Lake Center Middle, Santa Fe Springs CA

Original Research by School Decision on Lake Center Middle

Lake Center Middle serves grades six through eight in Santa Fe Springs, a predominantly industrial city in Los Angeles County where warehouses, business parks, and manufacturing facilities dominate the landscape far more than residential areas. The school sits in a small residential pocket on the city's east side, a classic midcentury LA suburb of single-family homes and strip malls, oriented toward families who work in the region's logistics and industrial sectors.

The enrollment is small to moderate for a middle school, with students distributed fairly evenly across the three grades. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, pointing to a community with lower household incomes relative to county averages. Data on special education enrollment and English learner status were not provided, so a parent may want to look into those figures directly with the school if those populations are relevant to their interest.

State testing results on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress show proficiency that falls above the midpoint among districts in Los Angeles County when considering overall performance across tested subjects and grades. The school's English language arts results are stronger than its math results across the grade bands. In seventh grade ELA, about three-fifths of students reached proficiency, the highest single result across subjects and grades; sixth and eighth grade ELA also performed respectably at near-half proficiency. In math, seventh grade showed the strongest performance at just under half proficient; sixth and eighth grade math were lower, both in the mid-to-low thirties. Science proficiency in eighth grade, the only grade tested, was also in the mid-to-low thirties. Data on social studies came from an older statewide assessment no longer in use, so it does not reflect current performance. The pattern across the school suggests that students are building ELA capacity as they advance through seventh grade but face challenges in mathematics, and the school's overall positioning above the county midpoint indicates it is performing better than a typical Los Angeles County middle school on these assessments, though room for improvement exists in math particularly.

The Little Lake City Elementary School District, which operates the school, has navigated recent significant changes. Voters approved a bond measure in 2022 to fund long-overdue repairs and upgrades to the district's aging campuses, most built more than half a century ago. This includes roof, electrical, plumbing, and air filtration work, along with removal of asbestos and lead, creating both a lasting property tax on homeowners and a major investment in campus conditions over time. In April 2026, a teacher strike lasting roughly two weeks ended with the district agreeing to hold class sizes steady rather than raise them to state maximum levels, add support for special education, and cover a defined share of health benefits. Those agreements now protect the classroom environment families can expect and expanded support for students with disabilities.

Housing in the Santa Fe Springs area is moderately expensive for the region, reflective of broader Los Angeles County patterns. The local job market centers on manufacturing, logistics, distribution, and food wholesale rather than a few major employers, with companies such as Superior Grocers and Wismettac Asian Foods among the area's largest. The city is pursuing infill housing development as it attempts to add residential capacity to an otherwise industrial landscape, with transit access via a Metrolink station serving the Orange County and 91/Perris Valley Lines.

Lake Center Middle serves a community with demonstrated commitment to its schools, as evidenced by the bond passage and recent contract agreement, and the school's proficiency standing above county norms suggests it is providing meaningful preparation, particularly in literacy. For families in Santa Fe Springs' small residential area seeking a neighborhood middle school with engaged leadership and a Hispanic-majority peer environment, this school merits careful conversation with staff about specific math supports, special education services, and program offerings.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 635%

School 35% · District 36% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

Grade 747%

School 47% · District 43% · ▲ 4 pts above district

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

Grade 835%

School 35% · District 36% · ▼ 2 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 647%

School 47% · District 56% · ▼ 9 pts below district

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

Grade 761%

School 61% · District 61% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

Grade 857%

School 57% · District 63% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Science

Grade 836%

School 36% · District 39% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Social studies

Grade 863%

School 63% · District 64% · ▼ 1 pts below district

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

This schoolLittle Lake City Elementary, 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 6Lower-income42%Higher-income68%26 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income58%Higher-income70%11 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income54%Higher-income68%14 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income30%Higher-income56%26 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income44%Higher-income58%14 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income32%Higher-income47%15 pp gap