Parkside Montessori: Most kids here clear the bar, year after year. The question is what happens after that.
Parkside Montessori posts 54% meeting the standard, and 25.7% going well past it. Most kids here keep up. Fewer get pushed further. Ask the school what it does for a child who already finds the work easy.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 53 | 26% | 54% | +17.6 | 7.0% | 0.3% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Parkside Montessori scores 53 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 73rd 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 →
🚀 Growth Engine — Ask how the school tracks each kid's growth year to year, and what happens when a kid stalls instead of gaining.
Most rating sites would stop at “54% proficient” and call it done. Parkside Montessori deserves a closer read. It sits at the 73rd percentile of 5,744 California elementary schools — but the ranking is the least interesting thing on this page.
The headline number: 7.0% chronic absenteeism — versus 17.9% statewide. Attendance is the quietest strong signal a school can post.
The seven-year arc
Climbed from the 17th to the 73rd percentile since 2019 — past roughly 3000 elementary schools.
The pandemic drop is behind this school: 54% of students meet the standard today, above the 40% who did in 2019.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 49% | 77% | 63% | 59% | 37% |
| Grade 4 | 69% | 55% | 74% | 70% | 69% |
| Grade 5 | 17% | 78% | 59% | 79% | 71% |
| Grade 6 | — | 52% | 79% | 62% | 92% |
| Grade 7 | — | — | 75% | 77% | 80% |
| Grade 8 | — | — | — | 67% | 89% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 50% | 68% | 66% | 57% | 44% |
| Grade 4 | 46% | 45% | 61% | 64% | 60% |
| Grade 5 | 8% | 55% | 44% | 60% | 45% |
| Grade 6 | — | 57% | 47% | 69% | 76% |
| Grade 7 | — | — | 75% | 71% | 68% |
| Grade 8 | — | — | — | 56% | 84% |
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 19.4pp across grades; the floor rises 34.2pp. 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 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 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 Parkside Montessori in San Mateo, 67.3% of white students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 71.5% district-wide and 61.8% statewide. Parkside Montessori trails its district average for white students by 4.2 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: White students (60.0% Math proficient); Asian students (87.5% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 35.3 percentage points for white students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 55 students tested.
10 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.
Showing up, and staying in class
Grades 7–8 students miss school at roughly twice the rate of Grades 4–6 students (10.4% vs 3.9%). Chronic absence here concentrates in the upper grades.
Where the path goes
The path below is estimated from nearby schools in the same district — scores shown for each next step.
Estimated K-12 path based on district and proximity. Actual attendance zones may differ. 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
$861 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), 57% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Parkside Montessori a good elementary school?
What are Parkside Montessori's CAASPP test scores?
How does Parkside Montessori rank in California?
Is Parkside Montessori getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Parkside Montessori?
How does Parkside Montessori compare to other schools in San Mateo?
How does Parkside Montessori serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 83
Nearby Middle Schools
2 within ~3 mi · avg 46
Nearby High 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.
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 | 43 | 16% | 21% | 30% | 33% | 37% | −6 |
| Grade 4 | 45 | 40% | 29% | 18% | 13% | 69% | +24 |
| Grade 5 | 42 | 36% | 36% | 14% | 14% | 71% | +24 |
| Grade 6 | 38 | 42% | 50% | 8% | 0% | 92% | +46 |
| Grade 7 | 25 | 60% | 20% | 12% | 8% | 80% | +32 |
| Grade 8 | 19 | 42% | 47% | 11% | 0% | 89% | +43 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 43 | 14% | 30% | 37% | 19% | 44% | −2 |
| Grade 4 | 45 | 22% | 38% | 24% | 16% | 60% | +18 |
| Grade 5 | 42 | 26% | 19% | 40% | 14% | 45% | +10 |
| Grade 6 | 38 | 50% | 26% | 21% | 3% | 76% | +41 |
| Grade 7 | 25 | 48% | 20% | 16% | 16% | 68% | +34 |
| Grade 8 | 19 | 37% | 47% | 5% | 11% | 84% | +52 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 61 | 20% | 38% | 36% | 7% |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White | 55 | 67.3% | −4 | +5 |
| Asian | 40 | 87.5% | +5 | +13 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Parkside Montessori ← | — | 53 | 25.7% | 54.5% | +17.6 | 0.3% |
| College Park Elementary | 0.6 mi | 91 | 61.2% | 82.7% | +2.6 | 0.1% |
| Central Elementary | 2.7 mi | 87 | 74.3% | 89.7% | −6.6 | 0.9% |
| Beach Park Elementary | 2 mi | 72 | 53.1% | 72.2% | −6.9 | 0.5% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 30 | 17 | #4581 | 18.0% | 39.8% | 3.7% | 0.5% | -36.8pp |
| 2022 | 60 | 87 | #742 | 38.7% | 63.0% | 16.3% | 0.3% | -6.2pp |
| 2023 | 51 | 74 | #1488 | 34.3% | 61.2% | 14.7% | 0.3% | -13.2pp |
| 2024 | 65 | 87 | #724 | 36.0% | 64.9% | 10.5% | 1.1% | +11.8pp |
| 2025 | 53 | 73 | #1573 | 25.7% | 54.5% | 7.0% | 0.3% | +17.6pp |
- — Scored here as an elementary school — other grade spans appear in the data appendix.
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 1.9% | 4.6% | +2.7pp |
| Male | 4.1% | 6.7% | +2.6pp |
| Asian | 2.0% | 2.9% | +0.9pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 8.3% | 11.5% | +3.2pp |
| Two or More Races | 3.0% | 6.5% | +3.5pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 3.2% | 23.1% | +19.9pp |
| English Learners | 4.3% | 22.2% | +17.9pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 4.7% | 15.2% | +10.5pp |
| All Students | 3.1% | 5.7% | +2.6pp |
| Filipino | — | 9.1% | — |
| White | — | 0.0% | — |
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