The top reported proficiency rate is 37% in Science. The lowest is 25% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Terra Linda School
Terra Linda School serves kindergarten through sixth grade in West Jordan, a large, fast-growing suburb of Salt Lake City. It is part of Jordan School District, which has seen significant enrollment growth, leading to new school construction and boundary adjustments that can affect where a family’s children are assigned. The school’s enrollment is of a size that feels solid for an elementary school. Just under half of the students come from households that qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a share that gives the school a mixed-income feel. Racially and ethnically, a narrow majority of students are white, while about a third are Hispanic, with smaller numbers of Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and multiracial students. The school does not appear to have publicly available counts for students with disabilities or English learners, so a parent who wants to understand the level of special education or language support would need to ask the school directly.
On state testing, the school’s results are modest. In math, about a quarter of students scored at the proficient level or above. In English language arts, a similar share met that bar. Science came in higher, with roughly a third of students reaching proficiency. When compared with other schools in Salt Lake County, Terra Linda’s overall proficiency across tested subjects falls below the midpoint among the county’s districts. These are the numbers that appear in the state’s testing data. A family looking at these results would likely see a school where a majority of students are not yet performing at grade-level benchmarks, though science stands out as a relative bright spot. Because the school ends at sixth grade, there is no graduation rate to report.
West Jordan itself is a place of contrasts that are relevant for a family considering this school. The city lacks a traditional downtown; instead, civic and institutional anchors are spread out. The Veteran’s Park Area holds City Hall, the library and events center, and a recreation center, while the retail corridor at Jordan Landing is a major commercial draw. The city has grown rapidly and continues to do so, with the fastest development in the western neighborhoods along the Oquirrh foothills. Traffic and school crowding are civic concerns tied to that growth. Public transit is available through UTA buses and a TRAX light rail line with six stops in the city, but the built environment is car-dependent, and residents on the western edge have reported long commutes to downtown Salt Lake City without a freeway directly serving the city. Major employers include Mountain America Credit Union, Boeing, and Oracle, along with Jordan Valley Medical Center and Salt Lake Community College’s Jordan Campus, which also houses the district’s Applied Technology Center.
For a parent, the profile that emerges is of a mid-sized elementary school in a fast-growing suburban city, serving a diverse student body with a significant share of families from lower-income backgrounds. The academic performance on state tests runs below where many county peers sit, especially in math and English language arts. The school may be a good fit for a family who values the community feel of a neighborhood school in an area that is still developing and who wants to understand the level of academic support the school provides. A parent who is concerned about the current test results may want to see if the school has targeted programs in place for students who are behind, and also look at whether the district’s growth pressures are affecting class sizes or resources at this particular building. The available data does not include details on class size, staffing ratios, or discipline, so those are questions to bring directly to the school.
See more original research from School Decision →