The top reported proficiency rate is 51% in English language arts. The lowest is 31% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Washington
Washington Elementary sits on West 129th Street in Hawthorne, a South Bay city roughly fifteen miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles. The school serves kindergarten through fifth grade as a regular public school in the Hawthorne School District, a district that feeds into the Centinela Valley Union High School District for middle and high school.
The school's enrollment is solidly mid-sized for a K-5 campus. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with Black students making up the next largest group and smaller numbers of white, Asian, and Pacific Islander students. The economic picture is clear: the vast majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing Washington among the higher-need elementary campuses by that measure. Data on English learner enrollment and students with IEPs were not available in what was provided.
On the California CAASPP assessments, the most recent results show a mixed picture by grade. Third-grade math proficiency is the strongest result across all tested grades, and third-grade ELA is also relatively solid. Both drop noticeably in fourth grade, then math falls further in fifth while ELA recovers somewhat. Fifth-grade science, measured by the California Science Test, comes in below the ELA and math results for that grade. Taken together, the overall proficiency index places Washington just above the midpoint relative to districts in Los Angeles County, which is a meaningful position for a high-poverty school in one of the country's most competitive county school markets. Still, the lower proficiency in fourth- and fifth-grade math is worth asking the school about directly, particularly for families with children approaching that stretch of the curriculum. Trend data would help clarify whether these patterns are improving, but only a single year of results was available, so no directional read is possible yet.
One concrete district-level development that applies directly to Washington families: Hawthorne School District has built out a Community Schools model, using a California Community Schools Partnership Program grant to place health and wellness centers on district campuses in partnership with Venice Family Clinic. Publicly reported information indicates that services, including medical care, mental health support, and insurance enrollment help, are available to all Hawthorne School District students regardless of insurance status. This is a meaningful support layer for families navigating economic strain, and it distinguishes the district from many elementary programs that leave families to find those services on their own.
Hawthorne itself is a mostly residential city with a strong aerospace identity, anchored today by SpaceX and Tesla rather than the Northrop operations that defined earlier decades. The neighborhood around Washington Elementary is typical of the city's residential fabric: modest ranch-style homes, walkable streets, and commercial activity along the main corridors rather than in the immediate blocks around the school. The Hawthorne Library was remodeled recently, and the city's park network, including Eucalyptus Park and Memorial Park, provides accessible open space. The Metro C Line connects Hawthorne to the wider region, which matters for families whose daily lives span multiple parts of the county.
Housing near the school is expensive relative to national norms. Home values in the zip code sit well above the California statewide median and dramatically above the national median, and rents have been rising. The estimated monthly cost of owning at current prices and mortgage rates is substantially higher than the median rent, which itself consumes a notable share of a typical income. Families considering a move to this attendance area should budget accordingly.
The most significant local development story is the long-vacant Hawthorne Plaza mall site, a large parcel on Hawthorne Boulevard where the city secured a court injunction in 2025 requiring redevelopment or demolition by mid-2026. If the mixed-use plan ultimately materializes, it could shift the character of downtown Hawthorne over the coming years, though the timeline remains unresolved.
Washington Elementary fits families who want a neighborhood school in a high-density, economically diverse South Bay community, with real health and social supports built into the district's infrastructure. The academic results are competitive for the context, with third grade as the strongest point and upper-elementary math as the area a parent would want to probe further.
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