1
What do students at Highlands Elementary actually talk about outside of class?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
512
Elementary
DISTRICT 480 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MT. DIABLO UNIFIED·NCES 062637003951
Highlands Elementary
1326 Pennsylvania Blvd., Concord, CA 94521 · (925) 672-5252 · Contra Costa County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL512 STUDENTS
C
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 29% of California public elementary schools
- BTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- DBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- FThree-year trend Change in reading and math proficiency over the last three test years.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded California public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
26.9:1
19 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 25.3:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
32%
166 students
DISTRICT 56% · STATE 65%
Community
6
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 123 | 24% |
| Grade 1 | 66 | 13% |
| Grade 2 | 70 | 14% |
| Grade 3 | 83 | 16% |
| Grade 4 | 83 | 16% |
| Grade 5 | 87 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (123) is 41% larger than its 5th grade class (87).
Student demographics
74%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 71% · STATE 62% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
CAASPP 2024-25 . % met or exceeded standardEnglish Language Arts
45.0%
CA avg 49.1% . -3.0pp since 2014
Math
46.8%
CA avg 37.7% . +3.8pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 45 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 47 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all California schools, those numbers are about 49 and 38. Reading and writing scores are down about 3 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 4 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 21.5% | 23.5% | 22.3% | 32.7% |
| Math | 23.0% | 23.8% | 27.8% | 25.4% |
Share of tested students at each CAASPP level. Each student counts in one level, so a row adds to about 100%.
CAASPP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 45.0% | 46.8% |
| 2023-24 | 48.8% | 50.4% |
| 2022-23 | 54.2% | 57.6% |
| 2021-22 | 60.3% | 60.4% |
| 2020-21 | 59.5% | 58.6% |
| 2018-19 | 58.8% | 54.2% |
| 2017-18 | 53.3% | 48.5% |
| 2016-17 | 45.8% | 43.8% |
| 2015-16 | 50.0% | 44.0% |
| 2014-15 | 48.0% | 43.0% |
% met or exceeded standard, all students and all tested grades.
Source: CAASPP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
47.6%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
60.5%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-12.9pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 48% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 61% typical for California schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among California's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Highlands Elementary
Highlands Elementary's state test result (47.6% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highlands Elementary this school | 512 | 32.4% | 47.6% |
| Beckford Charter for Enriched Studies Northridge | 588 | 29.9% | 82.2% |
| Loyal Barker Elementary Garden Grove | 444 | 28.2% | 83.4% |
| Sutterville Elementary Sacramento | 408 | 30.9% | 61.5% |
| La Madera Elementary Lake Forest | 554 | 37.4% | 59.7% |
| Copper Hills Elementary Fresno | 601 | 32.9% | 73.3% |
Matched among California elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Highlands Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Contra Costa County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 47.6% | #1,886 of 5,151 | #67 of 149 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 46.8% | #1,804 of 5,172 ▼ 309 | #65 of 153 ▼ 5 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 45.0% | #2,448 of 5,172 ▼ 457 | #77 of 153 ▼ 5 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -14.4pp | #28 of 5,116 | #1 of 150 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 512 | #2,281 of 5,915 | #58 of 164 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 26.9:1 | #5,109 of 5,352 | #146 of 162 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 74.3% | #176 of 5,354 | #16 of 162 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 32.4% | #4,664 of 5,625 | #103 of 158 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -12.2% | #2,411 of 3,837 | #62 of 107 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
512
0 (0%) vs 2020
-38% since 1990-91, when it was 824
Student : Teacher
26.9:1
was 25.6:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 512 | 19 | 26.9:1 | 32% (166) |
| 2023-24 | 502 | 19 | 26.4:1 | 13% (65) |
| 2022-23 | 492 | 18 | 27.3:1 | 15% (74) |
| 2020-21 | 512 | 20 | 25.6:1 | 20% (100) |
| 2017-18 | 583 | 24.5 | 23.8:1 | 19% (110) |
| 2015-16 | 639 | 24 | 26.6:1 | 15% (96) |
| 2010-11 | 629 | N/A | N/A | 16% (102) |
| 2000-01 | 752 | 36 | 20.9:1 | 11% (82) |
| 1990-91 | 824 | 30 | 27.5:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Highlands Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 12% (583 to 512); teachers down 22% (24.5 to 19).
About Highlands Elementary
Highlands Elementary is a mid-sized elementary school that serves part of Concord, California. It had 512 students in 2024-25, spanning kindergarten through 5.
The district for Highlands Elementary is Mt. Diablo Unified, with 50 schools and 29,210 students.
The biggest share of students at Highlands Elementary, 33%, is White. Beyond that, enrollment is 29% Hispanic, 20% multiracial, and 17% Asian. In Contra Costa County overall, about 41% of residents are White. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Highlands Elementary scores 74%.
Teacher count: 19 full-time equivalents. Student-to-teacher ratio: 26.9:1. Compared with the 22.3:1 average for elementary schools in California, this school's ratio is higher. Eligibility for free or reduced-price lunch, often used to gauge student poverty, is 32%. Compared with the 45% average for public schools in Contra Costa County, the school's rate is lower.
Highlands Elementary holds a C allk12 Grade, placing it above 29% of California public elementary schools.
Test results at Highlands Elementary are 12.9 points below what its free or reduced-price lunch share predicts (47.6% actual, 60.5% predicted).
In Contra Costa County, median household income comes to about $127,229, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 45% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 6%. Across Contra Costa County, 280 public schools serve about 167,423 students.
A public school about 0.1 miles away, Pine Hollow Middle, is the closest to Highlands Elementary. Highlands Elementary has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Highlands Elementary comes in 3rd of 8 nearby schools on average proficiency.
On the NCES locale scale, the school is Suburb: Large.
The school's size has been steady, with 512 students in 2020-21 and 512 in 2024-25. The number of students per teacher increased from 25.6 to 26.9 over 4 years.
Parents, students, and staff can share information on athletics, class schedules, and weather closures here. Members of the school community can share what they know.
Contra Costa County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
1,165,012
Census ACS
Median income
$127,229
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
45%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
280
167,423 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Mt. Diablo Unified
- College Park HighHigh · 1,948 students
- Northgate HighHigh · 1,546 students
- Mt. Diablo HighHigh · 1,397 students
- Concord HighHigh · 1,137 students
- Ygnacio Valley HighHigh · 1,059 students
- Foothill MiddleMiddle · 1,005 students
Other schools in Concord
- Clayton Valley Charter HighHigh · 2,373 students
- Mt. Diablo HighHigh · 1,397 students
- Concord HighHigh · 1,137 students
- Ygnacio Valley HighHigh · 1,059 students
- El Dorado MiddleMiddle · 861 students
- Meadow Homes ElementaryElementary · 732 students
Other Highlands Elementary schools
24 other US public schools in 13 states are named Highlands Elementary. Highlands Elementary is the 10th largest of the 25.
- Highlands ElementarySaugus, CA · 666 students
- Highlands ElementaryPittsburg, CA · 480 students
- Highlands ElementarySan Mateo, CA · 379 students
- Highlands ElementarySpring Valley, CA · 357 students
- Highlands Elementary SchoolHIGHLANDS, TX · 868 students
Nearby schools
- Pine Hollow Middle0.1 mi · 538
- Clayton Valley Charter High0.8 mi · 2,373
- Mt. Diablo Elementary1.0 mi · 739
- Ayers Elementary1.6 mi · 394
- Silverwood Elementary1.7 mi · 530
- Diablo View Middle2.1 mi · 514
Frequently asked questions
About Highlands ElementaryHow large is Highlands Elementary?
Highlands Elementary enrolls approximately 512 students in grades KG-05.
What age range does Highlands Elementary serve?
Highlands Elementary serves students from grade KG through grade 05.
How many students per teacher at Highlands Elementary?
Approximately 26.9:1 students per teacher at Highlands Elementary.
How diverse is Highlands Elementary?
Highlands Elementary reports a student body of 33% White, 29% Hispanic, 2% Black, 17% Asian, 20% Two or more.
Who oversees Highlands Elementary?
Highlands Elementary is overseen by Mt. Diablo Unified in Contra Costa County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.