Arlie F. Hutchinson Middle, La Mirada CA

Original Research by School Decision on Arlie F. Hutchinson Middle

Arlie F. Hutchinson Middle is a regular public middle school serving grades six through eight in La Mirada, a mid-sized suburban community in southeast Los Angeles County. The school sits in a car-dependent, primarily residential area built in the 1950s as a master-planned suburb. Home values in the zipcode are high, and most households own multiple vehicles. The city centers civic and community life around a consolidated Civic Center complex rather than a traditional downtown.

The school enrolls students from a predominantly Hispanic community. About three-fifths of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student body is Asian, Hispanic, and White in descending order of representation. The enrollment is moderate in size for a middle school, distributed fairly evenly across the three grade levels.

In English language arts, Hutchinson students show solid proficiency. Across sixth through eighth grades, over six in ten students meet or exceed state proficiency standards, with sixth graders performing strongest. Math proficiency is lower, hovering near one in two students meeting standards in grades six and seven, and dropping further in eighth grade. Science proficiency in eighth grade sits at about one in two. These patterns suggest students gain traction in reading and writing more readily than in mathematics and science, and that eighth-grade math presents a particular challenge a parent may want to look into further with the school.

Compared to other districts in Los Angeles County, Hutchinson's overall proficiency index positions the school above the midpoint. The school operates within Norwalk-La Mirada Unified, a district that has experienced substantial enrollment decline in recent years. That decline, tied directly to state funding formulas in California, carries budget and staffing implications families relocating to the area should understand. The district launched a Spanish dual-language immersion program at nearby Escalona Elementary in 2024-25, offering a bilingual pathway for students beginning in transitional kindergarten or kindergarten, though that option does not exist at Hutchinson itself.

State testing data for earlier years or subgroup breakdowns was not available, so it is not possible to show whether proficiency has changed over time or how different student groups perform. Graduation rate does not apply because the school serves only middle grades. Information about English learner enrollment, special education enrollment, staffing levels, attendance, discipline, and course offerings was not available.

A parent considering this school would see a mainstream middle option in a suburban neighborhood with solid English language arts grounding and room for improvement in mathematics, serving a diverse student population with significant economic need.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 655%

School 55% · District 33% · ▲ 21 pts above district

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

Grade 755%

School 55% · District 33% · ▲ 22 pts above district

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

Grade 847%

School 47% · District 32% · ▲ 15 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 665%

School 65% · District 46% · ▲ 20 pts above district

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

Grade 767%

School 67% · District 55% · ▲ 12 pts above district

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

Grade 863%

School 63% · District 50% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 18 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Science

Grade 848%

School 48% · District 30% · ▲ 18 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grade 859%

School 59% · District 54% · ▲ 5 pts above district

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

This schoolNorwalk-La Mirada 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 6Lower-income60%Higher-income73%12 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income57%Higher-income84%27 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income57%Higher-income72%15 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income48%Higher-income65%17 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income47%Higher-income68%22 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income41%Higher-income56%15 pp gap