Summary:
ZIP code 94040 has seven schools—four elementary, one middle and two high schools—serving students from elementary through high school, with academic results that vary considerably across schools. In 2025–26, the listed schools’ average results were about 20 percentage points above state averages in English language arts (ELA), math and science, but those averages conceal important differences. The most consequential contrast is between the two high schools, which serve the same tested grades but have sharply different results.
Mountain View High led the high schools, with 88% proficient in grade-11 ELA, 73% in grade-11 math and 70% in grade-12 science; Alta Vista High had 38%, 4% and 8%, respectively. The gaps were 50, 68 and 63 percentage points. Among elementary schools, Springer Elementary led most shared-grade comparisons, while Amy Imai Elementary narrowly led fourth-grade ELA (92% versus Springer’s 92%) and math (98% versus 98%). Gabriela Mistral Elementary was lowest in every shared elementary comparison; its fourth-grade math result was 29%, compared with 42% statewide. Benjamin Bubb Elementary was above state results in every reported subject.
Recent trends favor ELA and math more than science: average school results rose 3 percentage points in ELA and 2 in math from 2024–25 to 2025–26, but fell 3 in science while the state science result rose 3. SchoolDigger ranked Springer 12th of 5,804 elementary schools in 2025–26, and Amy Imai 92nd; Mistral’s SchoolDigger percentile rank declined from 74th to 56th over three years. For context, all seven schools report a free/reduced lunch eligible measure for 2024–25: it was 5% at Springer, 48% at Mistral, 13% at Mountain View High and 50% at Alta Vista. These are observations, not explanations for achievement differences. Student-teacher ratios also do not track results simply: Alta Vista’s was 13.7, below Mountain View High’s 18.4 despite its much lower proficiency. Alta Vista enrolls 78 students, so its results merit extra caution.
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