William W. Orr Elementary, Norwalk CA

Original Research by School Decision on William W. Orr Elementary

William W. Orr Elementary is a kindergarten through fifth-grade school in Norwalk, located in the Little Lake City School District. The school serves a student body drawn almost entirely from Norwalk's Hispanic community, with a substantial share of students eligible for free or reduced-price meals. This is a school shaped by the economic reality of its neighborhood: the vast majority of families qualify for lunch assistance, which reflects both the income profile of the area and the concentration of need the school addresses.

The school's performance profile shows a notable split between language arts and mathematics. In English language arts, proficiency rates run solidly in the upper range across all tested grades, with performance in third through fifth grades reaching into the high range or above. Mathematics, by contrast, is substantially weaker. Proficiency in the upper elementary grades drops notably, with fifth-grade math proficiency well below the language arts result for the same grade. Science proficiency at the fifth-grade level sits in the middle range. Across the combination of all tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index places it above the midpoint among elementary schools in Los Angeles County, meaning its academic standing is respectable relative to other schools serving similar districts, though the mathematics gap suggests a specific area where the school may benefit from targeted intervention or a parent may want to look into further with the school.

The school itself is small for its grade span, with balanced enrollment across kindergarten through fifth grade. No data was available on special education services or English learner enrollment or support, so a parent would want to ask the school directly about how it serves students with identified learning differences or who are still acquiring English.

Norwalk itself is a dense, car-oriented residential suburb about seventeen miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, historically built around farming and ranching and now characterized by apartment complexes, townhomes, and single-family homes mixed with retail anchors including big-box stores. The area is served by freeway and transit infrastructure, though walking between destinations is limited; the Metro C Line Green Line station and Metrolink commuter rail station are bridged by shuttle bus. A significant housing and mixed-use development initiative has been underway, with multiple residential projects approved or under construction in the city center and near transit.

The Little Lake City School District, which operates William W. Orr, has a recent history worth noting. In June 2022, voters approved a general obligation bond to address aging school infrastructure across the district, funding repairs to roofs, bathrooms, plumbing, electrical systems, air quality, and removal of hazardous materials from schools built decades earlier. In April 2026, most of the district's teaching staff struck for roughly two weeks over healthcare cost-sharing, class sizes, and special education support, resulting in a settlement that locked in class-size protections and expanded special education staffing. These recent events reflect both the age of the physical plants the district manages and current staffing and resource tensions, though they also document a district responsive enough to settle on class-size commitments and special education support.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 355%

School 55% · District 58% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 12 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 440%

School 40% · District 52% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▲ 3 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 538%

School 38% · District 42% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 372%

School 72% · District 57% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 30 pts above county median

Grade 469%

School 69% · District 60% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Grade 569%

School 69% · District 64% · ▲ 5 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Science

Grade 544%

School 44% · District 36% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 16 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 4Lower-income62%Higher-income87%25 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income35%Higher-income53%18 pp gap