Hillsborough City School District / San Mateo Union High School DistrictThe Old-Money Belt
Three K-8 elementary schools (North, South, West) and a high private-high-school capture rate alongside the Burlingame public path. Quiet money, long tenure.
№ 01Overview
Why Hillsborough.
Inventory is consistently tight in Hillsborough, and home values vary materially across attendance areas inside the same district. Confirming the feeder pattern at the address level — before writing an offer — is the single most consequential step.
Hillsborough City School District (HCSD) is the K-8 district for the town of Hillsborough — a small, historically wealthy enclave between Burlingame and San Mateo, enrolling about 1,200 students (CDE 2025-26). Three elementary schools (North, South, West Hillsborough) feed Crocker Middle School. There is no public high school inside Hillsborough.
For high school, Hillsborough students are zoned to San Mateo Union High School District — primarily Burlingame High, an academically strong comprehensive public school. Coexisting with that public path, a substantial share of Hillsborough families choose top private high schools (Crystal Springs Uplands, Nueva, Menlo, Sacred Heart), reflecting both the town's wealth profile and the absence of an in-town public high school.
The town itself is zoned for very large lots, has no sidewalks or commercial businesses, and prizes privacy and tenure. Median single-family-home prices sit at $5M+ (Redfin 2025), with estate-grade homes routinely $10M+. Inventory is exceptionally thin and most transactions involve careful, slow negotiation rather than rapid bidding.
№ 02Feeder Pattern
Paths to High School.
The elementary → middle → high school chain is determined by home address. Verify the assigned feeder for any specific property before writing an offer.
Burlingame High School
- Elementary
- Crocker Middle School
- Burlingame High School
Feeder elementaries: North Hillsborough, South Hillsborough, West Hillsborough
Not sure which feeder a specific address belongs to? Marie Wang and Kevin Mo can verify the assigned schools for any property in the district.
№ 03High Schools
Two top public high schools.
Each high school is its own version of the same age range. Read past the rating: AP load, STEM and arts depth, college-pipeline pattern, and culture all vary.
Burlingame High School
- ·Primary SMUHSD high school for Hillsborough students
- ·PAL-league athletics across multiple varsity sports
- ·Diverse student body with strong community involvement
San Mateo High School
- ·Secondary SMUHSD option for some Hillsborough students
- ·Larger enrollment with broad course catalog
- ·Notable theater and music programs
№ 04Middle Schools
Core middle schools.
Middle school sets the foundation for high school placement. Pace and academic culture differ from one school to the next.
№ 05Elementary
3 elementary schools.
Elementary is the start of the feeder chain; the choice of school here implicitly chooses middle and high too. Surrounding home prices and feeder destinations differ school by school.
№ 06Housing & Schools
Different neighborhoods,
different schools, different prices.
Prices vary materially by neighborhood, and each neighborhood maps to a specific school assignment. Below are the working ranges and feeder destinations.
North Hillsborough
$4M – $10M+
North Elem → Crocker → Burlingame HS attendance area.
Central Hillsborough / Carolands
$5M – $15M+
Crocker → Burlingame HS attendance area.
West Hillsborough
$4M – $8M
West Elem → Crocker → Burlingame HS attendance area.
South Hillsborough
$3.5M – $7M
South Elem → Crocker → Burlingame HS attendance area.
Compiled by Marie Wang and Kevin Mo, MK Group. Reach out for current listings and the latest comparable sales.
№ 07Private Schools
Private alternatives.
The Hillsborough catchment includes several leading independent schools. Many families combine public K-8 with private high school; some run private throughout.
Crystal Springs Uplands School
- ·Top private school on the San Mateo County peninsula
- ·Project-based learning curriculum
Nueva School
- ·Nationally recognized gifted-education school
- ·Founding school of the Design Thinking model
№ 08Comparisons
Related studies.
Side-by-side comparisons — academics, campus culture, and price-per-outcome — to sharpen the school choice across neighboring districts.
Hillsborough vs Atherton School Districts
The Peninsula's two premier estate districts compared: Hillsborough's small-class K-8 (HCSD) vs. Atherton's Las Lomitas schools — both 9/10 K-8, both feeding 8/10 public high schools, with the highest private-school transfer rates.
Read comparison →Menlo Park vs Hillsborough School Districts
Two high-end Peninsula K-8 districts compared: Menlo Park (MPCSD), larger and next to Stanford and Meta with PBL/STEAM, vs. Hillsborough (HCSD), smaller with one of California's lowest student-teacher ratios.
Read comparison →№ 09Questions
Frequently asked.
The most common questions families bring us about Hillsborough, answered with data and examples.
Where do Hillsborough students go for high school?
There is no public high school inside Hillsborough. Students are zoned to San Mateo Union HSD — primarily Burlingame High, a strong comprehensive public school. Coexisting with that public path, a substantial share of families choose top private high schools (Crystal Springs Uplands, Nueva, Menlo, Sacred Heart): the town's demographic profile makes $58–70K-per-year private tuition routine, and the absence of an in-town public high school pushes the private-capture rate among the highest in the region. In practice both routes are common.
North, South, or West Hillsborough — how do they differ?
All three are strong HCSD elementaries with similar academic outcomes. North is closest to Burlingame, South is closer to San Mateo, West is the most rural. Differences come down to neighborhood character, lot character, and price — not measurable academic gap.
What is the typical price entry for the Hillsborough catchment?
Single-family homes start around $3.5–4M for smaller properties on smaller lots, but the town median sits at $5M+ (Redfin 2025). Genuine estate-grade properties (acre+, period architecture) routinely list $10–25M. Inventory is thin and many sales are off-market.
Lock the school,
then the home.
MK Group works Hillsborough City School District / San Mateo Union High School District day to day — every school, every neighborhood, every recent sale. Marie and Kevin handle the address-level feeder verification, offer strategy, and escrow personally.
