Linton T. Simmons Elementary, Garden Grove CA

Original Research by School Decision on Linton T. Simmons Elementary

Linton T. Simmons Elementary is a small public school serving kindergarten through sixth grade in Garden Grove, Orange County. The school has a small enrollment with a student body that is roughly nine-tenths Hispanic, with most of the remainder Asian. The vast majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, making this a school serving a low-income community.

State test results from 2024-25 show performance well below what the state considers proficient across both math and English language arts. In math, proficiency ranged from a low in the middle grades to roughly half of students meeting the standard in fourth and sixth grades. In ELA, third grade proficiency was similarly low, but fourth through sixth grades saw proficiency at or just below the midpoint. Fifth-grade science proficiency was also low. When those results are averaged across all tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile relative to districts in Orange County.

The neighborhood surrounding the school is residential and suburban, shaped by postwar development with a rectangular street grid and auto-oriented layout. Garden Grove itself is strongly multicultural, home to one of the world's largest Vietnamese-American communities and an active Koreatown. Life in the city centers on roughly a dozen parks and a downtown civic core anchored by Village Green Park. The school district maintains its headquarters nearby, so civic and school life are woven into the city's fabric rather than isolated on remote campuses. Housing in the area is expensive relative to national benchmarks, with significant inventory at the higher end and affordability pressure driving mixed-use and infill development projects.

For a parent considering this school, the central question is academic support. The test results indicate that substantial numbers of students are not yet meeting grade-level standards in both math and reading. The school serves a population with significant economic need, which often correlates with gaps in early literacy and numeracy. A parent would want to ask the school directly about its intervention strategies, tutoring offerings, and the specific approaches it uses in reading and math instruction, particularly for younger students where foundational skills matter most. Data on class size, staffing, special education services, and English learner programs was not available and should be requested from the school. Understanding the school's plan for moving students toward proficiency would be essential before enrolling.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 325%

School 25% · District 58% · ▼ 33 pts below district

▼ 18 pts below state median · ▼ 31 pts below county median

Grade 447%

School 47% · District 54% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 517%

School 17% · District 46% · ▼ 28 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

Grade 646%

School 46% · District 56% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▲ 16 pts above state median · even with county median

English language arts

Grade 319%

School 19% · District 52% · ▼ 33 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 31 pts below county median

Grade 447%

School 47% · District 55% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 549%

School 49% · District 59% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

Grade 649%

School 49% · District 63% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Science

Grade 517%

School 17% · District 39% · ▼ 22 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

This schoolGarden Grove 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.