The top reported proficiency rate is 26% in English language arts. The lowest is 19% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Captain Raymond Collins
Captain Raymond Collins Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Long Beach, a large, densely urban coastal city anchored by one of the nation's busiest ports and a diverse economy spanning aerospace, health care, finance, and trade. The school sits in the 90805 zip code area on the east side of the city, in a neighborhood of single-family homes and quieter streets that is more car-dependent than downtown Long Beach's highly walkable, transit-rich core.
The school's enrollment is relatively small for an urban elementary, drawn entirely from the immediate neighborhood through the Long Beach Unified School District's address-based assignment with a school-choice lottery option. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the student body is majority Hispanic, with substantial populations of Black and Asian students and very small numbers of white and Native American students. Data on English learners and students with IEPs were not available.
Academic proficiency is a significant area of concern. On California's state assessment across third through fifth grades, overall proficiency in mathematics is low, with only about one in five students meeting grade-level standards when results are averaged across the grades tested. In English language arts, proficiency sits at a comparable level, with roughly one in four students meeting standards. In science, assessed only in fifth grade, about one in five students met proficiency. These proficiency rates place the school in the bottom quartile of schools serving similar grade bands within Los Angeles County. Only one year of state testing data is available, so trend information is not yet present.
The Paramount Unified School District, which operates Captain Raymond Collins, has recently passed a major bond measure to repair and upgrade its aging infrastructure. Most of the district's schools were built more than sixty years ago; the bond will fund roof, plumbing, and electrical repairs, safety upgrades, and improvements to classroom and career-training facilities. The district has also launched a Spanish Dual Language Immersion program starting in kindergarten at two elementary sites, Mark Keppel and Theodore Roosevelt; Captain Raymond Collins is not currently one of those schools, though families interested in that pathway may pursue it through the district's school-choice process.
Long Beach itself is in a rapid growth phase, with substantial new housing approval downtown and across neighborhoods, rising employment in health care and education, and ongoing investment in transit and the waterfront. Housing in the school's zip code is moderately priced for the region, and the area is served by Long Beach Transit buses and proximity to the Metro A Line light rail system.
A parent considering Captain Raymond Collins should recognize that the school's current academic performance is materially below the county median and represents an area where the school would benefit from close engagement with staff on how the school plans to raise proficiency. The school serves a high-need population with significant economic challenges; the school's role in addressing that context is worth understanding directly. For families committed to the neighborhood and school community, that conversation with school leadership is a necessary first step.
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