Latona Avenue Elementary, Los Angeles CA

Original Research by School Decision on Latona Avenue Elementary

Latona Avenue Elementary is a small, neighborhood school serving kindergarten through sixth grade in Los Angeles, with an enrollment distributed fairly evenly across its grades. The school sits in a densely Hispanic neighborhood where nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the great majority of families speak Spanish as a home language or are learning English.

On California's state assessments, proficiency rates across tested grades and subjects are low. In mathematics, the school's proficiency ranges from roughly one in five students in third and sixth grades to about half of fourth and fifth graders meeting the state standard. In English language arts, proficiency is somewhat higher: around a third of third graders, half of fourth graders, roughly the same share of fifth graders, and four in ten sixth graders meet the standard. In fifth-grade science, about one in three students reached proficiency. The overall proficiency index across all tested subjects and grades places the school below the midpoint among schools tested in Los Angeles County. A parent may want to look into further what academic supports and interventions the school is using to build math skills, particularly in the lower elementary and upper grades where proficiency dips.

The neighborhood where the school is located reflects Los Angeles's character as a polycentric, mixed-use city. The area blends residential, commercial, and light industrial uses typical of central Los Angeles. Local institutions like LAUSD itself, the County of Los Angeles, and smaller businesses shape daily economic life. Housing in the zip code is mid-range for Los Angeles, and rents have risen modestly over the past year. The city is in an active growth and rezoning phase driven by housing demand, though construction has slowed amid high interest rates and material costs.

At the district level, families moving into Los Angeles Unified should know that voters recently approved a major school facilities bond to repair aging buildings, funded through a long-term property tax increase. Additionally, the district implemented an all-day cellphone ban for students beginning in February 2025, affecting communication and school culture throughout the day. The district has also boosted funding for culturally responsive curriculum and support staffing through its Black Student Achievement Plan, which shapes academic programming and staffing at many campuses.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 321%

School 21% · District 48% · ▼ 27 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 447%

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

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 547%

School 47% · District 36% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

Grade 617%

School 17% · District 35% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 329%

School 29% · District 44% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 453%

School 53% · District 45% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

Grade 547%

School 47% · District 47%

▲ 1 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 644%

School 44% · District 46% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 1 pts above state median · even with county median

Science

Grade 533%

School 33% · District 29% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 6 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.