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Donlon Elementary

Public Grades K-5

390^th

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 5,857 California Elementary Schools

Better than 93% of California elementary schools

Summary

Donlon Elementary is a large, highly-rated K-5 school serving about 700 students in the high-performing Pleasanton Unified district, consistently ranking in the top 7% of all California elementary schools.

Academically, Donlon is a model of consistency, with students performing very well and evenly across math, English, and science. This balanced excellence stands out compared to some nearby schools, like Fairlands Elementary, which has wider gaps between subjects. The school is particularly effective for English learners and students from lower-income families, and it gets excellent results relative to its mid-range per-student spending. However, a notable challenge is its chronic absenteeism rate, which at 10.3% is higher than the district average and that of several local peers, including Walnut Grove Elementary (5.4%) and Lydiksen Elementary (6.8%).

Within the competitive context of Pleasanton, where all schools are top-tier, Donlon ranks solidly in the middle of the pack, outperforming schools like Alisal Elementary but trailing the very highest performers like Henry P. Mohr Elementary. It also generally outperforms schools in the neighboring Dublin Unified district. While its statewide ranking has dipped slightly in recent years—a trend seen across the district—Donlon remains a reliably strong school that delivers a well-rounded, high-quality education.

700

Students ?

24.1

Student/teacher ratio ?

$16,241

Per pupil spending ?

10.4%

Free/discounted lunch ?

4150 Dorman Rd.
Pleasanton, CA 94588-4411

(925) 426-4220

District: Pleasanton Unified

Students who attend Donlon Elementary usually attend:

Middle:	Thomas S. Hart Middle
High:	Foothill High

Racial breakdown:

Asian:

67.1%

White:

15.3%

Hispanic:

8.3%

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Compare Donlon Elementary to nearby elementary schools!

At a glance

▲ Ranking trend: Improving — 86th percentile in 2013 → 93rd in 2025

Strengths

✓Test scores above the California average (74% vs 41% meeting standards)

✓Ranks in the top 7% of California elementary schools

✓Ranking is trending up — up 7 percentile points since 2013

Worth a look

!Some student groups rank well below the school's overall statewide standing

!Large classes — about 24 students per teacher

Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?

This school74%

District avg73%

California avg41%

390^th of 5,857

California public elementary schools ?

Top 7%▲ up 1 pts since 2015

See the entire ranking list of California Elementary Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

5^th of 9Elementary Schools in the Pleasanton Unified

145^th of 1,543Pleasanton Unified among California districts

Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)

Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	94.1	390 of 5857	93.3%	★★★★★
2024	96.8	181 of 5869	96.9%	★★★★★
2023	96.8	206 of 5859	96.5%	★★★★★
2022	97.1	196 of 5883	96.7%	★★★★★
2019	93.4	409 of 5789	92.9%	★★★★★
2018	95.3	260 of 5662	95.4%	★★★★★
2017	94.3	375 of 5692	93.4%	★★★★★
2016	96.3	204 of 5614	96.4%	★★★★★
2015	93.7	404 of 5611	92.8%	★★★★★
2013	85.0	758 of 5530	86.3%	★★★★☆
2012	86.0	679 of 5390	87.4%	★★★★☆
2011	88.8	510 of 5377	90.5%	★★★★★
2010	92.4	304 of 5314	94.3%	★★★★★
2009	91.8	358 of 5193	93.1%	★★★★★
2008	92.7	335 of 5113	93.4%	★★★★★
2007	92.6	372 of 5113	92.7%	★★★★★
2006	92.9	339 of 4818	93.0%	★★★★★
2005	89.3	526 of 4822	89.1%	★★★★☆
2004	90.0	513 of 4809	89.3%	★★★★☆

Asian

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	72.8	341 of 1203	71.7%	★★★★☆
2024	76.9	246 of 1205	79.6%	★★★★☆
2023	78.4	190 of 1190	84.0%	★★★★☆
2022	79.0	173 of 1154	85.0%	★★★★☆
2019	75.9	237 of 1149	79.4%	★★★★☆
2018	73.8	284 of 1071	73.5%	★★★★☆

Disabled

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2022	57.2	653 of 2227	70.7%	★★★★☆
2019	47.4	1054 of 2585	59.2%	★★★☆☆
2018	80.5	271 of 2128	87.3%	★★★★☆

English Language Learner

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2023	77.8	302 of 3245	90.7%	★★★★★
2019	98.1	48 of 3275	98.5%	★★★★★

Female

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	93.9	342 of 5597	93.9%	★★★★★
2024	95.8	224 of 5612	96.0%	★★★★★
2023	96.7	150 of 5609	97.3%	★★★★★
2022	97.3	112 of 5635	98.0%	★★★★★
2019	91.3	478 of 5492	91.3%	★★★★★
2018	94.6	244 of 5413	95.5%	★★★★★

Low Socio Economic Status

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	68.4	1362 of 5460	75.1%	★★★★☆
2019	49.4	2443 of 5173	52.8%	★★★☆☆
2018	74.5	947 of 5084	81.4%	★★★★☆

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	91.4	494 of 5628	91.2%	★★★★★
2024	96.4	169 of 5643	97.0%	★★★★★
2023	95.5	267 of 5638	95.3%	★★★★★
2022	95.4	276 of 5663	95.1%	★★★★★
2019	93.3	352 of 5510	93.6%	★★★★★
2018	94.0	321 of 5431	94.1%	★★★★★

Multi-racial

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2019	35.6	328 of 445	26.3%	★☆☆☆☆

Special Education

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2023	74.8	394 of 2420	83.7%	★★★★☆

White

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	66.7	888 of 2598	65.8%	★★★☆☆
2024	74.3	655 of 2651	75.3%	★★★★☆
2023	70.2	795 of 2661	70.1%	★★★★☆
2022	60.9	1129 of 2726	58.6%	★★★☆☆
2019	52.4	1482 of 2834	47.7%	★★☆☆☆
2018	70.1	824 of 2737	69.9%	★★★☆☆

How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)

Female (2025)94th percentile~ school

Male (2025)91st percentile~ school

English Language Learner (2023)91st percentile-6 vs school

Special Education (2023)84th percentile-13 vs school

Low Socio Economic Status (2025)75th percentile-18 vs school

Asian (2025)72nd percentile-22 vs school

Disabled (2022)71st percentile-26 vs school

White (2025)66th percentile-28 vs school

Multi-racial (2019)26th percentile-67 vs school

By subject vs California (2024-2025) ?

Mathematics76%+39 vs state

English Language Arts/Literacy76%+27 vs state

Science65%+32 vs state

3.0

1 rating · 1 written review

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What people are saying

by a parent
Monday, February 16, 2015

This school is great if your kid can learn very independently. Most of the teachers are great. But if your kid is in the bottom 20%, expect to pay a tutor. They will lie through their teeth to avoid providing special education for kids with specific learning disabilities. 750+ students and not a single dyslexic kid? Yeah, right. Close Quote

Schools Near Donlon Elementary

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Immunizations Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				CAST Science (2025)		Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy (2025)				Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics (2025)				% Completely Immunized (2022)	% Varicella (2022)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	CAST Science 5th Grade	CAST Science All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 3rd Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 4th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 3rd Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 4th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics All Grades	% Completely Immunized KG	% Varicella KG	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Donlon Elementary	Public	K-5	4150 Dorman Rd.	Pleasanton	94588	Alameda County	Pleasanton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 426-4220	700	29	24.1	10.4%	107 (15.3%)	22 (3.1%)	58 (8.3%)	470 (67.1%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.4%)	39 (5.6%)	94.1	390^th of 5857 public elementary schools	93.3%		96.8	181^st of 5869 public elementary schools	96.9%	209	65.0	65.0	73.4	78.3	74.6	75.5	76.8	75.7	75.2	75.8	98.1	98.1	$16,241	$254	$15,987
Lydiksen Elementary	Public	K-5	7700 Highland Oaks Dr.	Pleasanton	94588	Alameda County	Pleasanton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 426-4420	586	24	24.3	7.2%	140 (23.9%)	6 (1.0%)	66 (11.3%)	308 (52.6%)	4 (0.7%)	1 (0.2%)	61 (10.4%)	96.5	188^th of 5857 public elementary schools	96.8%		94	434^th of 5869 public elementary schools	92.6%	246	72.5	72.5	81.2	75.5	83.5	80.1	83.2	80.6	81.4	81.8	97.2	97.2	$16,352	$254	$16,098
Walnut Grove Elementary	Public	K-5	1999 Harvest Rd.	Pleasanton	94566	Alameda County	Pleasanton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 426-4250	629	23	26.8	5.1%	155 (24.6%)	6 (1.0%)	30 (4.8%)	385 (61.2%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	52 (8.3%)	97.8	87^th of 5857 public elementary schools	98.5%		96.7	196^th of 5869 public elementary schools	96.7%	109	79.8	79.8	83.6	84.4	85.4	84.4	90.2	81.7	80.5	84.2			$16,434	$254	$16,180
Fairlands Elementary	Public	K-5	4151 West Las Positas Blvd.	Pleasanton	94588	Alameda County	Pleasanton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 426-4210	670	26	25.7	10.6%	83 (12.4%)	9 (1.3%)	51 (7.6%)	485 (72.4%)	5 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	37 (5.5%)	92	548^th of 5857 public elementary schools	90.6%		95.2	325^th of 5869 public elementary schools	94.5%	223	52.5	52.5	66.7	76.3	72.0	71.7	83.1	80.7	73.3	79.0			$16,326	$254	$16,072
James Dougherty Elementary	Public	K-5	5301 Hibernia Dr.	Dublin	94568	Alameda County	Dublin Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 803-4444	856	36	23.7	17.1%	80 (9.3%)	24 (2.8%)	85 (9.9%)	591 (69.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	75 (8.8%)	92.9	483^rd of 5857 public elementary schools	91.8%		95.5	302^nd of 5869 public elementary schools	94.9%	181	61.0	61.0	82.2	75.0	68.0	75.4	85.6	79.9	58.0	75.7			$14,964	$1,062	$13,902
Alisal Elementary	Public	K-5	1454 Santa Rita Rd.	Pleasanton	94566	Alameda County	Pleasanton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 426-4200	544	23	23.6	8.8%	138 (25.4%)	9 (1.7%)	60 (11.0%)	289 (53.1%)	3 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	44 (8.1%)	85.9	886^th of 5857 public elementary schools	84.9%		81.5	1091^st of 5869 public elementary schools	81.4%	205	53.5	53.5	70.0	63.0	64.4	65.4	69.9	65.6	63.4	65.9			$16,669	$254	$16,415
Frederiksen Elementary	Public	K-5	7243 Tamarack Dr.	Dublin	94568	Alameda County	Dublin Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 828-1037	689	29	24.0	25.3%	159 (23.1%)	37 (5.4%)	134 (19.4%)	290 (42.1%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.3%)	66 (9.6%)	82.4	1053^rd of 5857 public elementary schools	82.0%		90.4	683^rd of 5869 public elementary schools	88.4%	370	55.5	55.5	48.6	67.5	74.2	64.3	55.2	70.3	58.3	61.4			$13,929	$950	$12,979
Phoebe Apperson Hearst Elementary	Public	K-5	5301 Case Ave.	Pleasanton	94566	Alameda County	Pleasanton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 426-3772	467	18	25.9	16.3%	104 (22.3%)	10 (2.1%)	68 (14.6%)	232 (49.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	52 (11.1%)	87.2	814^th of 5857 public elementary schools	86.1%		90.6	660^th of 5869 public elementary schools	88.8%	154	49.5	49.5	72.6	59.0	66.3	66.9	75.0	66.1	71.0	71.3			$17,550	$254	$17,296
Dublin Elementary	Public	K-5	7997 Vomac Rd.	Dublin	94568	Alameda County	Dublin Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 833-1204	802	31	25.7	13.1%	137 (17.1%)	11 (1.4%)	113 (14.1%)	430 (53.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	110 (13.7%)	94.1	392^nd of 5857 public elementary schools	93.3%		95.7	290^th of 5869 public elementary schools	95.1%	102	64.7	64.7	71.8	71.7	80.6	74.5	77.6	82.1	72.1	77.4			$15,087	$1,150	$13,937
Henry P. Mohr Elementary	Public	K-5	3300 Dennis Dr.	Pleasanton	94588	Alameda County	Pleasanton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 426-4256	492	20	24.8	9.6%	63 (12.8%)	8 (1.6%)	17 (3.5%)	370 (75.2%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	31 (6.3%)	97.9	79^th of 5857 public elementary schools	98.7%		97.8	91^st of 5869 public elementary schools	98.4%	12	64.5	64.5	87.3	85.2	88.2	86.9	93.1	89.9	89.3	90.6			$16,644	$254	$16,390

Frequently Asked Questions about Donlon Elementary

What schools do graduates of Donlon Elementary attend?

Students who attend Donlon Elementary usually go on to attend:

Middle : Thomas S. Hart Middle
High : Foothill High

Is Donlon Elementary a good school?

Yes. Donlon Elementary ranks in the top 6.7% of California elementary schools.

What is the racial makeup of Donlon Elementary?

Students at Donlon Elementary are 67% Asian, 15% White, 8% Hispanic, 6% Two or more races, 3% African American.

What district is Donlon Elementary in?

Pleasanton Unified

How many students attend Donlon Elementary?

In the 2024-25 school year, 700 students attended Donlon Elementary.

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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.