School district · Santa Clara County

Palo Alto Unified schools

Of Palo Alto Unified’s 12 public elementary schools, 11 sit between the 90th and the 99th percentile among the 5,726 California elementary schools we score (spring 2026 tests).

Elementary · 12 schools

from 82nd to 99th · among 5,726 California elementary schools we score · spring 2026 tests

  • Herbert Hoover Elementary: 99th percentile, Strong
  • Lucille M. Nixon Elementary: 99th percentile, Strong
  • Ohlone Elementary: 99th percentile, Strong
  • Fairmeadow Elementary: 99th percentile, Strong
  • Juana Briones Elementary: 98th percentile, Strong
  • Escondido Elementary: 94th percentile, Strong
  • Addison Elementary: 92nd percentile, Strong
  • Duveneck Elementary: 92nd percentile, Strong
  • Walter Hays Elementary: 92nd percentile, Strong
  • Palo Verde Elementary: 91st percentile, Strong
  • El Carmelo Elementary: 90th percentile, Strong
  • Barron Park Elementary: 82nd percentile, Strong
0Needs Support
0Developing
0Solid
12Strong

One dot per school.

Middle and high school pictures

Middle · 3 schools

from 96th to 98th · among 2,529 California middle schools we score · spring 2026 tests

  • Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle: 98th percentile, Strong
  • Ellen Fletcher Middle: 96th percentile, Strong
  • Frank S. Greene Jr. Middle: 96th percentile, Strong
0Needs Support
0Developing
0Solid
3Strong

High · 2 schools

at 98th · among 1,498 California high schools we score · spring 2025 tests

  • Henry M. Gunn High: 98th percentile, Strong
  • Palo Alto High: 98th percentile, Strong
0Needs Support
0Developing
0Solid
2Strong

One dot per school. Each stage is placed only among California schools at its own level.

  • 2 schools not ranked statewide

Schools around Palo Alto Unified

19 listed public schools with mapped locations.

Open full map →

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Percentile among California schools at the same level

  • Strong75th+
  • Solid50–74th
  • Developing25–49th
  • Needs Supportbelow 25th
  • Not scored

The school lists on this page are also available without the map.

Elementary schools

Which elementary schools in Palo Alto Unified score highest?

Four schools are at the 99th percentile.

That’s higher than 99 in 100 of the 5,726 California elementary schools we score (spring 2026 tests).

Highest in Palo Alto Unified

Each percentile compares a school with California schools at its own level. What patterns mean

Show the other 8 elementary schools
Context

The average elementary school in Palo Alto Unified had 8 in 100 students chronically absent (missed 10% or more of school days) in 2025–26; the average California elementary school we score had 17 in 100. Both are averages of school rates, each school counted once.

Middle schools

Which middle schools in Palo Alto Unified score highest?

Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle is highest, at the 98th percentile.

That’s higher than 98 in 100 of the 2,529 California middle schools we score (spring 2026 tests).

Highest in Palo Alto Unified

Each percentile compares a school with California schools at its own level. What patterns mean

Context

The average middle school in Palo Alto Unified had 7 in 100 students chronically absent in 2025–26; the average California middle school we score had 18 in 100.

High schools

Which high schools in Palo Alto Unified score highest?

Henry M. Gunn High and Palo Alto High are highest, both at the 98th percentile.

That’s higher than 98 in 100 of the 1,498 California high schools we score (spring 2025 tests).

Highest in Palo Alto Unified

Each percentile compares a school with California schools at its own level. What patterns mean

2 high schools not ranked statewide

Home and hospital programs enroll students differently from a regular school, so we don’t rank them. The others have no statewide percentile this year.

The district

Where does Palo Alto Unified’s money go, and what does it plan?

Palo Alto Unified spent $33,959 per student in the 2024–25 school year.

The typical California district spent $20,491. About 63 cents of every Palo Alto Unified dollar went to classroom instruction.

Spending by function

Day-to-day spending per student in average daily attendance, from the district’s annual financial report (SACS) to the California Department of Education. District-wide: it includes central administration and costs never assigned to one campus.

Share by function, 2024–25

  • Instruction63%
  • Instruction support10%
  • Student services10%
  • Administration7%
  • Buildings & maintenance9%
  • Other1%

Shares of the same spending total, by the report’s spending categories, rounded so they add up to 100. Names are simplified from the report’s own categories.

What the district plans

$14.8 million

planned in its 2026–27 plan for 19 funded actions in 3 goals. That’s 4% of its $368.8 million general fund budget. These are planned amounts; the district reports what it spent in a later plan.

The plan in short

Source: the district’s yearly spending plan (Local Control and Accountability Plan, or LCAP, 82 pages), as posted to the California School Dashboard.

Where the money goes

Three actions take 60% of the money. The plan itself puts 97% of it toward staff.

  • Student advising and support $5.5 million
  • English Learners $2.5 million
  • Behavior & suspension $750,913
  • 16 other actions
Reading, math and catch-up help

6 of the plan’s 19 funded actions name reading, math, catch-up help or English learners in their titles.

Actions whose titles name reading, math, catch-up help or English learners
  • Reading $0.7 million
  • Math $0.2 million
  • Catch-up help $0.1 million
  • English learners $3.2 million

Largest of these

  • English Learners$2.5 million
  • Literacy$746,383
  • Professional Learning: EL support$439,426
For high-need students (English learners, low-income students and foster youth), what changed and what its goals measure
For high-need students

It plans $5.5 million in extra services for English learners, low-income students and foster youth. For 2025–26, it planned $5.2 million and estimates it spent $5.3 million, $0.1 million (3%) more than planned (our arithmetic).

What changed

The total is $291,262 (2%) higher than in the 2025–26 plan. The biggest change in dollars is Instructional materials, which went from $1.2 million to $684,013.

Largest cuts

  • Instructional materials−⁠$527,503
  • Professional Learning: EL support−⁠$155,533

Largest increases

  • Literacy+⁠$386,680
  • Student advising and support+⁠$283,104
  • English Learners+⁠$106,985

Ask: What did Instructional materials pay for, and what changes now that the 2026–27 plan gives it $527,503 less?

What its goals measure

Read these state results for the district’s own schools as context for the goals they measure; results alone can’t show what the plan caused.

What its goals measure: state results, 2024–25 and 2025–26
Measure2024–252025–26Change
English, every tested grade: Proficient or Advanced in 2025–26, met or exceeded in 2024–25Goals 1 and 282%81%down 1 pt
Math, every tested grade: Proficient or Advanced in 2025–26, met or exceeded in 2024–25Goal 1 · High Quality Teaching and Learning80%80%no change
Chronically absentCounted across all the district’s students, not averaged by schoolGoal 3 · Attendance and Wellness10 in 10010 in 100no change
Suspended at least onceGoal 3 · Attendance and Wellness1.5%1.2%down 0.3 pts

Figures from CDE’s state test, chronic absence and suspension files. Test figures cover every grade the district tests (California tests grades 3–8 and 11), so they differ from a profile’s rated grades. We combined the district’s schools ourselves, weighted by students and leaving out charter schools. Chronically absent means a student missed 10% or more of school days.

The plan’s own titles and amounts
  • Student advising and support · $5,510,063
  • English Learners · $2,547,748
  • Behavior & suspension · $750,913
The full plan3 goals, 30 measures and where the money goes

We calculate each action’s share of the plan by dividing its planned amount by the total of the plan’s funded actions ($14.8 million).

Where does the money go?

45% to Goal 1, High Quality Teaching and Learning. Each box is one action, sized by its planned dollars and coloured by its change since last year’s plan. Tap a box to open its goal.

G1
G2
G3

Change since the 2025–26 plan, same title

  • fell 25% or more
  • fell 10–25%
  • fell 2–10%
  • within 2%
  • grew 2–10%
  • grew 10–25%
  • grew 25% or more
  • new or renamed title
  • not compared: unconfirmed, or repeated across goals

Every goal, in the plan’s order

Goal 1 · Maintenance of Progress GoalHigh Quality Teaching and Learning$6.6 million45% of action budgets

“Ensure that all education stakeholders are responsible for every learner having full access to quality education, challenging curriculum, full opportunity to learn, and appropriate, sufficient support for learning so they can achieve at excellent levels in academic and other student outcomes. All students are challenged to reach high standards and are provided an experience capable of accelerating learning through pedagogical academic supports, unobstructed access to rigorous courses, and an unwavering belief that a quality education can positively impact the trajectory of each child” p. 13 ↗

4 funded actions · 2025–26 plan: $6.8 million (−⁠$230,702)

Largest funded actions

  1. Student advising and support$5.5 millionaction 1.1 · p. 44 ↗
  2. Instructional materials$0.7 millionaction 1.4 · p. 44 ↗
  3. Other student outcomes$0.3 millionaction 1.2 · p. 44 ↗
  4. Teacher credentialing and support$0.1 millionaction 1.3 · p. 44 ↗

Changes from last year’s plan, same title

  1. Instructional materials−⁠$0.5 million$1.2 million → $0.7 million · p. 44 ↗
  2. Student advising and support+⁠$0.3 million$5.2 million → $5.5 million · p. 44 ↗
  3. Other student outcomes+⁠$13,780$285,431 → $299,211 · p. 44 ↗

Every other line in this goal, against last year’s plan

  • Teacher credentialing and support · $91,605 → $91,522 · p. 44 ↗−⁠$83

How the plan measures it · 12 measures · 3 quoted

  • P7.A Number of Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathways p. 13 ↗
    Baseline
    2022-23 15
    Target for year 3
    2025-2026 Maintain 15
  • P5.E High school graduation rate p. 15 ↗
    Baseline
    2022-23 97.2%
    Target for year 3
    2025-26 Maintain >97%
  • P8.A Percentage of students graduating with the Seal of Civic Engagement p. 15 ↗
    Baseline
    2022-23 90%
    Target for year 3
    2025-26 Maintain 90%

9 more measures in the plan’s table.

Goal 2Equity and Excellence$6.3 million43% of action budgets

“All students shall experience an environment characterized by high expectations, acceptance, respect, and support to become invested in the pursuit of learning and excellence without fear of threat, humiliation, danger or disregard. Excellence shall become the norm for all regardless of background or demographics. Our schools shall embrace uniqueness, strengths, and challenges with support, understanding, expectations, and encouragement to succeed” p. 20 ↗

11 funded actions · 2025–26 plan: $5.8 million (+⁠$492,090)

Largest funded actions

  1. English Learners$2.5 millionaction 2.4 · p. 44 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need services · of which $2.3 million is state funding counted toward those services
  2. Literacy$0.7 millionaction 2.2 · p. 44 ↗
  3. Parental participation-- unduplicated pupils$0.6 millionaction 2.8 · p. 45 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need services
  4. AVID$0.4 millionaction 2.6 · p. 45 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need services
  5. Professional Learning: EL support$0.4 millionaction 2.5 · p. 44 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need services

6 more funded actions in this goal

  • Co-teaching · action 2.9 · p. 45 ↗$0.4 million
  • Programs for unduplicated pupils · action 2.7 · p. 45 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need services · of which $129,000 is state funding counted toward those services$0.4 million
  • Middle school mathematics · action 2.10 · p. 45 ↗$0.2 million
  • Parent participation-- SWD · action 2.11 · p. 45 ↗$0.2 million
  • Long term English Learners · action 2.3 · p. 44 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need services$0.2 million
  • MTSS · action 2.1 · p. 44 ↗$0.1 million

Changes from last year’s plan, same title

  1. Literacy+⁠$386,680$359,703 → $746,383 · p. 44 ↗
  2. Professional Learning: EL support−⁠$155,533$594,959 → $439,426 · p. 44 ↗
  3. English Learners+⁠$0.1 million$2.4 million → $2.5 million · p. 44 ↗

Every other line in this goal, against last year’s plan

  • Parental participation-- unduplicated pupils · $560,529 → $640,147 · p. 45 ↗+⁠$79,618
  • AVID · $417,955 → $448,440 · p. 45 ↗+⁠$30,485
  • Co-teaching · $387,894 → $382,199 · p. 45 ↗−⁠$5,695
  • Programs for unduplicated pupils · $379,378 → $360,729 · p. 45 ↗−⁠$18,649
  • Middle school mathematics · $248,316 → $243,061 · p. 45 ↗−⁠$5,255
  • Parent participation-- SWD · $183,531 → $186,790 · p. 45 ↗+⁠$3,259
  • Long term English Learners · $120,088 → $182,366 · p. 44 ↗+⁠$62,278
  • MTSS · $124,383 → $132,300 · p. 44 ↗+⁠$7,917

How the plan measures it · 11 measures · 3 quoted

  • P7.C Percentage of students with disabilities in general education 80% or more of the time p. 22 ↗
    Baseline
    2023-24 66.9%
    Target for year 3
    2026-27 70%
  • P3.C Percentage of parents that indicate the district facilitated parent involvement in the IEP process p. 23 ↗
    Baseline
    2023-24 98.7%
    Target for year 3
    2026-27 Maintain 98.7% or greater
  • P4.A Percentage of students that meet or exceed standard on CAST p. 23 ↗
    Baseline
    2022-23 68.7%
    Target for year 3
    2025-26 75%

8 more measures in the plan’s table.

Goal 3Attendance and Wellness$1.9 million13% of action budgets

“Provide for the social, emotional and physical health needs of students and cultivate positive, identity safe school environments that promote high levels of connection, engagement and overall well-being throughout the school community. Decrease the rate of chronic absenteeism” p. 29 ↗

4 funded actions · 2025–26 plan: $1.9 million (+⁠$29,874)

Largest funded actions

  1. Behavior & suspension$750,913action 3.2 · p. 45 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need services
  2. Attendance & chronic absenteeism$627,544action 3.1 · p. 45 ↗ · marked as contributing to high-need services
  3. Wellness$370,889action 3.3 · p. 45 ↗
  4. Social Emotional Learning$134,747action 3.4 · p. 45 ↗

Changes from last year’s plan, same title

  1. Attendance & chronic absenteeism+⁠$9,148$618,396 → $627,544 · p. 45 ↗
  2. Wellness+⁠$8,281$362,608 → $370,889 · p. 45 ↗
  3. Behavior & suspension+⁠$7,112$743,801 → $750,913 · p. 45 ↗

Every other line in this goal, against last year’s plan

  • Social Emotional Learning · $129,414 → $134,747 · p. 45 ↗+⁠$5,333

How the plan measures it · 7 measures · 1 quoted

  • P6.C Percentage of students responding favorably to a question about a sense of belonging at school p. 30 ↗
    Baseline
    2023-24 All students 46% …
    Target for year 3
    2026-27 All Students 57% …

6 more measures in the plan’s table.

All amounts are planned. We read them from the PDF and added up each goal’s actions ourselves. Page links open the plan at that page.

Who goes to the district’s schools
Who attends

Student mix

2024–25 · October enrollment count, 10,209 students
1. Asian: 42%2. White: 27%3. Hispanic or Latino: 16%4. Two or more races: 11%5. Black or African American: 2%6. Pacific Islander: <1%7. Filipino: <1%8. Not reported: <1%9. American Indian or Alaska Native: <1%Student mix2024–25
  1. Asian42%
  2. White27%
  3. Hispanic or Latino16%
  4. Two or more races11%
  5. Black or African American2%
  6. Pacific Islander<1%
  7. Filipino<1%
  8. Not reported<1%
  9. American Indian or Alaska Native<1%
Shares use the district's own October enrollment counts from the CDE, including its charter schools.

Free or reduced-price meals

13%

Across California, 63% of students qualify.

2024–25 · 1,362 of 10,187 students qualify, summed from the CDE’s meal counts for every school it lists under the district, charters included. It comes from a different CDE file than the student mix, so the two totals differ.

The district’s state records

Is the state giving the district extra help?

The state is giving Palo Alto Unified extra help in 2026, the second year after it qualified on the 2025 Dashboard.

How English learners moved up on the state’s English test

From spring 2025 to spring 2026, 63% of the district’s English learners moved up at least one level on the state’s English test (ELPAC), or stayed at the top (390 of 616 students). California: 47%. It counts students moving up the test’s levels, so a student can count here before becoming fluent.

3 schools getting state support, 2025–26

Barron Park Elementary (Targeted support) · Duveneck Elementary (Extra targeted support) · Palo Verde Elementary (Extra targeted support)

This list covers the district’s own schools; each charter school’s page shows its record. Federal designation under the Every Student Succeeds Act, 2025–26.

Sources: District help (CDE) ↗ · English learner progress (CDE) ↗ · School support (CDE) ↗. State results from the 2026 California School Dashboard.

Which places nearby can you look at next?

Cities in the district

More places (6)

Districts nearby

Common questions

Which public schools in Palo Alto Unified rank highest?

Elementary: 4 schools at the 99th percentile (Strong): Herbert Hoover Elementary, Lucille M. Nixon Elementary, Ohlone Elementary and Fairmeadow Elementary. Middle: Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle, 98th percentile (Strong). High: 2 schools at the 98th percentile (Strong): Henry M. Gunn High and Palo Alto High. Each percentile is among the California schools at the same level we score. A rank doesn’t decide fit or whether a child can enroll.

Does living in the Palo Alto Unified district decide which school my child attends?

Not by itself. Attendance boundaries, programs, transfers and space all matter. Confirm the school for your address, grade and program with the district.
More questions (5)

Are the public schools in Palo Alto Unified good?

Palo Alto Unified’s 12 public elementary schools run from the 82nd to the 99th percentile among the 5,726 California elementary schools we score (spring 2026 tests). By band: 12 Strong. Palo Alto Unified’s 3 public middle schools run from the 96th to the 98th percentile among the 2,529 California middle schools we score (spring 2026 tests). By band: 3 Strong. Palo Alto Unified’s 2 public high schools are all at the 98th percentile among the 1,498 California high schools we score (spring 2025 tests). By band: 2 Strong. A percentile compares a school with California public schools at the same level that we score. How we score schools.

How does chronic absence in Palo Alto Unified compare with California?

The average elementary school in Palo Alto Unified had 8 in 100 students chronically absent (missed 10% or more of school days) in 2025–26; the average California elementary school we score had 17 in 100. Both are averages of school rates, each school counted once. The average middle school in Palo Alto Unified had 7 in 100 students chronically absent in 2025–26; the average California middle school we score had 18 in 100. These are averages of school rates: each school counts once, whatever its size.

How much does Palo Alto Unified spend per student?

Palo Alto Unified spent $33,959 per student in the 2024–25 school year. The typical California district spent $20,491. About 63 cents of every Palo Alto Unified dollar went to classroom instruction. Day-to-day spending per student in average daily attendance, from its annual financial report to the California Department of Education. The district’s spending, by function.

What is in Palo Alto Unified’s 2026–27 spending plan?

The district’s 2026–27 spending plan puts $14.8 million into 19 funded actions in 3 goals, 4% of its $368.8 million general fund budget. Its largest goal holds $6.6 million, 45% of the action budgets. The 2026–27 plan, goal by goal.

Where do these results come from?

California’s state tests (CAASPP): spring 2026 for elementary and middle schools, spring 2025 for high schools, and chronic-absence rates for 2025–26, published by the California Department of Education. Percentiles, bands and Scope Scores are SchoolScope’s calculations. How we score schools.

Sources and methodology

This page lists the public schools governed and funded by Palo Alto Unified, with the district’s spending and state accountability records.

Data source: California Department of Education · CAASPP 2025–26 elementary and middle school; 2024–25 high school

Percentiles, bands and Scope Scores are SchoolScope’s own calculations from these state files.

View CDE data ↗ (opens in a new tab)How Scope Scores work →

Download these schools (CSV)Free to use under CC BY 4.0 with attribution.