Portola Elementary: Most kids here clear the bar, year after year. The question is what happens after that.
Portola posts 59% meeting the standard, and 26.6% 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 | 46 | 27% | 59% | -6.8 | 13.3% | 2.0% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Portola Elementary scores 46 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 58th 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 “59% proficient” and call it done. Portola deserves a closer read. The school sits in San Bruno, where one in three students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
The headline number: 28.6% of English learners reached the top ELPAC level, versus 18.0% statewide.
The seven-year arc
Slipped from the 70th to the 58th percentile since 2019.
This school hasn't fully recovered from the pandemic: 59% meet the standard today, versus 69% in 2019 — a gap worth asking about on a visit.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 78% | 68% | 72% | 58% | 63% |
| Grade 4 | 66% | 69% | 75% | 68% | 53% |
| Grade 5 | 71% | 73% | 75% | 75% | 63% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 74% | 67% | 82% | 72% | 70% |
| Grade 4 | 73% | 79% | 83% | 75% | 48% |
| Grade 5 | 51% | 39% | 61% | 63% | 56% |
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 6.3pp 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 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 Portola Elementary in San Bruno, 42.2% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 32.4% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Portola Elementary outperforms its district average for low-income students by 9.8 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (30.4% Math proficient); Asian students (80.4% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 17.0 percentage points for low-income students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 45 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.
Showing up, and staying in class
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
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), 53% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Portola Elementary a good elementary school?
What are Portola Elementary's CAASPP test scores?
How does Portola Elementary rank in California?
Is Portola Elementary getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Portola Elementary?
How does Portola Elementary compare to other schools in San Bruno?
How does Portola Elementary serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 64
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 | 46 | 33% | 30% | 22% | 15% | 63% | +20 |
| Grade 4 | 57 | 28% | 25% | 21% | 26% | 53% | +8 |
| Grade 5 | 57 | 26% | 37% | 19% | 18% | 63% | +15 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 46 | 33% | 37% | 11% | 20% | 70% | +24 |
| Grade 4 | 56 | 18% | 30% | 36% | 16% | 48% | +7 |
| Grade 5 | 59 | 22% | 34% | 25% | 19% | 56% | +21 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 59 | 20% | 32% | 41% | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 45 | 42.2% | +10 | +4 |
| Asian | 46 | 80.4% | +7 | +6 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 45 | 42.2% | +10 | +3 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portola Elementary ← | — | 46 | 26.6% | 58.8% | −6.8 | 2.0% |
| Monte Verde Elementary | 0.8 mi | 72 | 51.3% | 78.5% | −8.8 | 0.1% |
| Meadows Elementary | 2.5 mi | 61 | 45.1% | 73.1% | −12.8 | 1.1% |
| Skyline Elementary | 1.9 mi | 60 | 33.1% | 57.5% | +7.4 | 1.3% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 52 | 70 | #1665 | 34.4% | 68.8% | 3.4% | 0.3% | -15.1pp |
| 2022 | 53 | 80 | #1124 | 35.7% | 65.8% | 13.0% | 0.1% | -11.7pp |
| 2023 | 59 | 83 | #964 | 32.1% | 74.7% | 10.1% | 0.1% | -8.9pp |
| 2024 | 64 | 87 | #747 | 39.3% | 68.5% | 17.0% | 0.4% | +4.2pp |
| 2025 | 46 | 58 | #2388 | 26.6% | 58.8% | 13.3% | 2.0% | -6.8pp |
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 2.5% | 10.4% | +7.9pp |
| Male | 3.8% | 15.3% | +11.5pp |
| Asian | 0.8% | 4.7% | +3.9pp |
| White | 1.7% | 5.8% | +4.1pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 7.7% | 26.6% | +18.9pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 12.5% | 22.2% | +9.7pp |
| English Learners | 3.0% | 19.6% | +16.6pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 13.6% | 25.0% | +11.4pp |
| All Students | 3.2% | 12.9% | +9.7pp |
| Two or More Races | — | 2.9% | — |
| Homeless | — | 27.3% | — |
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