Longfellow (henry W.) Elementary, Pasadena CA

Original Research by School Decision on Longfellow (henry W.) Elementary

Longfellow Elementary serves kindergarten through fifth grade in Pasadena and sits in the heart of a district navigating significant fiscal and operational turbulence. The school's student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial majority of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. Economically, these families are living in a zip code where housing values and rents have remained high despite modest recent softening, creating a mismatch between income and housing affordability that plainly affects school composition and demand for supports.

On state assessments for 2024-25, the school's results show room for improvement. In English language arts across tested grades, proficiency runs from the low forties to low fifties, with fourth-grade ELA performing better than third or fifth grade. Math proficiency is notably softer, ranging from the high twenties in fifth grade to the low forties in third grade. Science proficiency at fifth grade sits in the low thirties. Overall, the school's proficiency index places it below the midpoint among schools in Los Angeles County. The school does not report special population data such as English learner or IEP rates, which are material gaps for a family considering whether specialized services are available or visible.

The school has maintained stable enrollment at roughly that size for its grade band, with roughly equal distribution across its six grades and a kindergarten class at the high end. This is a neighborhood elementary school, not a magnet or specialized program, and serves the local community on East Washington Boulevard in south-central Pasadena.

Pasadena as a city is experiencing robust multifamily housing development concentrated in its downtown and central districts, with Old Pasadena and its civic core anchoring cultural life. Employment is anchored by Caltech and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, along with healthcare, design education, and engineering firms. The city's residential areas range from walkable historic neighborhoods like Bungalow Heaven to more suburban family districts. Transit includes the Metro A Line light rail and a local bus system.

The district context is essential here. In November 2024, voters approved both a major general obligation bond for facility renovation and the district's first-ever parcel tax, signaling commitment but also imposing lasting costs on property owners. More acutely, the January 2025 Eaton Fire destroyed or severely damaged five district schools, displacing thousands of students and reshaping where families' children attend. Franklin Elementary was among those lost, adding to a pattern: the district has closed five schools since earlier years, including a wave of elementary closures in 2020. A school-consolidation and potential closure process that began in 2025-26 was halted in June 2026 when an advisory committee voted against recommending closures and the board ended the consultant contract, but the fiscal pressure remains real. In November 2025, the board voted to cut a substantial amount from the 2026-27 budget through layoffs affecting librarians, teachers, and staff, and cuts to arts, science, and athletics programs. These cuts are material for families weighing what Longfellow and the district can offer.

Longfellow remains open and operational. For families in the attendance zone, it is a neighborhood school with moderate academic performance on state measures and a student body that reflects the economic and ethnic makeup of the surrounding community. The broader context of fire damage, budget pressures, and program cuts across the district is worth understanding before choosing or committing to the school.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 344%

School 44% · District 49% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Grade 443%

School 43% · District 46% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 527%

School 27% · District 34% · ▼ 7 pts below district

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 347%

School 47% · District 51% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 452%

School 52% · District 50% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 10 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 539%

School 39% · District 49% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Science

Grade 532%

School 32% · District 38% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

This schoolPasadena 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-income40%Higher-income92%51 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income45%Higher-income100%55 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income41%Higher-income67%26 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income35%Higher-income92%56 pp gap