Garfield Elementary, Alhambra CA

Original Research by School Decision on Garfield Elementary

Garfield Elementary sits on West McLean Street in Alhambra, a city in the western San Gabriel Valley that sits a relatively short distance east of downtown Los Angeles. The school serves kindergarten through eighth grade within Alhambra Unified, making it one of the district's K-8 campuses rather than a traditional elementary-only school. Its enrollment puts it in a mid-sized range for a school covering that span of grades.

The student body reflects Alhambra's demographic character closely. Hispanic students make up the largest share of enrollment, followed by Asian students as the second-largest group, with smaller numbers of white, multiracial, and Black students. A majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, meaning the school serves a predominantly economically mixed to lower-income population. Data on English learner rates and students with IEPs was not available in what we received.

On the most recent California state assessments, the school's results are mixed in ways worth understanding grade by grade. In English language arts, performance climbs notably as students move through the upper grades: third-grade results are below the midpoint, but by eighth grade proficiency rates are solidly strong. Math tells a different story. Third, fifth, and seventh grade results sit in the lower-to-middle range, while fourth, sixth, and eighth grades show more students reaching proficiency. Science results at fifth grade are modest; eighth-grade science is more solid. The social studies data in the system comes from a much earlier assessment cycle and is not current. Across all tested subjects and grades combined, Garfield's overall proficiency index places it above the midpoint among districts in Los Angeles County, which is the comparison set available. That position is meaningful in a county with a large and varied collection of schools, though a parent should look at the grade-level detail rather than the composite alone to understand where their child would land. Trend data covers only the most recent year, so there is no multi-year direction to characterize.

Alhambra Unified has made two curriculum commitments worth knowing. The district intends to move forward with ethnic studies as a graduation requirement regardless of the state funding pause that has left the statewide mandate in limbo, publicly reported as a deliberate district stance. Separately, the district operates dual language immersion programs at two elementary schools, one in Mandarin and one in Spanish, with a pathway that continues into Alhambra High School. Garfield itself is not one of those immersion sites, so families specifically seeking that pathway would look at Northrup or Fremont for elementary entry.

The housing market surrounding the school reflects Alhambra's position in the Los Angeles basin. Home values here run well above the California statewide median and dramatically above national figures, with modest year-over-year appreciation. Rents are also elevated relative to most of the country, and the rent-to-income ratio is stretched. Buying carries a significant monthly cost at current mortgage rates. Families relocating to attend this school are entering one of the more expensive housing markets in the state.

Alhambra itself is a walkable city by Los Angeles-area standards. The downtown core around Main Street and Garfield Avenue concentrates dining, retail, and civic life, and public transit including the local Alhambra Community Transit lines and LA Metro bus routes connects residents to Cal State LA and broader destinations. The city is pursuing measured mixed-use development rather than rapid expansion, with several specific plans underway downtown. The Civic Center Library, Almansor Park, and the broader parks system serve as everyday civic anchors.

A graduation rate does not apply to Garfield since the school does not serve high school grades. Chronic absenteeism data was not available in what we received, which is a gap a parent may want to ask the school about directly, since absenteeism can be a meaningful signal of school climate at the K-8 level.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 341%

School 41% · District 60% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 460%

School 60% · District 57% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

Grade 540%

School 40% · District 47% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 658%

School 58% · District 54% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

Grade 747%

School 47% · District 54% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▲ 17 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 856%

School 56% · District 58% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 28 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 339%

School 39% · District 56% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 458%

School 58% · District 61% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Grade 553%

School 53% · District 57% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 668%

School 68% · District 64% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

Grade 755%

School 55% · District 66% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 880%

School 80% · District 73% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 35 pts above county median

Science

Grade 534%

School 34% · District 39% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 855%

School 55% · District 52% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 31 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 869%

School 69% · District 59% · ▲ 10 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

This schoolAlhambra Unified, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income36%Higher-income42%7 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income61%Higher-income54%6 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income40%Higher-income71%31 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income66%Higher-income72%7 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income48%Higher-income64%16 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income74%Higher-income85%11 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income41%Higher-income42%2 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income62%Higher-income58%4 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income31%Higher-income54%23 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income59%Higher-income56%3 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income36%Higher-income59%23 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income52%Higher-income59%7 pp gap