Summary:
Walnut Creek has 15 listed schools—10 elementary, two middle and three high schools—serving students from elementary through high school. In 2025–26, the schools’ unweighted average proficiency rates were 71% in English language arts, 63% in math and 57% in science, all above state rates. All-grade comparisons are broad because schools serve different grade spans. The clearest overall finding is that every listed school except Acalanes Center for Independent Study was above the state rate in all three subjects.
Standouts vary by grade level and subject. Among elementary schools, Tice Creek had the highest ELA score at 83%, Walnut Acres led in math at 82%, and Buena Vista led in science at 74%. Among middle schools, Walnut Creek Intermediate scored 73% in ELA, 71% in math and 67% in science, ahead of Foothill Middle in all-grade math and science. Northgate High led the high schools in all three subjects, with 83% ELA, 61% math and 54% science; its ELA score was 16 points above Las Lomas High. At the other end, Acalanes Center for Independent Study scored 28% in math and 18% in science, below state rates by 10 and 18 points, though its ELA score was 68%.
Recent changes were mixed: the average school score rose 2 points in ELA and 1 point in math from 2024–25, while science was essentially unchanged; the state’s science rate rose 3 points. School-level science changes ranged from gains of 16 points at Walnut Creek Intermediate and 15 at Buena Vista to declines of 11 at Valle Verde Elementary and 10 at Murwood Elementary. SchoolDigger ranks several schools in its statewide top 10%: Walnut Acres at the 96th percentile, Walnut Creek Intermediate at the 94th, and Buena Vista and Foothill Middle at the 92nd. The reported low-income measure was free/reduced lunch eligible for 2024–25; rates ranged from 8% at Tice Creek to 23% at Bancroft Elementary. These figures are context, not an explanation of school results.
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