Jefferson, Hawthorne CA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Jefferson

Jefferson is a small, neighborhood elementary school in Hawthorne serving kindergarten through fifth grade. The school sits within the Hawthorne School District, a district that in recent years has made a deliberate pivot toward embedding health and wellness support directly into school campuses. Jefferson itself is part of a district where on-site health and wellness centers now provide free or low-cost medical care, mental health support, and insurance enrollment help to students and families, operating regardless of insurance status. That infrastructure is present in the community and available to Jefferson families.

The school's student body is predominantly low-income and Latino. About four in five students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The enrollment is small, roughly balanced across grades, with slightly larger cohorts in kindergarten and fourth grade. Racially and ethnically, the majority are Latino, with a substantial African American presence and smaller Asian, Pacific Islander, and white populations, reflecting the broader South Bay demographics of the area.

Academically, Jefferson's state testing results show attainment well below the midpoint among Los Angeles County districts. In math across tested grades, overall proficiency sits in the bottom quartile county-wide. The pattern is uneven by grade: third grade shows the highest math result, while fifth grade math proficiency is substantially lower. English language arts follows a similar trajectory, with third grade strongest and fifth grade weakest. Science proficiency in fifth grade, the grade where the state assesses it, is also low. The decline in performance from third to fifth grade is a pattern a parent may want to explore further with the school, as it suggests either growing difficulty with the curriculum as students advance or possible shifts in student cohorts between grades.

Hawthorne itself is a mixed residential and commercial South Bay city about fifteen miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles, defined by modest ranch-style homes on compact lots, locally anchored by the aerospace industry with SpaceX as its largest employer. The city has walkable neighborhoods with sidewalks on residential streets, and commercial activity concentrates along Hawthorne Boulevard, which is being redesigned as a Complete Street with separated pedestrian, bike, and transit lanes. The area is served by light rail on the Metro C Line and numerous bus routes. Parks dot the neighborhoods, including Eucalyptus Park with basketball courts, a skatepark, and trails.

The housing market in the area is expensive relative to national benchmarks but consistent with Los Angeles County. Median home values sit well above the national benchmark, and monthly rents are substantial as well. The area's affordability relative to income puts renters in the upper half of the cost-to-income spectrum. The local economy centers on aerospace and advanced manufacturing, with some service-sector presence.

Jefferson is a public school of modest size, not a charter, with no magnet designation. It serves a neighborhood population with significant economic and language needs. Its academic results are weak relative to the county, particularly in upper elementary grades, and that pattern is worth understanding directly with the school. The supporting infrastructure of health centers in the district and the walkable, park-filled neighborhood setting are real features of the school's environment. Whether the school's trajectory and approach match a family's educational priorities would require conversations beyond what the data provides.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 348%

School 48% · District 43% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Grade 442%

School 42% · District 37% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 518%

School 18% · District 33% · ▼ 15 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 345%

School 45% · District 43% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 441%

School 41% · District 40% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

Grade 530%

School 30% · District 40% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Science

Grade 518%

School 18% · District 24% · ▼ 6 pts below district

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

This schoolHawthorne, 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 4Lower-income42%Higher-income31%11 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income38%Higher-income69%32 pp gap