Maywood Center for Enriched Studies, Maywood CA

Original Research by School Decision on Maywood Center for Enriched Studies

Maywood Center for Enriched Studies is an alternative school serving grades six through twelve in Los Angeles Unified, located in Maywood, a small, densely populated working-class city in southeastern Los Angeles County. The school has a student body that is almost entirely Hispanic, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. This is an urban, working-class school in a neighborhood built on blue-collar employment, manufacturing, construction, and retail rather than professional or corporate sectors. The city itself is highly walkable, built as compact residential neighborhoods threaded by commercial streets, with major corridors at Atlantic and Slauson avenues.

The school's recent state test data shows a clear pattern: students perform considerably better in English language arts than in mathematics and science. In English language arts across tested grades, proficiency sits above the midpoint compared to other schools in Los Angeles County. In mathematics, proficiency is notably lower, dropping as students advance from grade six through grade eight. Science proficiency is the lowest of the three subjects tested. The spread between ELA and math is substantial enough that a parent considering this school should understand that students here receive stronger support in reading and writing than in quantitative reasoning. The school has not yet reported a graduation rate; state testing data covers only the middle grades and one high school grade in science.

As an alternative school, Maywood Center likely serves a different population or mission than traditional LAUSD schools, though the specific programming, curricular focus, or alternative structure is not detailed in available data. The school's size is moderate for a middle and high school serving the full range of grades six through twelve. The neighborhood context matters: Maywood is largely built-out with a flat population, and the housing market reflects working-class economics, with affordability a significant concern. The city has been pursuing affordable housing development rather than market-rate growth, and residents face long-term property-tax increases tied to LAUSD's Measure US school facilities bond.

District-wide, LAUSD implemented an all-day cellphone ban in February 2025, a daily change to school culture and student-parent communication that affects this school. The district has also expanded its Black Student Achievement Plan with added funding for culturally responsive curriculum and staffing. These are ongoing structural factors a parent would encounter here.

The school's English language arts results suggest it may be working with some effectiveness in literacy, while the mathematics gap is material and warrants a direct conversation with school leaders about how they address quantitative instruction and support. Given the alternative school designation and the demographic profile, a parent considering this school would benefit from understanding its specific program design, whether it has particular strengths in any career pathway or academic area, and how it approaches the mathematics challenge that the data reveals.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

96.0%Cohort of 241 students · Class of 2021

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

2,394 schools plotted. 142 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 641%

School 41% · District 35% · ▲ 6 pts above district

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

Grade 735%

School 35% · District 34% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 832%

School 32% · District 32%

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

English language arts

Grade 668%

School 68% · District 46% · ▲ 22 pts above district

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

Grade 761%

School 61% · District 46% · ▲ 16 pts above district

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

Grade 865%

School 65% · District 45% · ▲ 20 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 827%

School 27% · District 27%

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▲ 3 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 7Lower-income59%Higher-income75%16 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income66%Higher-income56%10 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 7Lower-income37%Higher-income25%12 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income30%Higher-income44%14 pp gap