Lynwood, about two miles south of Novato's downtown area, serves families that live in micro-neighborhoods known as the Presidentials, Cheda Knolls, Midwest, Sunset, Crossroads, Woodland Heights and Lynwood.
The school is one of eight neighborhood elementary schools in the Novato Unified School District and is home to the district's Gifted and Talented Education program for fourth- and fifth-graders. Built in 1957, the school has 24 teachers, 18 classrooms, a multipurpose room, a library, staff lounge, computer lab and three playgrounds.
In 2009 the school received a three-year state grant that led to the creation of the Lynwood Elementary Afterschool Program for approximately 85 students. It allows for the school to be open until 6 p.m. every school day, providing academic, enrichment and recreation classes.
Lynwood's API score for the 2009-2010 academic year was 808. The state has set 800 as the score schools should strive to meet.
As of the 2009-2010 school year, the ethnic breakdown of the student body included 56.6 percent Hispanics, 26.8 percent whites, 7.4 percent Asian Americans and 6.3 percent African Americans. Thirty-six percent of the students are considered English language learners, well above the district average of 21 percent.
The socioeconomic status of the families in the Lynwood area is considerably below the district average, according to district statistics (socioeconomically disadvantaged students are those receiving free or reduced lunch or when neither parent is a high school graduate). The average school in Novato has 33 percent of students classified as socioeconomically challenged, but at Lynwood the figure is 65 percent. Thirty-two percent of Lynwood parents surveyed had college degrees, well below the district average of 53 percent.