Summary:
Fairfax Elementary includes four schools serving 2,667 students: three elementary schools with grades K–6 and one junior high serving grades 5–8; enrollment ranges from 609 to 797. In 2025–26, the schools’ average proficiency was 30% in ELA, 23% in math and 17% in science, compared with California averages of 49%, 38% and 36%. The most important area-wide finding is that every school scored below the state in all three subjects.
Shirley Lane Elementary led in all-grades ELA at 33% and math at 32%; its math result was 15 percentage points above Virginia Avenue Elementary, the lowest at 17%. Virginia led science at 18%, while Fairfax Junior High was lowest at 15%, a narrower 3-point spread. Shirley’s sixth-grade results are a particular bright spot: 48% in ELA and 40% in math, slightly above the state’s 48% and 37%. SchoolDigger ranks Shirley at the 34th percentile with 2 stars; Zephyr Lane Elementary is at the 21st percentile, Fairfax Junior High at the 22nd, and Virginia at the 12th, each with 1 star.
Results shifted unevenly from 2024–25 to 2025–26: the four-school average fell 3 percentage points in ELA, rose 1 point in math and rose 3 points in science. Notable exceptions include Virginia’s 9-point science gain, while its ELA fell 4 points and Shirley’s fell 6. Fairfax Junior High has the lowest student-teacher ratio, 19.4, and highest per-student spending, $28,235; it also had the lowest all-grades science result. For 2024–25, Zephyr and Fairfax report 96% and 97% free/reduced lunch eligible, while Virginia and Shirley report 68% and 63% directly certified for free meals; these are different measures and should not be treated as directly comparable. The comparisons offer useful context, but do not show that spending, ratios or income measures cause score differences.
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