The top reported proficiency rate is 37% in English language arts. The lowest is 23% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Mark Keppel
Mark Keppel Elementary sits on East Mark Keppel Street in Paramount, a densely settled working-class city in southeast Los Angeles County. The school serves kindergarten through fifth grade within Paramount Unified and carries a student body that is almost entirely Hispanic and draws heavily from families with limited incomes, with the vast majority of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The school's enrollment puts it in a typical size range for a K-5 campus in this part of the county.
On California's CAASPP assessments, the school's tested grades show proficiency rates in English language arts that range from the mid-thirties in third and fourth grade to just above forty percent in fifth grade. Math results are lower at every grade tested, with third grade sitting around thirty percent proficient, fourth grade dropping into the low twenties, and fifth grade near eighteen percent. The California Science Test result for fifth graders lands just below thirty percent proficient. Taken together, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile relative to districts across Los Angeles County. Parents with questions about what the school is doing to move those numbers would be worth raising directly with the principal. Only one year of data is available, so there is no trend line to read.
The single most concrete new development at Mark Keppel is the launch of a Spanish Dual Language Immersion program in the 2025-26 school year. Publicly reported information from the district describes a ninety-to-ten model beginning in kindergarten, with the program expanding one grade level each year as students move up. The stated goal is bilingualism, biliteracy, and eventual eligibility for the California Seal of Biliteracy. Families whose home school is not Keppel can access the program with district-provided transportation. This is a multi-year commitment families enter at kindergarten, and for households where Spanish is already spoken at home, or for English-speaking families who want a bilingual pathway, the program adds a genuine and durable reason to consider the school.
The district passed a substantial school facilities bond measure in November 2024. Most Paramount Unified campuses were built more than sixty years ago and had not seen meaningful updates in decades. The bond funds repairs to roofs, plumbing, and electrical systems, security and safety upgrades, ADA accessibility work, and improvements to classrooms and career-training facilities. For homeowners in the attendance zone, this means an ongoing addition to property-tax bills; for families enrolling now, it signals that physical conditions on aging campuses are expected to improve over the coming years.
Paramount itself is a fully built-out, infill city. It reads as suburban and family-oriented despite its urban density, with tree-lined residential streets, parks including Paramount Park and Pequino Park, and civic anchors like the LA County Paramount Library, which reopened in mid-2024 after a renovation. The city runs local bus service, and Metro routes connect to the broader region. Housing costs here are well below the California state median, though still substantially above the national midpoint, and rents are running at a level that consumes a meaningful share of a working-class household's income. The area has seen modest home-value appreciation in the past year. A new infill residential development and several retail additions are underway in 2026, including a planned public market in a historic building near downtown, suggesting the city continues its long-running reinvestment effort rather than stagnating.
Data on chronic absenteeism, IEP rates, and English learner enrollment were not available in the provided information. A graduation rate does not apply here because the school serves only elementary grades.
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