Hawaiian Elementary, Hawaiian Gardens CA

Original Research by School Decision on Hawaiian Elementary

Hawaiian Elementary serves a small school population of about a quarter-thousand students in kindergarten through sixth grade in Hawaiian Gardens, a densely built working-class city on the southeast edge of Los Angeles County. The school is part of ABC Unified, which serves the city and surrounding areas.

The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial share from two-or-more-races backgrounds. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic reality of the community. The school operates in a city that is essentially built out, with minimal room for new growth, where the dominant local employer is a card-room casino and where most secondary-age students attend schools outside the city proper.

State testing results from the most recent year show proficiency in both English language arts and math trailing substantially behind the median among schools in Los Angeles County. In English language arts, about a quarter to a third of third and fourth graders meet grade-level standards, while rates improve somewhat in fifth and sixth grades, reaching the low-to-mid forties. Math proficiency is notably lower across all tested grades, ranging from roughly a quarter to a third of students meeting standards. Science results for fifth grade—the only tested grade in science—show proficiency near a quarter of students. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile when compared to other schools in the county. A parent may want to discuss with the school what factors contribute to these results, how the school is working to support students to higher achievement, and what resources the school has access to for intervention and acceleration.

The school draws from a neighborhood where housing values reflect the broader Los Angeles market and where the median household income locally aligns with national figures. However, the affordability picture is tighter than that simple comparison suggests: monthly mortgage costs and rent as a share of household income both run well above the national baseline, reflecting both local housing costs and the income profile of the families the school serves.

The city provides parks, recreation facilities, and a public library for residents, and transit is accessible through multiple bus systems. Cerritos College sits nearby as an educational anchor. The immediate school enrollment is small enough that looping or multi-grade structures might be possible, though no information about the school's actual organizational approach was available. Staffing data and program details were not included in available sources, so a parent would benefit from speaking directly with the school about class size, specialist support, and any specialized or enrichment offerings the school provides.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 333%

School 33% · District 63% · ▼ 29 pts below district

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 431%

School 31% · District 56% · ▼ 25 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 529%

School 29% · District 52% · ▼ 23 pts below district

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

Grade 626%

School 26% · District 55% · ▼ 29 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 329%

School 29% · District 58% · ▼ 29 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 427%

School 27% · District 59% · ▼ 32 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 543%

School 43% · District 65% · ▼ 22 pts below district

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

Grade 645%

School 45% · District 69% · ▼ 24 pts below district

▲ 1 pts above state median · even with county median

Science

Grade 529%

School 29% · District 48% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

This schoolABC 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.