Marengo Elementary, South Pasadena CA

Original Research by School Decision on Marengo Elementary

Marengo Elementary, a public kindergarten through fifth-grade school in South Pasadena, serves a small student body in one of Los Angeles County's most established residential communities. The school draws from a neighborhood-based attendance area in a city where civic life, parks, and a strong sense of place center on the tree-lined Mission Street downtown and the Metro A Line station, while schools occupy their own campuses scattered across residential blocks.

The school's academic performance is strong across the board. In math, proficiency among tested students runs high across the upper elementary grades, with third-grade students proficient at rates well above the county median. English language arts proficiency is similarly solid, tracking at or above county norms for comparable grades. In the single year of science testing available for fifth grade, proficiency is above the county median. Overall, the school's proficiency index places it in the top quartile of schools against the set of schools across Los Angeles County districts.

The student body is economically advantaged. A small proportion of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The enrollment is diverse by ethnicity, with a substantial plurality of Asian students, alongside meaningful shares of white students and students identifying as multiracial or Hispanic. The school is not notably different from South Pasadena as a whole, a small city whose housing stock and economic profile have drawn a predominantly affluent and diverse residential population. Black student enrollment is minimal.

Enrollment data was not available for English learners or students with disabilities; a parent investigating these student groups, or programs tailored to them, may want to reach out to the school directly. The school's grade configuration means there is no high school graduation rate, state testing extends only through fifth grade in the core subjects tested, and comparable trend data over time was not available to assess whether performance is rising, steady, or shifting.

South Pasadena as a place is small and residential, with historic Craftsman and Spanish-revival homes and a well-known park network. Housing is expensive and weighted toward ownership, though a majority of residents rent in multi-family units. The city has no major corporate employers; economic life centers on the school district, municipal government, and commute ties to nearby Pasadena (home to Caltech and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory) and Los Angeles. Growth planning aims to direct modest new housing into five focus areas, with the Metro station serving as one anchor for densification. The overall environment is stable, tree-rich, and family-oriented, with strong schools cited as a draw for the community itself.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 394%

School 94% · District 86% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 51 pts above state median · ▲ 48 pts above county median

Grade 490%

School 90% · District 85% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 52 pts above state median · ▲ 49 pts above county median

Grade 586%

School 86% · District 79% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 56 pts above state median · ▲ 53 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 389%

School 89% · District 86% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 49 pts above state median · ▲ 47 pts above county median

Grade 487%

School 87% · District 87% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 45 pts above state median · ▲ 43 pts above county median

Grade 586%

School 86% · District 82% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 41 pts above state median · ▲ 39 pts above county median

Science

Grade 579%

School 79% · District 73% · ▲ 7 pts above district

▲ 51 pts above state median · ▲ 52 pts above county median

This schoolSouth Pasadena 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-income80%Higher-income91%11 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income75%Higher-income88%13 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income80%Higher-income96%16 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income91%Higher-income90%1 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income79%Higher-income88%8 pp gap