Del Valle Elementary, La Puente CA

Original Research by School Decision on Del Valle Elementary

Del Valle Elementary serves kindergarten through sixth grade in La Puente, a small, densely built residential community in the San Gabriel Valley east of Los Angeles. The school is part of Hacienda la Puente Unified School District.

The school closed at the end of the 2023-24 school year as part of a district reconfiguration plan adopted in November 2023 in response to declining enrollment. The district shuttered four schools, including Del Valle, and relocated some students to other campuses. This reflects a structural shift in the district: enrollment has declined over the preceding years and is projected to continue falling through the rest of the decade, signaling that further consolidation may follow.

The available academic data is from the 2023-24 school year, the final year of operation. On California's Smarter Balanced assessments in English language arts and math, the school's proficiency rates varied significantly by grade. In third grade, proficiency was very low in both subjects. Fourth grade showed moderate results in ELA and math. Fifth grade performance dropped sharply in math but recovered somewhat in ELA. Sixth grade was the strongest, with proficiency well above the school's overall average in both math and ELA. On the California Assessment of Student Performance and Growth in science, administered to fifth graders, proficiency was low. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index placed it in the bottom quartile among the county's schools. A parent may want to look further into why performance varied so widely by grade, though it is important to note that the final-year context complicates any interpretation of these snapshots.

The student body reflected La Puente's demographics: the vast majority of students were Hispanic, with smaller numbers of Asian students and very few white or Black students. A substantial share of students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating economic need across much of the enrollment. Data on English learners and students receiving special education services were not available.

The school's enrollment was small, with slightly more than a sixth-grader population, a significant share fifth graders, and smaller kindergarten and primary-grade classes. The decline in total enrollment mirrored the district's overall trend and likely contributed to the closure decision.

La Puente itself is a working- and middle-class community with a recognizable historic downtown along Main Street, where City Hall and the library anchor civic life. The area is car-oriented, though somewhat walkable near the historic district. Manufacturing, health care, and retail are the dominant employment sectors. Housing values are moderate for the Los Angeles area, though rents have risen. The city is pursuing mixed-use infill development to add walkable neighborhoods with varied housing options, including affordable units.

The district operates an Intersectional Ethnic Studies curriculum across all grade levels and is expanding Ethnic Studies as a graduation requirement, weaving it into English, Spanish, and other courses. This reflects a deliberate curriculum choice families should be aware of when considering schools in the district.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 314%

School 14% · District 52% · ▼ 38 pts below district

▼ 29 pts below state median · ▼ 32 pts below county median

Grade 436%

School 36% · District 46% · ▼ 10 pts below district

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

Grade 53%

School 3% · District 38% · ▼ 35 pts below district

▼ 27 pts below state median · ▼ 30 pts below county median

Grade 669%

School 69% · District 35% · ▲ 34 pts above district

▲ 39 pts above state median · ▲ 38 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 314%

School 14% · District 48% · ▼ 34 pts below district

▼ 27 pts below state median · ▼ 28 pts below county median

Grade 443%

School 43% · District 45% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Grade 536%

School 36% · District 50% · ▼ 14 pts below district

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

Grade 663%

School 63% · District 47% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 19 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Science

Grade 515%

School 15% · District 32% · ▼ 17 pts below district

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

This schoolHacienda la Puente 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.