Holly Avenue Elementary, Arcadia CA

Original Research by School Decision on Holly Avenue Elementary

Holly Avenue Elementary is a regular public school serving kindergarten through fifth grade in Arcadia, a San Gabriel Valley suburb about thirteen miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles. The school sits on West Duarte Road in a community defined by single-family neighborhoods, commercial corridors, and civic anchors like the arboretum and county parks, with substantial Asian representation across the city and diverse dining and cultural life along main commercial streets.

The school serves a student body that is heavily Asian, with a smaller share of Hispanic students and very limited representation of other groups. About half the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The enrollment is stable across all grade levels, running about the same size per grade throughout the span the school covers.

On state tests in math and English language arts, Holly Avenue's proficiency rates show solid performance in the tested grades. In third grade, students reach proficiency in math at a rate above three-quarters, and in fourth grade the rate is nearly as high. Fifth-grade math proficiency drops notably lower, around two-thirds. In English language arts, third and fourth graders perform in a similar band, while fifth graders run a few points lower. In fifth-grade science, proficiency stands noticeably below the math and language arts results. Overall, the school's proficiency index places it in the top quartile among schools across Los Angeles County districts, reflecting strength in tested academics. Only one year of data is available, so longer trends cannot be assessed.

The school is situated in Arcadia, a high-cost housing market where home values are well above state and national benchmarks. Rents are also substantial relative to median incomes in the region. This community context shapes the economic profile of families in the school's area, though the enrollment of students qualifying for lunch assistance indicates economic diversity within the school population itself.

Arcadia Unified, the parent district, approved a substantial bond measure in November 2024 aimed at modernizing school facilities. Many buildings in the district, including some serving Holly Avenue's grade band, were constructed in the 1950s. The bond will fund repairs, safety upgrades, technology improvements, and infrastructure work on campuses across the district, changes that will unfold over years and represent a lasting commitment to facility renewal. This bond also carried a property-tax increase for homeowners, a factor families considering a move to the community would weigh.

The school's academic strength in math and language arts, combined with its role in a district undergoing significant capital investment, positions it as a solid choice for families prioritizing early-grade academics in a suburb with strong housing value and amenities. Parents may want to look into the trajectory of fifth-grade performance and the science results further with the school, as those show room for growth.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 378%

School 78% · District 76% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 32 pts above county median

Grade 478%

School 78% · District 72% · ▲ 6 pts above district

▲ 40 pts above state median · ▲ 37 pts above county median

Grade 564%

School 64% · District 68% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 372%

School 72% · District 69% · ▲ 3 pts above district

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

Grade 473%

School 73% · District 72% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Grade 569%

School 69% · District 75% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Science

Grade 558%

School 58% · District 65% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

This schoolArcadia 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-income69%Higher-income75%6 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income72%Higher-income75%3 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income59%Higher-income78%18 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income80%Higher-income76%4 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income75%Higher-income81%6 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income55%Higher-income73%18 pp gap