-to-modest levels by fourth grade, then drops sharply again in the upper elementary and middle grades. In English language arts, results are somewhat better, with low proficiency in third and sixth grades but more moderate results in grades four and five. A science assessment in grade five shows proficiency at a modest level. Overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades places this school in the bottom quartile among schools across Los Angeles County districts, a positioning that reflects pervasive academic gaps rather than strength in any subject area.

The school's grade distribution shows steady enrollment in its elementary band but a marked thinning in grades seven and eight, suggesting either that many students transition elsewhere at that juncture or that the school serves a catchment with fewer middle-grade residents. Because this school does not serve high school grades, no graduation rate is available. The school is part of Westside Union Elementary School District, which in 2024 formed a Mello-Roos Community Facilities District to finance school sites and facilities. Families considering homes in newly developed areas within the district should be aware that this special tax is levied annually on property tax bills independent of assessed value and can remain in effect for decades, representing an ongoing cost layer beyond standard property taxes.

Palmdale itself is a master-planned suburban city with wide streets, single-family homes, and open sight lines typical of the high desert. The city is highly car-dependent, and walkability varies by neighborhood rather than being uniform. Daily life centers on retail nodes like the Antelope Valley Mall, dispersed parks including the 57-acre Marie Kerr Park, a public library, and the Palmdale Transportation Center, which connects to regional bus and commuter rail service toward Los Angeles. The city's economy is dominated by aerospace and defense contractors—Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works, Northrop Grumman, and Boeing operate at or near Air Force Plant 42—along with medical facilities, retail, and services. Palmdale's population has grown substantially over decades but has roughly plateaued or slightly declined in recent years from a 2020 peak. The city describes itself as only partially built out and cites major transportation infrastructure projects, including high-speed rail, as central to future growth. The general plan emphasizes walkability, mixed-use development, and education districts as organizing principles for future neighborhoods.

Parents considering Anaverde Hills should understand that this school's current test results show substantial gaps in both literacy and numeracy across grade levels, with particular weakness in mathematics. The school sits in a suburban community with steady aerospace-anchored employment and ongoing development activity, and families should look carefully into what academic support and intervention strategies the school offers and what results they produce, given the proficiency picture.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 312%

School 12% · District 41% · ▼ 29 pts below district

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

Grade 440%

School 40% · District 38% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 526%

School 26% · District 29% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 612%

School 12% · District 34% · ▼ 22 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 339%

School 39% · District 45% · ▼ 6 pts below district

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

Grade 445%

School 45% · District 45%

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 557%

School 57% · District 51% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 633%

School 33% · District 48% · ▼ 15 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 533%

School 33% · District 31% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

This schoolWestside Union 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 3Lower-income33%Higher-income47%13 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income32%Higher-income58%26 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income50%Higher-income67%17 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income33%Higher-income33%1 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income8%Higher-income17%9 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income35%Higher-income44%9 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income21%Higher-income33%12 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income15%Higher-income8%6 pp gap