Plymouth Elementary, Monrovia CA

Original Research by School Decision on Plymouth Elementary

Plymouth Elementary sits in Monrovia, a compact city built around a historic downtown anchored by Old Town's Myrtle Avenue retail core. The school serves kindergarten through fifth grade in a neighborhood setting with light industrial and residential zones, several blocks from the city's transit hub and civic anchor points. Most families reach it by car; Old Town's walkability does not extend uniformly into the surrounding residential blocks.

The enrollment is small for a K-5, roughly four to five hundred students, with a balanced but uneven grade distribution. Just over half the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school in a community with significant economic diversity. The racial and ethnic makeup is roughly split between Hispanic and Asian students, with smaller shares of white students and multiracial families. State data on special education and English learner counts were not available, so a parent would want to request that information directly from the school.

Academic performance on California's state assessment (CAASPP) is mixed. Math proficiency across tested grades sits in the low to mid-range, with grade three performing somewhat better than grades four and five. English language arts shows more variation, with grade five notably stronger than grades three and four. Fifth-grade science proficiency falls to exactly the midpoint. These are not failing scores, but they sit below where many suburban elementary schools perform and below the state average. The school reports only one year of data, so trend information is not available.

Compared to other schools in Los Angeles County, Plymouth's overall proficiency index lands in the top quartile, placing it above the median county school on tested subjects and grades. This is a strength relative to the broader county peer set, though it does not resolve the absolute performance level or explain the notable dip in upper elementary grades.

The parent district, Monrovia Unified, recently adopted a new math curriculum that the district credits with raising math scores toward pre-pandemic levels. That curriculum change is now in effect at Plymouth and may account for some of the math results seen here. The same district is consolidating its two middle schools into one effective 2026-27, a structural shift driven by enrollment decline and budget constraints. For families with elementary-age children now, this signals the wider enrollment and funding pressures the district faces, which may affect school resources and programming over the next several years.

Housing in the 91016 zip code is valued well above the state median, and rent has been rising year over year. The area is undergoing transit-oriented development near the Metro A Line station, with new apartments and mixed-use projects either under way or proposed, though some residents have expressed concern about the pace. For a family weighing this neighborhood, housing affordability is a real constraint.

Plymouth is a neighborhood school of modest size serving a mixed-income, diverse student population. Its state assessment results suggest solid peer standing within the county but room for growth, especially in upper elementary grades. A parent considering Plymouth would want to ask the school about its reading and math support structures, the school's response to the new district curriculum, and how the district's broader budget and enrollment challenges are affecting staffing and programs at the elementary level.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 365%

School 65% · District 51% · ▲ 13 pts above district

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

Grade 461%

School 61% · District 48% · ▲ 12 pts above district

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

Grade 558%

School 58% · District 49% · ▲ 9 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 360%

School 60% · District 48% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 457%

School 57% · District 46% · ▲ 10 pts above district

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

Grade 568%

School 68% · District 57% · ▲ 11 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 550%

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

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

This schoolMonrovia 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-income46%Higher-income80%33 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income44%Higher-income77%33 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income60%Higher-income79%19 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income50%Higher-income85%35 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income46%Higher-income83%38 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income51%Higher-income69%18 pp gap