Mark Keppel Elementary, Glendale CA

Original Research by School Decision on Mark Keppel Elementary

Mark Keppel Elementary is a neighborhood school in Glendale serving kindergarten through fifth grade, with a mid-sized enrollment and a racially and socioeconomically diverse student body. The school sits in a city that blends downtown commercial energy with quiet residential areas, about ten miles north of downtown Los Angeles, with strong transit access and an active parks system anchored by Brand Park.

On state assessments administered in the most recent school year, Mark Keppel's students show mixed results. In English language arts across tested grades, proficiency runs between the low and mid-range, with fourth graders performing most strongly. Math proficiency is lower across all grades, hovering in the mid-range at best, with a slight decline in upper elementary grades. In science, measured at fifth grade only, proficiency falls to the low range. Overall, the school's proficiency index places it above the midpoint among Los Angeles County elementary and dual-purpose schools, a position that reflects respectable performance in the county context but also indicates room for growth in foundational skills.

Student composition shows a majority white enrollment with meaningful presence of Asian, Hispanic, and multiracial students. Close to half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating moderate economic diversity within the enrollment. No enrollment data for students with disabilities or English learners was available.

The school is part of Glendale Unified, a district serving Glendale, La Cañada Flintridge, and unincorporated areas including La Crescenta and Montrose. The district is currently navigating significant structural changes. Beginning in 2025-26, secondary schools are reverting from a seven-period to a six-period daily schedule, which will reduce elective offerings for middle and high school students; this change stems from budget pressures and affects most of the district except two schools with specialized curriculum. Additionally, the district has identified a substantial facilities backlog and is exploring a general obligation bond measure for the November ballot, which if approved would fund modernization but also raise local property taxes for the first time since the early 2010s. Families considering Mark Keppel should be aware these district-wide shifts are underway.

Glendale itself offers a walkable downtown with retail and cultural anchors, neighborhood parks, and good transit connections via Metrolink, Amtrak, and city bus routes. Housing in the area is expensive relative to national norms; median home values are well above state benchmarks. The employment base includes entertainment and media firms such as DreamWorks Animation and Disney operations, technology companies, and large retail centers, contributing to a prosperous but high-cost environment. New residential construction continues, much of it multifamily housing near downtown, though the market softened somewhat in 2025.

Mark Keppel is an open neighborhood school with no specialized magnet or charter designation. The data does not indicate the school's class sizes, staffing, specialized programs, or attendance rates, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about these details. State assessment trends cannot yet be assessed because only one year of current data is available.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 359%

School 59% · District 60% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 457%

School 57% · District 59% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

Grade 554%

School 54% · District 52% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 355%

School 55% · District 58% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Grade 466%

School 66% · District 61% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

Grade 560%

School 60% · District 62% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 13 pts above county median

Science

Grade 538%

School 38% · District 44% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

This schoolGlendale 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-income50%Higher-income62%12 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income63%Higher-income73%10 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income57%Higher-income66%9 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income52%Higher-income68%16 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income54%Higher-income64%10 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income50%Higher-income63%13 pp gap