The top reported proficiency rate is 35% in Science. The lowest is 21% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Sunset Elementary
Sunset Elementary sits on North Tonopah Avenue in La Puente, a densely built, predominantly Latino working- and middle-class city in the San Gabriel Valley, roughly a short drive east of downtown Los Angeles. The school is part of Hacienda La Puente Unified and serves kindergarten through sixth grade.
The most consequential fact a family needs to know before anything else: Sunset Elementary was closed at the end of the 2023-24 school year as part of a district reconfiguration plan approved by the board in late 2023. The district publicly cited declining enrollment as the driver, and projections show enrollment continuing to fall, which signals possible further consolidation. The school's state assessment data in this profile reflects its final year of operation. If you are looking for a current enrollment option, this campus is no longer accepting students, and families who were displaced were directed to priority and general open enrollment processes within Hacienda La Puente Unified.
With that context in place, the academic picture from the school's last year is worth understanding for anyone assessing the district more broadly. Proficiency rates on California's Smarter Balanced assessments were low across tested grades. In math, results ranged from very low at the third and sixth grade levels to modestly higher in fifth grade, but no grade reached even half of students at the proficient-or-above threshold. English language arts showed a similar pattern, with most grades in a low range, though fifth grade was notably the exception, where more than half of tested students scored proficient or above. Fifth grade science, measured by the state's CAST assessment, came in at roughly a third of students meeting the standard. Placed against districts in Los Angeles County, the school's overall proficiency index sat in the bottom quartile of the schools and districts in that comparison set. These numbers come from small tested groups at each grade level, so individual-year swings can be large, but the pattern across subjects and grades is consistent enough to note. A parent would reasonably want to ask the district what academic support structures are in place at the receiving schools for students who transferred out.
The student body was predominantly Hispanic, with a smaller share of Asian students and very few students from other racial and ethnic backgrounds. A substantial share of students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the working- and middle-class character of La Puente more broadly. Data on English learner enrollment and students with IEPs was not available in what was provided.
The district as a whole has made a deliberate curriculum commitment worth knowing about. Hacienda La Puente Unified adopted an Intersectional Ethnic Studies curriculum for all grade levels by board resolution, with the subject expanding toward a graduation requirement at the high school level and being integrated into English, Spanish, and film studies courses. This shapes what students encounter across the district, not just in a single elective.
La Puente itself is a compact, car-oriented city with a recognizable historic downtown along Main Street, where City Hall, the county library branch, and a cluster of small businesses anchor civic life. The city is largely built out and is focused on infill and mixed-use redevelopment rather than new growth. Housing values here are well above the national midpoint and roughly in line with the California state level, and rents have been rising. The rent-to-income ratio points to meaningful cost pressure for renters, and the gap between renting and buying is wide enough that the choice of tenure matters a great deal financially. Foothill Transit provides bus connections to neighboring cities, and Metrolink rail is accessible at the nearby Industry station.
Program-specific offerings for Sunset Elementary were not available in the data provided, and multi-year trend data was also absent, so it is not possible to say whether results were improving or declining over time.
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