Forest Hill Elementary: High scores, real growth, strong attendance. We looked for a catch — we didn't find one.
Forest Hill posts 60.0% exceeding the standard — versus 21.3% statewide — with climate numbers better than most. That doesn't make it perfect. It makes it worth a visit to find what numbers can't measure.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 78 | 60% | 81% | +8.0 | 5.9% | 1.1% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Forest Hill Elementary scores 78 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 97th percentile of 5,744 California elementary schools (CDE CAASPP 2025).
Measures test performance, attendance, and climate — not arts, community, or your kid. How we score →
⭐ High Ceiling — Ask what happens for a kid who shows up behind — a high ceiling for the top can sit right next to thin support at the bottom, and the score alone won't show you which.
Most rating sites would stop at “81% proficient” and call it done. Forest Hill deserves a closer read. It sits at the 97th percentile of 5,744 California elementary schools — but the ranking is the least interesting thing on this page.
Forest Hill's low-income kids hit 48.3% proficiency in ELA — a number the same group reaches at 38.2% statewide. If you're trying to read past zip-code-driven test scores, that's the signal worth weighing.
As a charter, Forest Hill enrolls by application rather than address. That changes how you get in, but it doesn't change the score.
The seven-year arc
Has held the 97th-percentile line every tested year since 2019.
This school hasn't fully recovered from the pandemic: 81% meet the standard today, versus 86% in 2019 — a gap worth asking about on a visit.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 89% | 85% | 85% | 85% | 75% |
| Grade 4 | 79% | 83% | 79% | 78% | 83% |
| Grade 5 | 89% | 76% | 86% | 85% | 90% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 89% | 74% | 80% | 83% | 78% |
| Grade 4 | 85% | 81% | 90% | 81% | 82% |
| Grade 5 | 84% | 76% | 86% | 76% | 79% |
The story this school is actually telling
The school, grade by grade
ELA · CAASPP 2024–25Different students, same year — each bar is one grade's proficiency mix.
The honest read: the share exceeding rises 5.7pp across grades; the floor rises 14.5pp. The state average rises 4.5pp over the same span. Kids here gain ground the longer they stay — the pattern you want to see. A school visit and conversation with teachers will tell you more than this number.
The 5 things our score weighs
Ask what the school is working on next. Strong numbers tell you where a school is, not where it's going.
- Ask whether the tour can step into a working classroom — watch how the teacher handles a student who's stuck.
- Ask to tour while school's in session, and notice how hallways and transitions feel — culture shows up between classes, not just in them.
- Ask how the school communicates with families when a child starts to struggle.
- Ask what a typical day looks like for a new student in the first few weeks.
How every group of students does here
At Forest Hill Elementary in San Jose, 48.3% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 28.5% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Forest Hill Elementary outperforms its district average for low-income students by 19.8 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (51.7% Math proficient); Asian students (91.2% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 41.4 percentage points for low-income students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 29 students tested.
6 of 14 student groups here are too small to report — a privacy protection, not a gap.
Change in proficiency from the lowest tested grade — which groups gain ground the longer they stay. Groups with fewer than 10 tested students per grade are not shown.
Low-income student ELA proficiency rises by 17.1pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +7.0pp.
Showing up, and staying in class
Where the path goes
The path below follows attendance boundaries — scores shown for each next step.
Estimated path based on proximity within the same district. Contact your school district for official feeder information.
The people teaching here
Pay is set by the district, not the school.
What gets spent here
$695 per student arrives as federal Title funding — a measure of concentrated need, not school quality.
The district's current expense of education per student, from CDE's annual SACS filing — the freshest district spending figure the state publishes.
District-level, from the district's own SACS general-ledger filing — school-by-school breakdowns aren't published by the state.
Source: NCES F-33 · Full district breakdown →
The neighborhood it serves
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2024) · ZIP-level
Transitional kindergarten is offered here — confirmed by actual Census Day enrollment, not just the listed grade span.
On the state's science test (CAST), 79% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Forest Hill Elementary a good elementary school?
What are Forest Hill Elementary's CAASPP test scores?
How does Forest Hill Elementary rank in California?
Is Forest Hill Elementary getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Forest Hill Elementary?
How does Forest Hill Elementary compare to other schools in San Jose?
How does Forest Hill Elementary serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 90
Nearby Middle Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 86
Nearby High Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 71
Private alternatives nearby
Private schools within ~10 miles. These schools do not participate in state testing and cannot be scored or ranked.
Every number on this page
Score factors, grade-level breakdowns, subgroup proficiency, and peer comparisons.
| ELA | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 84 | 55% | 20% | 20% | 5% | 75% | +32 |
| Grade 4 | 83 | 60% | 23% | 11% | 6% | 83% | +38 |
| Grade 5 | 86 | 60% | 29% | 3% | 7% | 90% | +42 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 85 | 59% | 19% | 11% | 12% | 78% | +32 |
| Grade 4 | 83 | 63% | 19% | 16% | 2% | 82% | +40 |
| Grade 5 | 86 | 63% | 16% | 14% | 7% | 79% | +44 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 86 | 43% | 36% | 19% | 2% |
CAST is tested in grades 5, 8, and once in high school — not annually. Not part of the Scope Score.
| Subgroup · ELA | Tested | MET+ | vs district | vs CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 29 | 48.3% | +20 | +10 |
| Asian | 125 | 91.2% | +9 | +17 |
| White | 60 | 73.3% | +2 | +12 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forest Hill Elementary ← | — | 78 | 60.0% | 81.0% | +8.0 | 1.1% |
| Murdock-Portal Elementary | 2.1 mi | 92 | 78.7% | 95.1% | +1.8 | 0.1% |
| John Muir Elementary | 2.6 mi | 90 | 69.8% | 92.1% | −3.1 | 0.5% |
| Nelson S. Dilworth Elementary | 2.5 mi | 88 | 69.2% | 87.7% | +4.4 | 0.6% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 81 | 97 | #158 | 63.7% | 85.7% | 1.4% | 0.4% | -2.5pp |
| 2022 | 75 | 97 | #195 | 59.6% | 79.2% | 11.6% | 0.7% | -3.5pp |
| 2023 | 79 | 97 | #172 | 60.8% | 84.2% | 10.0% | 1.5% | +3.2pp |
| 2024 | 77 | 96 | #207 | 60.7% | 81.5% | 7.1% | 0.6% | -3.8pp |
| 2025 | 78 | 97 | #182 | 60.0% | 81.0% | 5.9% | 1.1% | +8.0pp |
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 0.9% | 4.8% | +3.9pp |
| Male | 1.4% | 5.6% | +4.2pp |
| Asian | 0.4% | 4.1% | +3.7pp |
| Black/African American | 0.0% | 6.3% | +6.3pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 7.0% | 12.3% | +5.3pp |
| Two or More Races | 0.0% | 2.3% | +2.3pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 9.4% | 17.9% | +8.5pp |
| English Learners | 2.5% | 8.6% | +6.1pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 4.9% | 12.5% | +7.6pp |
| All Students | 1.2% | 5.2% | +4.0pp |
SchoolScope scores and verdicts are our interpretation of public California Department of Education data — independent analysis, not an official rating. How we analyze · Request a correction