LEAD Elementary

Set in San Mateo, California, LEAD Elementary is a cozy primary school, part of San Mateo-Foster City. It serves 349 students across grades K through 5. That puts it 25% below the typical public school in California, which averages around 465 students.

Across the 22 schools in San Mateo-Foster City (9,906 students total), LEAD Elementary accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

On demographics, LEAD Elementary logs that 73% of the student body identifies as Hispanic; the rest breaks down as 8% multiracial, 6% Asian, 6% White, 6% Pacific Islander. That is considerably more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 25%.

On the resource side, Staff filings list 16 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 21.8:1 students per teacher. The state averages about 22.3:1, putting this campus right in line with peers. Around 66% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. Set against San Mateo County (around 34%), the school's rate is north of typical.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, LEAD Elementary falls in the UNDERPERFORMING tier of the BeatsExpectations residual. Given its student profile, a typical campus would land near 40.6%; this one comes in at 15.4%, -25.1 points off the demographic line.

Zooming out to the county, community-level numbers for San Mateo County indicate median household earnings sit near $158,855, 54% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 4%. LEAD Elementary is one of 176 public schools in San Mateo County (combined enrollment of about 82,403 students).

Bayside Academy is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.4 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around LEAD Elementary. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts LEAD Elementary at 7th of 7; the average score across the group is 52.6%.

The campus sits in an inner-city setting.

Five-year trend. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at LEAD Elementary has decreased 33%, going from 521 students in 2018 to 349 in 2025. The Hispanic share of enrollment climbed from 64% to 73% over that span. Class-load math has tightened: from 24.8:1 in 2018 to 21.8:1 in 2025.

Within the allk12 community for this school, posts here usually surface around school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. Members of the school community can share what they know.