Glenn Hammond Curtiss Middle, Carson CA

Original Research by School Decision on Glenn Hammond Curtiss Middle

Glenn Hammond Curtiss Middle, located in Carson, serves grades six through eight as a regular Los Angeles Unified school. Its enrollment is small for a middle school, and the student body is predominantly Black and Hispanic. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic profile of the community.

On California's 2024-25 state assessments, the school's proficiency rates are low across tested subjects. In English language arts, proficiency ranges from below a third of sixth graders at the lower end to around four in ten eighth graders. In mathematics, the pattern declines with grade level, beginning at roughly a third of sixth graders proficient and dropping to one in five of eighth graders. Science proficiency at eighth grade is lower still. Compared to other districts in Los Angeles County, this school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile of schools countywide.

English language arts is the school's stronger subject across grades, though proficiency in all subjects remains well below state benchmarks. The eighth-grade ELA result, while the highest at the school, still means the majority of students are not demonstrating grade-level mastery. In mathematics, proficiency falls with each advancing grade, which suggests difficulty deepening procedural fluency or conceptual understanding as students move through the middle grades. The science result, based on the state's California Science Test, reflects even sharper challenges in that domain.

Carson itself is a mid-sized Los Angeles County city with a mixed residential, industrial, and commercial character. It sits on major freeway corridors and functions as both a neighborhood and a logistics and manufacturing hub, with Cal State Dominguez Hills anchoring the northern part of the city. Housing values in the immediate area are substantial, well above the state average. The community has an established parks and recreation system, a city civic center, and regional transit connections. Growth is underway, with redevelopment projects converting former industrial and landfill sites into mixed-use and housing developments.

The broader Los Angeles Unified context includes several changes affecting families. Voters approved a large facilities bond that will result in long-term property tax increases to fund aging school building repairs and upgrades. The district implemented a comprehensive cellphone and device ban during the entire school day in February 2025, a daily shift in school culture affecting student-parent communication. And the district's Black Student Achievement Plan, which funds culturally responsive curriculum and added staffing at targeted schools, was modified in 2024 to broaden eligibility beyond race-based criteria and received increased funding for 2025-26.

English language learner and special education enrollment data were not available in the public records reviewed. The school's academic trajectory cannot be assessed from a single year of data; state testing results prior to 2024-25 were not available for comparison.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 632%

School 32% · District 35% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

Grade 727%

School 27% · District 34% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 821%

School 21% · District 32% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 9 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 629%

School 29% · District 46% · ▼ 17 pts below district

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

Grade 734%

School 34% · District 46% · ▼ 12 pts below district

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

Grade 841%

School 41% · District 45% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Science

Grade 818%

School 18% · District 27% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 829%

School 29% · District 43% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below 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 8Lower-income40%Higher-income50%10 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 8Lower-income19%Higher-income30%11 pp gap