Chapman Elementary, Gardena CA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Chapman Elementary

Chapman Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Gardena, a mixed-use South Bay suburb with a distinctive Japanese American heritage dating to early-1900s berry farming. The city today is broadly diverse—Asian, Black, Hispanic/Latino, and White communities each substantial—with Japanese-language schools, restaurants, and businesses clustered especially along South Western Avenue. The neighborhood around Chapman is a grid of small ranch homes on numbered streets, with commercial strips and light manufacturing along arterials; the locale is automobile-centric, anchored by municipally run GTrans bus lines and parks. Growth is active, with multifamily housing projects underway to meet state housing mandates, and major employers span food manufacturing, retail, healthcare, gaming, and logistics.

Chapman enrolls about mid-sized for its grade band, with enrollment concentrated in kindergarten through second grade and narrowing through fifth. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is predominantly Hispanic/Latino, with meaningful representation of Asian and Black students, and smaller shares of multiracial students and others. Data on English learners and students with IEPs was not available.

On California's state assessments for 2024-25, Chapman shows mixed performance across subjects and grade levels. In English language arts, fourth and fifth graders perform solidly, both at proficiency above half the cohort. Third graders in ELA proficiency are at about half. Math is more uneven: fourth grade reaches proficiency above half, but third and fifth grades cluster around half. Fifth-grade science proficiency is at half. Across all tested grades and subjects combined, Chapman's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile among schools within Los Angeles County districts, a meaningful position that reflects stronger performance than a majority of county elementary schools, though the grade-level picture shows some students—particularly in third grade and fifth-grade math—where proficiency lags.

Only one year of assessment data is available, so trends cannot be assessed. A parent may want to look into whether the school has strategies underway to strengthen third-grade math and reading or whether fifth-grade math is an area the school is targeting for support.

Chapman is part of Los Angeles Unified, which in recent years has passed major facilities bond funding and implemented a district-wide cellphone ban during school hours. The Black Student Achievement Plan, funded district-wide, supports culturally responsive curriculum and counseling at various campuses. These are context-setting changes across LAUSD that touch daily school experience and parent communication.

Housing in Gardena's 90249 zip code is moderately expensive by national standards, with median home values substantially above the state and national medians. Rents are correspondingly high, and housing remains tight even with ongoing multifamily development. For families considering a move into the Gardena area for Chapman, the property-tax landscape includes LAUSD's new Measure US bond, a major facilities bond approved by voters that will increase property taxes over a long repayment period.

Chapman offers a traditional public school pathway in an elementary-only setting within an urban, diverse, transit-accessible community. It serves a population with high economic need and delivers proficiency results in the top county quartile, a positioning that suggests effective instruction for its student body, though performance is uneven across grade levels and parents may want to ask the school directly about specific support and intervention structures in areas where fewer students are proficient.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 353%

School 53% · District 48% · ▲ 5 pts above district

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

Grade 465%

School 65% · District 43% · ▲ 22 pts above district

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

Grade 552%

School 52% · District 36% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 350%

School 50% · District 44% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

Grade 469%

School 69% · District 45% · ▲ 24 pts above district

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

Grade 568%

School 68% · District 47% · ▲ 21 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

Science

Grade 550%

School 50% · District 29% · ▲ 21 pts above district

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

This schoolLos Angeles Unified, 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 3Lower-income43%Higher-income68%26 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income58%Higher-income94%36 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income59%Higher-income88%29 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income41%Higher-income84%43 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income56%Higher-income88%32 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income38%Higher-income81%43 pp gap