Original Research by School Decision on Artesia High
Artesia High is a traditional public high school serving grades nine through twelve in Lakewood, a planned postwar suburb in Los Angeles County. The school's current enrollment is spread evenly across the four grades, making it a mid-sized comprehensive high school. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with smaller populations of Asian, Black, and multiracial students; only a small share identifies as white. About nine in ten students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the area's economic composition.
State test results from the most recent reporting year show proficiency in English language arts at roughly the midpoint of performance, while mathematics and science proficiency are substantially lower. English language arts proficiency is nearly half of students, mathematics proficiency is less than a quarter, and science proficiency is around a fifth. The data provided contains only one year of results, so trends over time are not visible. A parent may want to ask the school directly about recent initiatives to support mathematics and science achievement, as well as about graduation rates and college or career pathways, which were not available in state reporting.
Lakewood itself is a stable, family-oriented residential community built in the 1950s as a planned suburb of single-family homes. The city remains largely built out, with new housing coming primarily through infill projects, accessory dwelling units, and redevelopment of underused commercial sites. The most significant change underway is a master-planned transformation of the Lakewood Center, a large regional shopping mall, into a walkable mixed-use district that will add housing, dining, wellness space, and green space to what has long been a car-dependent area. The community is anchored by an extensive park system, two public libraries, and retail and healthcare employment. Long Beach Transit and Metro bus service the area, though there is no rail transit in Lakewood proper.
Artesia High is located on a separated campus within a residential neighborhood, as is typical for schools in the area. The school is part of ABC Unified, which serves portions of Lakewood alongside other districts including Long Beach Unified and Bellflower Unified; most of Lakewood's students attend Long Beach Unified schools. The neighborhood surrounding Artesia is tree-lined and suburban, with parks, single-family homes, and commercial activity concentrated on main thoroughfares. Housing in the Lakewood area is relatively expensive for Los Angeles County and moderately expensive nationally; rents and mortgage costs reflect that the area is substantially more affordable to rent than to buy, and both exceed local household income benchmarks significantly.
Information about Artesia's course offerings, specialized programs, staffing, attendance patterns, or student support services was not available. A family considering Artesia would benefit from visiting the school's website or contacting the school directly to learn about program breadth, AP or honors courses, career and technical pathways, extracurricular offerings, and the nature of academic support available to students, particularly in mathematics and science.
See more original research from School Decision →