Barron Park Elementary School

Barron Park Elementary serves the southwest corner of Palo Alto, from the semi-rural lanes of the Barron Park neighborhood to the blocks around El Camino Real. It is the newest school in the district by opening date. PAUSD says it opened in September 1998 as the twelfth elementary school, after enrollment began to climb again in the 1990s. It is also one of the smaller schools, with 258 students in the 2025 to 2026 count from the California Department of Education.

This page adds detail to our overview of PAUSD elementary schools. It covers the campus history, the programs Barron Park publishes, the 2026 to 2027 bell schedule and the rules for getting to school. We do not rank schools or report test scores. The California School Dashboard has official data for every public school.

Location and campus

The school is at 800 Barron Avenue, Palo Alto 94306, a few blocks west of El Camino Real. The surrounding streets are quiet and residential. Some have no sidewalks, which is part of the neighborhood's country feel. Bol Park, with its bike path and the neighborhood's well-known donkeys, is a short walk away.

The district's 2018 facilities profile describes a 7.0 acre site with four single-story buildings in an L shape around a central playground and field. Classrooms in the central wings open under a large canopy with picnic tables that serve as outdoor learning space. The profile lists a library of about 2,500 square feet and several relocatable buildings, including two used for day care.

History: from Hoover to Barron Park

The buildings are older than the school's name. According to the facilities profile, the administration building and the first classroom wing were built in 1947. A second classroom wing and the multipurpose building followed in 1950. A fire in 1977 destroyed much of the original wing and the administration building. The district rebuilt the office in 1978 along with a new multipurpose room.

The same profile says the site was formerly known as Herbert Hoover Elementary School. Wikipedia's list of district schools agrees that Hoover once used the Barron Park campus. District facilities records indicate that Hoover moved to its current site on East Charleston Road in 1998. The Barron Avenue campus reopened that September under the neighborhood's name. Our Hoover Elementary page follows that school's moves.

Work since then includes site improvements, a new library building and four new classrooms around 2001, plus two modular classrooms in 2008. The neighborhood name itself goes back to Edward Barron, who bought the land in 1878. Our Barron Park neighborhood guide tells that story in full.

Programs: Maker Studio, garden and more

Barron Park describes itself as an inclusive school with a full curriculum and extra arts experiences. It mentions small group instruction in reading and writing workshops, one-to-one iPads and Sensory and Motor Rooms that help engage the whole child.

The Maker Studio

The school's signature space is its Maker Studio, which it calls a dedicated room for STEAM learning and the first of its kind in PAUSD. The PTA and PiE helped pay for its equipment. The school's page lists:

• Sewing machines plus knitting, weaving and embroidery.
• Circuitry, coding and robotics kits.
• 3D printers.
• Green screen and stop motion movie making.
• Construction blocks from LEGO sets to wooden planks.

Classes visit at a scheduled time each week. The studio is also open at recess and lunch for students in grades 1 to 5, with some Wednesdays set aside for a student group. Parent volunteers can help without special skills, since the school trains them.

Garden and noon programs

An edible garden on the north side of campus was renovated in spring 2015. A California native habitat garden was finished in October 2015 with 30 to 40 native species from five plant communities, from redwood forest to grassland. The PTA funds free noon activities for every student, including Maker Studio time, student government meetings, a dance fitness class and parent-led garden sessions on selected days.

Kindergarten and TK

Barron Park is one of the district's seven transitional kindergarten sites. Its kindergarten page describes hands-on science lessons from the Junior Museum and Zoo, Spectra Art lessons, a harvest feast in November and a Lunar New Year dragon parade around campus. Kindergarten classes start with a short day and move to full days in mid-October.

Bell schedule basics for 2026 to 2027

Students should arrive no earlier than 8:00 a.m., when playground supervision begins. Each grade band has its own gate. The TK gate is on Barron Avenue, the gate for kindergarten to grade 3 is beside the multipurpose room and the gate for grades 4 and 5 is at the end of the parking lot. After dismissal, students wait at their gate and should be picked up within 10 minutes.

On early release days dismissal is at 12:15 p.m. The 2026 to 2027 dates are September 4, October 30, November 20 and December 18, 2026, then April 2 and June 1 to 3, 2027. Check the Barron Park daily schedule for changes.

Attendance area and feeder schools

Barron Park serves a neighborhood attendance area in the southwest of the city. Palo Alto Weekly guides have also listed it for the Ventura neighborhood across El Camino Real. Because boundaries follow particular streets, check any address in the School Finder linked from PAUSD's school placement and transfers page.

The same guides list Fletcher Middle School as the next step, followed by Gunn or Palo Alto High School depending on the address. If a grade is full, PAUSD can overflow a new student to another school in the cluster and place the child on the Barron Park waitlist. TK students are placed at a TK site in their cluster, which may or may not be Barron Park.

Getting there and the car line

The school links the city's Walk and Roll map for Barron Park from its traffic page, along with Safe Routes to School tips. Many students arrive on foot or by bike along neighborhood streets and the Bol Park path.

For drivers, the school runs a rolling drop-off in the morning:

1. Enter the parking lot, which has two lanes.
2. Use the inner lane for drop-off only. There is no parking in that lane and staff will ask you to keep moving.
3. To walk a child onto campus, park in a marked space or on a nearby street.
4. Do not park in the no-parking zone at the corner of Barron and Josina avenues or in spaces marked for staff.
5. Avoid U-turns in front of the school.

Parking is limited, so the school suggests allowing extra time. PAUSD does not run buses for most elementary students.

PTA, PiE and after school

The Barron Park PTA buys classroom supplies so families do not have to. It asks only for a small voluntary contribution, according to the school's FAQ. It also funds noon programs and helps equip the Maker Studio. PiE, the district's education foundation, funds enrichment such as Junior Museum science and Spectra Art. Parents can volunteer in classrooms, the library, the garden and the studio, or join the School Site Council.

After-school classes are run by private vendors on campus every weekday. The PTA posts the current list. Partial or full scholarships may be available on a first come basis through the school office. For child care, the school names the Barron Park Kids Club, run by PACCC. The school posts much of this information in Spanish as well as English. Our after-school programs guide covers providers across PAUSD.

Frequently asked questions