Golden Hill K-8: This school runs ahead of the state average. The bar itself is the harder conversation.
Golden Hill K-8 posts 43% meeting the standard against 43% statewide — ahead of most, with real headroom above the bar.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 42 | 20% | 43% | -13.1 | 26.0% | 2.6% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Golden Hill K-8 scores 42 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 48th 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 →
🌱 Building Momentum — This label means the data doesn't clearly sort the school one way or the other — ask what the school is proud of, and what it's working on.
Most rating sites would stop at “43% proficient” and call it done. Golden Hill K-8 deserves a closer read. The school sits in San Diego, where two-thirds of students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
The seven-year arc
Has stayed near the 48th percentile since 2019.
Proficiency here is back to its pre-pandemic level — 43% meet the standard, about where the school stood in 2019.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 55% | 43% | 50% | 45% | 51% |
| Grade 4 | 41% | 58% | 48% | 44% | 58% |
| Grade 5 | 58% | 42% | 57% | 50% | 51% |
| Grade 6 | 36% | 53% | 40% | 18% | 26% |
| Grade 7 | 36% | 45% | 62% | 31% | 38% |
| Grade 8 | 42% | 57% | 58% | 49% | 32% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 38% | 44% | 45% | 45% | 46% |
| Grade 4 | 48% | 39% | 41% | 47% | 31% |
| Grade 5 | 21% | 7% | 33% | 25% | 20% |
| Grade 6 | 23% | 27% | 14% | 3% | 10% |
| Grade 7 | 22% | 12% | 22% | 13% | 4% |
| Grade 8 | 10% | 21% | 13% | 7% | 14% |
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 falls 6.6pp across grades; the proficiency floor barely moves. The state average rises 4.5pp over the same span. A school visit and conversation with teachers will tell you more than this number.
The 6 things our score weighs
Ask how the school challenges kids who clear the standard early. The gap between meeting and exceeding is where pacing shows.
- Ask how the school follows up when a student starts missing days — chronic absence often starts outside the classroom, not inside it.
- Ask what changes between grade 3 and grade 5 here, and who teaches the older kids.
- 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 Golden Hill K-8 in San Diego, 39.4% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 42.6% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Golden Hill K-8 trails its district average for low-income students by 3.2 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (16.2% Math proficient); Hispanic students (36.2% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 7.4 percentage points for hispanic students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 198 students tested.
9 of 15 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 0.0pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +5.6pp.
Showing up, and staying in class
TK/K students miss school at roughly twice the rate of Grades 7–8 students (30.0% vs 11.8%). Chronic absence here concentrates in the earliest grades — worth asking how the school works with new families on attendance.
Where the path goes
The path below follows attendance boundaries — scores shown for each next step.
Feeder patterns derived from NCES attendance boundary data. Boundaries are approximate and may have changed — verify with your school district for current assignments.
The people teaching here
Pay is set by the district, not the school.
What gets spent here
$1,777 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), 26% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Golden Hill K-8 a good elementary school?
What are Golden Hill K-8's CAASPP test scores?
How does Golden Hill K-8 rank in California?
Is Golden Hill K-8 getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Golden Hill K-8?
How does Golden Hill K-8 compare to other schools in San Diego?
How does Golden Hill K-8 serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 70
Private alternatives nearby
Private schools within ~10 miles. These schools do not participate in state testing and cannot be scored or ranked.
A low score doesn't tell the whole story. Read: Your School Scored Low — Here's What That Actually Means
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 | 39 | 36% | 15% | 23% | 26% | 51% | +8 |
| Grade 4 | 59 | 20% | 37% | 20% | 22% | 58% | +13 |
| Grade 5 | 41 | 29% | 22% | 20% | 29% | 51% | +3 |
| Grade 6 | 42 | 10% | 17% | 29% | 45% | 26% | −20 |
| Grade 7 | 24 | 0% | 38% | 17% | 46% | 38% | −10 |
| Grade 8 | 37 | 8% | 24% | 35% | 32% | 32% | −14 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 39 | 15% | 31% | 26% | 28% | 46% | +0 |
| Grade 4 | 59 | 12% | 19% | 34% | 36% | 31% | −11 |
| Grade 5 | 40 | 10% | 10% | 33% | 48% | 20% | −15 |
| Grade 6 | 42 | 5% | 5% | 31% | 60% | 10% | −25 |
| Grade 7 | 24 | 0% | 4% | 17% | 79% | 4% | −30 |
| Grade 8 | 37 | 5% | 8% | 8% | 78% | 14% | −19 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 77 | 6% | 19% | 60% | 14% |
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 | 198 | 39.4% | −3 | +1 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 196 | 36.2% | −5 | −3 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Golden Hill K-8 ← | — | 42 | 20.5% | 42.8% | −13.1 | 2.6% |
| McKinley Elementary | 1.2 mi | 77 | 52.0% | 80.9% | +2.5 | 0.3% |
| Birney Elementary | 2.9 mi | 74 | 45.7% | 76.2% | +14.0 | 2.1% |
| Rowan Elementary | 0.7 mi | 60 | 23.3% | 46.2% | −7.4 | 0.7% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 41 | 47 | #2896 | 15.1% | 43.4% | 19.1% | 2.2% | -6.9pp |
| 2022 | 31 | 37 | #3614 | 15.2% | 38.8% | 47.5% | 0.0% | -19.1pp |
| 2023 | 44 | 63 | #2138 | 20.8% | 45.8% | 35.1% | 1.7% | -2.5pp |
| 2024 | 41 | 48 | #3006 | 18.1% | 42.6% | 26.8% | 2.1% | -7.3pp |
| 2025 | 42 | 48 | #2997 | 20.5% | 42.8% | 26.0% | 2.6% | -13.1pp |
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 21.2% | 29.7% | +8.5pp |
| Male | 17.6% | 24.2% | +6.6pp |
| Black/African American | 30.0% | — | — |
| Hispanic/Latino | 18.8% | 27.9% | +9.1pp |
| Two or More Races | 15.8% | 27.6% | +11.8pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 21.3% | 27.8% | +6.5pp |
| English Learners | 14.1% | 32.3% | +18.2pp |
| Homeless | 31.9% | 48.7% | +16.8pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 19.3% | 30.7% | +11.4pp |
| All Students | 19.3% | 26.9% | +7.6pp |
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