04Glossary
The vocabulary.
25 of the terms families encounter most often in Bay Area school district decisions, defined plainly.
- AP (Advanced Placement)
- College-level courses developed by the College Board. High school students take AP courses on campus and sit a national exam (scored 1–5); a 3 or higher commonly earns college credit. AP course count and pass rate are standard signals of a high school's academic depth.
- API (Academic Performance Index)
- California's previous school-rating system (200–1000 scale), suspended after 2013 and replaced by CAASPP-based metrics. Still occasionally referenced informally; not a current data source.
- Attendance Area / Boundary
- The geographic catchment that determines which public school a residential address attends. Two homes a few blocks apart can attend different schools. Always verify the boundary at the address level before writing an offer.
- CAASPP
- California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress — the state's current standardized assessment for English Language Arts (ELA) and math. CAASPP proficiency rates are a primary measure of school academic outcomes in the California School Dashboard.
- Charter School
- Publicly funded but independently operated; charter schools have more flexibility over curriculum and management than traditional district schools and admit by lottery rather than attendance area.
- College Prep / CP
- The standard college-preparatory course track at most public high schools. Less rigorous than Honors or AP and the default level unless a student opts up.
- Dual Language Immersion
- Programs that teach in two languages (commonly English plus Spanish or Mandarin). Several Peninsula schools offer Mandarin Immersion (e.g., Addison Elementary in Palo Alto); placement is competitive.
- Elementary School District
- A district that operates only K-8 (or K-6 / K-5) schools — for example, Cupertino Union School District (CUSD). Elementary districts typically pair with a separate High School District for grades 9–12.
- Feeder Pattern / Feeder School
- The fixed elementary → middle → high school path assigned to a residential address. In the Bay Area, feeder pattern directly drives surrounding home prices because it determines twelve years of schooling.
- GATE (Gifted and Talented Education)
- Programs for students assessed as academically gifted, offering accelerated and enriched coursework. Eligibility tests, criteria, and program depth vary district by district.
- GPA (Grade Point Average)
- Weighted average of course grades, typically on a 0–4.0 scale (5.0 with weight added for AP and Honors courses). Weighted GPA accounts for course difficulty; unweighted does not. Both are standard inputs to college admissions.
- GreatSchools Rating
- The most widely cited school rating in the United States (1–10 scale), built from test scores, academic progress, and equity indicators. Most major real estate listing sites (Zillow, Redfin) embed the GreatSchools number directly.
- High School District (HSD)
- A district that operates only grades 9–12 — for example, Fremont Union High School District (FUHSD). High School District boundaries do not always align with Elementary School District boundaries; verify both when buying a home.
- Honors Course
- An accelerated course track between standard and AP — faster pace and deeper content, typically with extra GPA weight. Common in core subjects (math, English, science) at most Bay Area high schools.
- IEP (Individualized Education Program)
- A federally protected (IDEA) education plan tailored to students with documented special educational needs. School districts are legally required to provide qualifying services at no cost.
- Intra-district Transfer
- Transferring from the assigned attendance-area school to another school within the same district. Slots are limited; competitive schools rarely accept transfers in. Distinct from Inter-district Transfer (between districts).
- Magnet School
- Public schools with a specialized curriculum focus (STEM, arts, language) that draw students from across or beyond the district. Admission is typically by lottery or audition rather than attendance area.
- Mandarin Immersion
- A dual-language immersion program teaching roughly half in Mandarin and half in English. Several Bay Area schools offer Mandarin Immersion tracks; placement is consistently oversubscribed and is itself a factor in some buyers' attendance-area choices.
- Niche Rating
- An alternative school rating service (A+ through F scale) that incorporates academic, faculty, diversity, and culture dimensions. Niche has broader coverage of private schools than GreatSchools.
- Open Enrollment
- A district policy that allows students to apply to non-attendance-area schools. Specifics vary by district; assigned-area students typically receive priority before remaining seats are opened.
- PTA / PTO
- Parent Teacher Association / Parent Teacher Organization. Parent-volunteer organizations that fundraise, run events, and supplement school programs. In the top Bay Area public school districts, PTA fundraising routinely runs into the hundreds of thousands of dollars per school per year.
- SAT
- The College Board's standardized college-admissions exam, scored out of 1600 (800 reading + 800 math). Many universities have moved to test-optional policies, but SAT averages remain a useful comparative signal across high schools.
- STEM
- Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics. STEM program depth — competition pipelines, advanced course offerings, lab facilities — is a primary differentiator among top Bay Area public high schools.
- Title I School
- A school with a high share of low-income students that receives supplemental federal funding. Title I designation is rare in the six core school districts covered by this guide.
- Unified School District (USD)
- A district that operates K-12 — elementary, middle, and high school — under a single governance — for example, Palo Alto Unified School District (PAUSD). Unified districts simplify the buyer's verification because there is only one boundary set to check.
Beyond the terms
Past the vocabulary.
For deeper coverage — feeder paths, district rankings, surrounding home prices — see the long-form guides and side-by-side comparisons.