The top reported proficiency rate is 76% in Science. The lowest is 70% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Highland Park School
Highland Park School is a public elementary school serving kindergarten through sixth grade in Salt Lake City, part of the Salt Lake District. It enrolls a moderate-sized student body for its grade band and draws from a neighborhood in the city’s southeastern section. Enrollment is predominantly white, with smaller shares of Hispanic students, students identifying as two or more races, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander students, Black students, Asian students, and American Indian students. Approximately one in five students qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, a rate that is relatively modest compared to many elementary schools in the state and signals a somewhat mixed-income student population.
The school’s state assessment results are a clear strength. On Utah’s RISE assessments, proficiency rates across math, English language arts, and science all landed well above the baseline. When placed alongside other schools in Salt Lake County, Highland Park’s overall proficiency index placed it in the top quartile. That means a large majority of students in tested grades are meeting state benchmarks in core subjects. For a K-6 school that does not serve high school grades, there is no graduation rate to report, so that metric does not apply. Chronic absenteeism data was not available in the provided records, so a parent who wants to understand attendance patterns at the school may wish to raise that question directly with the school or district.
The school’s location in Salt Lake City places it in an urban setting with a relatively strong housing market. Home values in the surrounding area run well above national medians, and rents are also elevated when viewed against the country as a whole, reflecting the area’s desirability and limited supply. The broader city context includes major employers such as the University of Utah and the LDS Church, a walkable downtown with TRAX light rail, a network of parks and library branches, and ongoing development with new housing added in recent years.
The Salt Lake District recently secured a significant bond measure approved by voters in late 2024. The bond will fund six large construction projects over a period of years, including full replacements of two high schools, additions at two middle schools, and major renovations at two other middle schools. The tax impact on a median-value home is notable, meaning the district is making a substantial financial commitment to upgrading its school facilities. For a family at Highland Park, these projects may matter as their child moves into middle and high school: the district’s high school feeder patterns were also redrawn in early 2025 to better align with elementary and middle school boundaries. A parent in the Highland Park attendance area should verify which middle and high schools will serve their child, since the new boundaries took effect for the upcoming school years.
Highland Park School offers a solid academic foundation for its elementary students. Families who live in the area and are looking for a school with consistently strong proficiency, a reasonably diverse but primarily white student body, and a district that is actively investing in its larger campus infrastructure will find it a good fit. The absence of certain data points—such as special education identification rates, English learner counts, and detailed chronic absenteeism figures—means some dimensions of the school’s support systems are not fully visible from the available information. Those with specific concerns about services for students with disabilities or English language learners would want to ask the school directly about its offerings and staffing. Overall, Highland Park functions as a high-performing neighborhood elementary that reflects the broader economic and demographic character of its part of Salt Lake City.
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