Of all the conversations I have with families considering a move to Burlingame, the school question comes first. Not the commute, not the price, not the neighborhood. The schools. Parents want to know if Burlingame's schools are as good as they have heard, whether the elementary school you draw depends on which block you buy on, and whether the whole system is genuinely predictable or just another version of the chaos they are trying to escape in San Francisco.
I have been selling homes in Burlingame for over 20 years. I went to Burlingame High School myself, was inducted into the BHS Athletic Hall of Fame, and raised a family here. I know this school system from the inside, not from a ranking website. Let me give you the honest answer.
The short version: yes, Burlingame schools are worth moving for. The longer version is more nuanced, and that is what this article covers, the full feeder path from kindergarten through high school, what each neighborhood means for which school your child attends, how Burlingame compares to SFUSD, and the specific data you need to make this decision well.
Burlingame's schools are not just good in the abstract. They operate on a principle that parents moving from San Francisco find almost disorienting in the best possible way: you live in the district, your child goes to the neighborhood school. That is it. There is no lottery, no ranking of preferences, no second-round application, no waitlist, no chance of your child being assigned to a school across town.
This stands in direct contrast to the San Francisco Unified School District enrollment system, which has operated on a choice-based lottery since 2011. Under SFUSD, families research dozens of schools, rank their preferences, and then a computerized system makes an assignment based on availability, tiebreakers, and in some cases, random chance. As recently as March 2026, the San Francisco Standard reported on families receiving their eighth-choice school placement after the lottery process and opting for private school as a result. The planned overhaul of the SFUSD system to a zone-based model has been delayed indefinitely as of early 2026.
Source: San Francisco Standard, 'SFUSD promised to change its hated enrollment system. Now it's postponed indefinitely,' March 16, 2026. sfstandard.com
Source: San Francisco Standard, 'SFUSD called the school lottery predictable. This family got their 8th choice,' March 23, 2026. sfstandard.com
SFUSD's own data shows that under the current system, children living in the same neighborhood attend an average of 27 different schools. Twenty-seven. The social fabric that comes from kids going to school together, growing up together, and forming friendships in the same neighborhood simply does not exist in the same way.
Source: SFUSD, Student Assignment Policy Changes, sfusd.edu/schools/enroll/student-assignment-policy/student-assignment-changes
When I tell Burlingame buyers that there is no lottery, that your child's school is determined by your address and nothing else, the reaction is almost always the same. Relief. That relief is a real and legitimate reason to move here.
Understanding the system requires understanding how it is organized. Burlingame operates two separate but connected school districts under a single educational umbrella.
The Burlingame School District (BSD) operates six elementary schools serving kindergarten through fifth grade, all within Burlingame's city limits. Each school has an attendance boundary, and your home address determines which elementary school your child attends. The six elementary schools are Franklin, Hoover, Lincoln, McKinley, Roosevelt, and Washington.
The district also operates a Dual Language Immersion program in Spanish at McKinley Elementary, available to native and bilingual Spanish-speaking students in grades 3 through 6. Enrollment in the immersion program is separate from neighborhood assignment and requires an assessment.
Source: Burlingame School District, burlingameschools.org/enrollment
All Burlingame elementary students feed into a single middle school: Burlingame Intermediate School, located at 1715 Quesada Way. This consolidation is important. By the time students reach sixth grade, kids from all six elementary schools come together at BIS, building a unified community that carries forward into high school. BIS offers a wide curriculum including humanities, math, science, world languages, music, drama, visual arts, physical education, and Career Technical Education in Robotics and Engineering. The school also has an active club program — with over 16 student-initiated clubs — and competitive athletics across multiple sports.
Source: Burlingame Intermediate School, bis.burlingameschools.org; Lincoln Elementary Community Newsletter, lincoln.burlingameschools.org
Every student from BIS proceeds to Burlingame High School, part of the San Mateo Union High School District (SMUHSD). This is where the system completes its arc: a child who starts at McKinley Elementary in kindergarten will graduate from Burlingame High School 13 years later, having grown up with many of the same community of families the entire way through. That continuity is something you cannot manufacture, and it is one of Burlingame's most underrated qualities.
This is the section most buyers want. Which elementary school you draw depends on which part of Burlingame you buy in, so let me walk through each school and the neighborhoods they generally serve. Note that school boundaries can and do change so always verify the specific parcel you are purchasing against the current BSD boundary map before making an offer.
* Individual school proficiency data varies. Franklin Elementary data is per U.S. News (2023-24). Other school figures reflect district-wide averages where individual school data was not separately sourced. Source: U.S. News Education, usnews.com; Public School Review, publicschoolreview.com
One of the most common questions I get is whether it matters which elementary school your child attends and if one is significantly better than another. The honest answer is that all six schools operate within the same high-performing district and are funded and staffed at comparable levels. District-wide, 76% of elementary students scored at or above proficient in reading and 75% in math, both dramatically above the California state averages of 47% and 34% respectively. What varies is the character of each school community, the neighborhood social fabric that forms around each campus, and the specific programs available. The school quality floor across the district is high.
Source: U.S. News Education, Burlingame Elementary School District profile, usnews.com/education/k12/california/districts/burlingame-elementary-114789
The Burlingame Elementary School District overall ranks #61 out of 1,907 school districts in California based on combined math and reading proficiency placing it in the top 5% of all California school districts. The district's average testing rank is 10 out of 10 in the state's top tier.
Source: Public School Review, Burlingame Elementary School District, publicschoolreview.com/california/burlingame-elementary-school-district/606480-school-district
For buyers who care deeply about which elementary school their child attends, the practical approach is to identify the specific school you want first, then search for homes within that attendance boundary. The Burlingame School District publishes its boundary maps online, and I pull the school assignment for every property my buyers seriously consider. It takes two minutes and removes the uncertainty entirely.
The neighborhoods that generate the most school-related questions from buyers are these:
Easton Addition: This is the most sought-after neighborhood in Burlingame for families, and it falls in the Lincoln Elementary boundary. The streets west of El Camino Real in the upper Burlingame area are known for tree-lined blocks, high-end homes, and a tight community feel. Lincoln consistently draws strong parent involvement and community engagement.
Ray Park and Mills Estates: Neighborhoods east of El Camino Real toward the bay. Ray Park generally feeds Roosevelt Elementary, and Mills Estates feeds Franklin Elementary. Both are good schools in active neighborhood communities. Mills Estates in particular has a strong parent community given the neighborhood's density and the number of families with young children.
Broadway and Howard Avenue corridor: Washington Elementary serves much of the central Burlingame area near the Broadway downtown corridor. This is a highly walkable neighborhood, and the proximity to Broadway's restaurants and shops makes it appealing to buyers who want downtown access alongside good schools.
Upper Hills / Summit Drive area: Hoover Elementary serves the hillside neighborhoods above the flatland city core. These are generally the larger lots with views. Hoover is a smaller school by enrollment, which some families prefer for the more intimate community feel.
The transition from elementary to middle school is a moment every parent in Burlingame navigates, and it is a good transition to make. Burlingame Intermediate School brings all six elementary communities together under one roof at 1715 Quesada Way, and the result is a school with genuine energy and a broad range of programs.
According to Niche's data, BIS has a student-teacher ratio of 22 to 1, and 67% of students score at or above proficient in math and 75% in reading — both well above state averages. The school offers programs in world languages, music, drama, visual arts, robotics and engineering, and a full athletic program across multiple sports. In a recent school year, BIS hosted a Special Olympics event that brought together over 145 athletes from three school districts which tells you something about the school's culture beyond the test scores.
Source: Niche, Burlingame Intermediate School, niche.com; Burlingame Intermediate School community newsletter, lincoln.burlingameschools.org
For families coming from San Francisco, the middle school experience at BIS is often the moment they fully understand what they moved for. The kids in their neighborhood are the same kids in their child's class. The community that started to form at the elementary level deepens and becomes the social foundation for high school.
BHS is where the Burlingame school story reaches its strongest chapter. The official 2025-26 school profile, published by BHS and the San Mateo Union High School District, provides direct data on academic performance. I am drawing from that primary source here.
Enrollment: 1,621 students. Credentialed teachers: 90. Student-teacher ratio: approximately 18:1, which is lower than the state average of 21:1.
College readiness: 82.3% of the Class of 2025 met UC/CSU a-g requirements, the standard for four-year university admission eligibility in California. The statewide average for this metric is significantly lower.
Matriculation rate: 96% of the Class of 2025 went on to further education after graduation.
SAT performance: The mean SAT composite for 2024-25 was 1,299, with a mean Reading/Writing score of 645 and a mean Math score of 654.
ACT performance: The mean ACT composite was 29.4.
AP testing: In May 2025, 685 students took AP exams, completing 1,596 total exams. Of those, 1,422 received qualifying scores — an 89% qualifying rate, which is exceptional.
College and career readiness: 68.7% of BHS students were identified as Prepared for College and Career, and another 17.1% were identified as Approaching Prepared, for a combined 85.8% at or near college-ready standards.
Source: Burlingame High School 2025-26 School Profile, published by SMUHSD. resources.finalsite.net/images/v1755629980/smuhsdorg/yabwbwehldjygqq7az7k/BHSSchoolProfile2025-26.pdf
One of the most important and least-discussed features of BHS's academic program is its open enrollment policy for Advanced Placement and Honors courses. It is both district and school policy that any student can enroll in AP or Honors classes without requiring teacher recommendation or prior approval. This is not standard across all California high schools. It reflects a belief that students should be able to challenge themselves without gatekeeping, and it means that motivated students have full access to the most rigorous curriculum the school offers.
Source: Burlingame High School 2025-26 School Profile; BHS Academics page, bhs.smuhsd.org/academics
BHS competes across more than 25 varsity and junior varsity sports including football, basketball, soccer, baseball, softball, swimming, water polo, cross-country, track and field, lacrosse, tennis, golf, badminton, and wrestling. The school has a strong tradition in athletics which is something I experienced firsthand as a student here and as a member of the Burlingame High School Athletic Hall of Fame. The athletic culture at BHS is competitive without the hyper-specialization pressure that characterizes some neighboring districts. Kids play multiple sports. They have childhoods.
The performing arts program at BHS is equally robust, with music, drama, and visual arts offerings that support both the student who wants to perform in the spring musical and the one pursuing AP Studio Art for college applications. The Iron Panthers Robotics team, founded in 2013, has competed at the national level in the FIRST Championship and developed a reputation as one of the stronger Bay Area programs.
Source: Wikipedia, Burlingame High School (California), en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burlingame_High_School_(California); BHS Official Website, bhs.smuhsd.org
BHS has produced a range of notable alumni across fields: Ben Eastman, inducted into the Track and Field Hall of Fame, who represented the U.S. in the 1932 Olympics; Scott Feldman and Zac Grotz, both MLB pitchers; Frankie Ferrari, a professional basketball player; and Grammy Award-winning record producer Val Garay, among others. The range of alumni reflects the breadth of what BHS develops in students, not just the narrow academic track.
Source: Wikipedia, Burlingame High School (California), en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burlingame_High_School_(California)
This is what most SF families are really asking. Let me lay it out directly.
In Burlingame, your address determines your school. No application, no lottery, no strategy, no anxiety. You close on your house, you register at your neighborhood school. In SFUSD, families currently navigate a lottery system where receiving your ninth-choice school is not hypothetical; it has happened to parents quoted in the San Francisco Standard in March 2026. SFUSD's own data shows students in the same neighborhood attend an average of 27 different schools. The reform to a zone-based system that was supposed to address this has been delayed indefinitely.
Comparing is not entirely straightforward because SFUSD encompasses schools of wildly varying quality. SFUSD's system-wide averages are pulled down significantly by schools in high-poverty areas. What is fair to say: Burlingame's schools perform consistently and at a high level across all campuses. The district's math proficiency rate of approximately 75% compares to California's state average of 34%. Reading proficiency at approximately 76% compares to the state average of 47%. Every school in the district operates at this elevated level. That consistency does not exist across SFUSD as a whole.
This is the hardest thing to quantify and probably the most important. In Burlingame, the kids in your neighborhood go to school together from kindergarten through twelfth grade. The social network that forms is dense, local, and durable. Parents know each other. Children know each other's families. The Fourth of July parade, the Burlingame Avenue Arts and Wine Festival, the BHS football games are activities attended by the same overlapping community that your kids' school creates. In SFUSD, students living on the same block routinely attend completely different schools. The neighborhood as a social unit simply does not form in the same way.
It is fair to note what Burlingame's schools are not. They are not Palo Alto Unified, which carries national ranking prestige and the specific college placement culture that comes with it. If a family's primary goal is maximizing their child's statistical chances at the most selective universities and they are comfortable with the academic pressure culture that comes with that environment, PAUSD is worth the comparison. Burlingame High School is excellent and it is in the top 3% of California schools but it is not a pressure cooker, and for most families, that is a feature rather than a limitation.
Less than you think. All six schools operate within the same well-funded, high-performing district. The differences are in community character and neighborhood feel, not in academic outcomes. That said, if a specific program matters to you like the Spanish Dual Language Immersion at McKinley, it is worth factoring into your home search specifically.
New student enrollment is handled directly by the Burlingame School District at (650) 259-3800. Enrollment is based on your current address and your child's grade. Families who move mid-year are accommodated, though some schools may have fuller classrooms at certain grade levels. Transitional Kindergarten is available at McKinley depending on enrollment and capacity.
Source: Burlingame School District, New Student Enrollment, burlingameschools.org/enrollment
The Burlingame School District serves students who live within Burlingame's city limits. Families in neighboring unincorporated areas of San Mateo County may have different school assignments. Always verify with the district directly for addresses near city boundaries.
The Burlingame area has several well-regarded private options, most notably St. Catherine of Siena (K-8) and Our Lady of Angels (K-8) for families seeking Catholic education, and several independent preschools and elementary programs in adjacent communities. Many families in Burlingame choose public schools specifically because the public option is so strong but private schooling is available for families who want it.
Yes, with context. BHS's open AP enrollment policy means highly motivated students have access to rigorous coursework. The Class of 2025 sent students to four-year universities at a 96% matriculation rate. The SAT mean composite of 1,299 and the 89% qualifying rate on AP exams both speak to strong college preparation. What BHS does not replicate is the specific culture and external reputation of Palo Alto High or Gunn High Schools where college admissions competition is the dominant social organizing principle. If that environment is what your family is seeking, that is a legitimate and honest reason to look at Palo Alto instead. If you want serious academics in a more balanced environment, BHS is genuinely excellent.
Burlingame's schools are not just good enough to justify a move. They are one of the strongest public school systems in California, from kindergarten through high school, with a coherent feeder path, a unified community, and the single most valuable thing a school district can offer a family: predictability.
You buy your house, you know your school. Your child grows up with the kids who live near them. They go to BIS with those kids in sixth grade. They walk into Burlingame High as freshmen already knowing half the student body. That is not just an academic advantage. It is a childhood.
I grew up in this system. I chose to build my career here. And I watch families move here every year for exactly this reason. It lives up to what people have heard about it.
Ready to find your neighborhood in Burlingame?
Let's start with a conversation about where you want your kids to go to school, and work backward from there to the right home and the right block. I have been doing this for over 20 years and I know which streets are in which boundaries without looking them up.
Jacklyn O'Connor Friedland
Compass | Burlingame, CA
(650) 766-0791
CA DRE# 01726418
Burlingame High School Hall of Fame inductee, 2014. San Mateo County Sports Hall of Fame inductee, 2008.
This article is for informational purposes only. School boundaries, proficiency scores, and district programs are subject to change. Always verify current attendance boundaries and enrollment requirements directly with the Burlingame School District and San Mateo Union High School District before making real estate or educational decisions.
All sources used in this article. Verify data against primary sources before publication.
1. Burlingame School District — Official Website and Enrollment
burlingameschools.org and burlingameschools.org/enrollment
2. Burlingame High School — Official 2025-26 School Profile
resources.finalsite.net/images/v1755629980/smuhsdorg/yabwbwehldjygqq7az7k/BHSSchoolProfile2025-26.pdf — Primary source for all BHS enrollment, AP, SAT, ACT, and college readiness statistics cited in this article.
3. Burlingame High School — Official Website
bhs.smuhsd.org — Academic programs, athletics, AP policy, academics page.
4. Wikipedia — Burlingame High School (California)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burlingame_High_School_(California) — Athletics history, notable alumni, founding history.
5. Wikipedia — Burlingame School District
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burlingame_School_District — District overview, schools, history.
6. Public School Review — Burlingame Elementary School District
publicschoolreview.com/california/burlingame-elementary-school-district/606480-school-district — District #61 of 1,907 California districts; top 5% ranking; proficiency data.
7. U.S. News Education — Burlingame Elementary School District
usnews.com/education/k12/california/districts/burlingame-elementary-114789 — District proficiency data; $13,400 per-pupil spending; teacher licensure rate 99.2%.
8. U.S. News Education — Franklin Elementary School
usnews.com/education/k12/california/franklin-elementary-242301 — Franklin individual school math (77%) and reading (84%) proficiency scores.
9. SchoolDigger — Burlingame High School
schooldigger.com/go/CA/schools/3498005920/school.aspx — BHS ranked better than 96.6% of California high schools; 5-star rating; top 3% statewide.
10. Niche — Burlingame Intermediate School
niche.com/k12/burlingame-intermediate-school-burlingame-ca — Student-teacher ratio 22:1; 67% math proficiency; 75% reading proficiency.
11. Burlingame Intermediate School — Community Newsletter via Lincoln Elementary
lincoln.burlingameschools.org — Club programs, athletics, Special Olympics event, school culture description.
12. San Francisco Standard — 'SFUSD promised to change its hated enrollment system. Now it's postponed indefinitely,' March 16, 2026
sfstandard.com/2026/03/16/sfusd-lottery-school-assignment-system — Lottery reform delay; 8th choice placement; 30% SF students in private school; SFUSD enrollment decline.
13. San Francisco Standard — 'SFUSD called the school lottery predictable. This family got their 8th choice,' March 23, 2026
sfstandard.com/2026/03/23/sfusd-school-lottery-frustration — Specific 8th-choice family example; sibling preference failures; private school flight.
14. SFUSD Official — Student Assignment Policy Changes
sfusd.edu/schools/enroll/student-assignment-policy/student-assignment-changes — 27 schools per neighborhood statistic; zone-based proposal description.
15. San Francisco Standard — 'SF's school lottery drives parents crazy. It's about to change,' April 8, 2025
sfstandard.com/2025/04/08/sfusd-lottery-results-explainer — Lottery process background; 9th-choice family example; parent reactions.
16. NCESB National Center for Education Statistics — School Search, Burlingame 94010
nces.ed.gov — School addresses and enrollment figures for all Burlingame elementary campuses.
As a trusted Realtor to the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders organizations, her expertise handling housing for a long list of professional athletes and coaches is proven and trusted.
Let's ConnectCompass
988 Howard Ave., Suite 300, Burlingame, CA 94010 CA DRE# 01726418
