Summary:
Palo Alto Unified includes 20 schools—13 elementary, three middle, three high and one alternative—serving families in the Palo Alto area. Eighteen schools have 2025–2026 scores, and the group’s equal-weight averages are well above California’s: 80% in ELA, 78% in math and 74% in science, compared with 49%, 38% and 36% statewide. But averages mask meaningful school-to-school differences: the score range is 29 percentage points in ELA, 33 in math and 39 in science. Most importantly, all 18 schools with scores are above the state figure in all three subjects.
Herbert Hoover Elementary leads ELA at 91% and also scores strongly in math (92%) and science (86%); Juana Briones Elementary leads math at 93% and science at 89%. Among high schools, Palo Alto High leads ELA at 82%, while Henry M. Gunn High leads math at 81% and science at 78%; their graduation rates are 97% and 96%, versus 88% statewide. At the other end, Barron Park Elementary has the lowest conventional-school scores: 62% in ELA, 66% in math and 61% in science. Palo Alto Middle College High, a distinct small program, scores lower in math (60%) and science (50%).
Average school scores dipped from the prior year in ELA (2 percentage points) and math (1 point), while science rose 2 points; individual results varied, from Walter Hays Elementary’s 13-point science increase to Palo Verde Elementary’s 9-point decline. SchoolDigger ranks Hoover 14th of 5,804 elementary schools and gives it five stars; it ranks Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle 26th of 2,703 middle schools, also with five stars. The reported free/reduced lunch eligible measure for 2024–2025 ranges from 6% at Lucille M. Nixon Elementary to 30% at Barron Park; these figures are context, not an explanation for results. Greendell and Packard Children’s Hospital/Stanford have no supplied 2025–2026 scores, and Middle College’s small program is not directly comparable to conventional schools.
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