Summary:
Hayward Unified has 28 schools—19 elementary, five middle and four high schools—serving students across a wide range of school and grade settings. In 2025–26, the equal-school averages were 32% in ELA, 21% in math and 21% in science, all below state rates of 49%, 38% and 36%. Results also varied widely: the distance between the highest- and lowest-scoring schools was 54 percentage points in ELA, 41 in math and 42 in science. The clearest takeaway for families is that districtwide averages hide major differences among individual schools.
Southgate Elementary leads the supplied all-grades results in both ELA and math, with 62% and 46% proficiency; those scores are 7 and 3 points above the next-highest schools in those subjects. Southgate is also above the state in science, at 37%. East Avenue Elementary is the science leader at 42%, 5 points above Southgate and 6 above the state, though its ELA and math results are below state rates. At the other end, Brenkwitz High has the lowest ELA and math results, at 8% and 5%; Faith Ringgold School of Arts and Science is lowest in science, at 0%. Those results are 42, 33 and 36 points below the respective state rates.
Average school results improved from 2024–25 to 2025–26 by 1 percentage point in ELA, 2 in math and 3 in science, although individual schools did not all improve. SchoolDigger’s percentile ranks also tell a mixed story: Schafer Park Elementary rose from 42 to 52 over the three years shown, while Mt. Eden High fell from 58 to 48 even though its latest ELA score is above the state rate. Income and attendance figures are context, not explanations: free/reduced lunch eligible measures for 2024–25 were 54% at Stonebrae Elementary and 64% at Southgate, both of which exceed state rates in ELA and math. Absenteeism also does not neatly track scores: East Avenue has the top science result but 27% chronic absenteeism, compared with 18% statewide.
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