Is Willard Elementary a good school?

Willard Elementary ranks 3466 th of 5862 California elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.

How many students attend Willard Elementary?

In the 2022-23 school year, 571 students attended Willard Elementary.

What is the racial makeup of Willard Elementary?

Students at Willard Elementary are 74% Hispanic, 11% African American, 10% Asian, 2% White, 2% Two or more races.

What schools do graduates of Willard Elementary attend?

Students who attend Willard Elementary usually go on to attend: Middle : Jefferson Leadership Academies High : Wilson High

Willard Elementary

Summary:

Willard Elementary is a public elementary school in Long Beach, California, serving 571 students in grades K-5. It is part of the Long Beach Unified school district, which is ranked 654 out of 1,568 districts in the state.

Willard Elementary faces several key challenges. Academically, the school consistently performs below the district and state averages in Smarter Balanced Assessments for English Language Arts and Mathematics, as well as in CAST Science assessments. For example, in 2023-2024, Willard's proficiency rates were 33.6% in ELA and 34.65% in Math, compared to the district's 49.52% and 36.36%, and the state's 47.04% and 35.54%, respectively. The school also has a high rate of chronic absenteeism, which has risen from 17.1% in 2018-2019 to 46.3% in 2021-2022, much higher than the district and state averages. Additionally, Willard has a high percentage of students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds, with 71.63% qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch in 2022-2023, compared to the district's average of 66.67% for nearby Signal Hill Elementary.

Willard Elementary's performance lags behind most of the nearby schools, such as Fremont Elementary, which consistently outperforms Willard in Smarter Balanced Assessments and CAST Science. Fremont, in particular, stands out as a high-performing school, ranking in the top 10% of California elementary schools. Willard's subgroup performance also varies, with African American and English Language Learner students performing relatively better compared to their peers, while male students and students with disabilities lag behind. Addressing the root causes of the school's high chronic absenteeism and supporting students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds could be crucial for improving educational outcomes at Willard Elementary.

Detail:

Public K-5

1055 Freeman Ave.
Long Beach, CA 90804-3804

(562) 438-9934

District: Long Beach Unified

SchoolDigger Rank:
3466^th of 5,862 California Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $8,132

Students who attend Willard Elementary usually attend:

Middle:	Jefferson Leadership Academies
High:	Wilson High

Student/teacher ratio: 26.6

Number of students: 571

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

74.3%

African American:

11.0%

Asian:

9.8%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 71.6%

See top rated California elementary schools

Compare Willard Elementary to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Willard Elementary ranks worse than 59.1% of elementary schools in California. It also ranks 38^th among 53 ranked elementary schools in the Long Beach Unified School District. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 35.61. (See more...)

Chronic absenteeism in a school refers to a situation where students repeatedly miss school, with the threshold often defined as missing 10% or more of school days for any reason, excused or unexcused.

Student Body

Compare Details Racial makeup is: Hispanic (74.3%), African American (11%), Asian (9.8%). (See more...)

Compare Details 71.6% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Compare Details (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Willard Elementary is 26.6. 40 elementary schools in the Long Beach Unified School District have better student/teacher ratios. (See more...)

Compare Willard Elementary employs 21.4 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Willard Elementary is $8,132. 40 elementary schools in the Long Beach Unified School District spend more per student.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Willard Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks Willard Elementary 3466^th of 5862 California public elementary schools. (See Willard Elementary in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

English Language Learner students:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Male students:

African American students:

Hispanic students:

Long Beach Unified:

SchoolDigger ranks Long Beach Unified 654^th of 1568 California school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Rank History for Willard Elementary

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Rank History for all students at Willard Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2004	40.14	2635^th	4809	45.2%
2005	34.15	3045^th	4822	36.9%
2011	32.44	3803^rd	5377	29.3%
2012	26.67	4192^nd	5390	22.2%
2013	15.30	5029^th	5530	9.1%
2015	19.75	4657^th	5611	17.0%
2016	23.53	4300^th	5614	23.4%
2017	23.96	4342^nd	5692	23.7%
2018	35.46	3437^th	5662	39.3%
2019	44.81	2885^th	5789	50.2%
2021	27.90	981^st	1417	30.8%
2022	28.30	4012^th	5883	31.8%
2023	28.40	4034^th	5874	31.3%
2024	35.61	3466^th	5862	40.9%

See the entire list of California Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Willard Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	47.59	1362^nd	3246	58.0%
2019	34.08	2198^th	3275	32.9%
2022	38.73	1894^th	3311	42.8%
2023	36.21	2073^rd	3250	36.2%
2024	57.85	809^th	3160	74.4%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Willard Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	47.82	2499^th	5084	50.8%
2019	60.77	1726^th	5173	66.6%
2021	40.01	647^th	1110	41.7%
2022	38.31	3143^rd	5264	40.3%
2023	41.23	2970^th	5374	44.7%
2024	43.46	2855^th	5511	48.2%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Willard Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	39.08	3146^th	5413	41.9%
2019	39.86	3114^th	5492	43.3%
2021	28.34	887^th	1267	30.0%
2022	32.70	3518^th	5635	37.6%
2023	31.31	3652^nd	5617	35.0%
2024	38.58	3171^st	5605	43.4%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Disabled students at Willard Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2022	34.14	1305^th	2227	41.4%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Disabled Students!

Rank History for Male students at Willard Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	32.15	3537^th	5431	34.9%
2019	49.28	2495^th	5510	54.7%
2021	29.46	847^th	1272	33.4%
2022	25.89	4143^rd	5663	26.8%
2023	26.38	4106^th	5650	27.3%
2024	32.91	3567^th	5636	36.7%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Asian students at Willard Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2018	18.93	926^th	1071	13.5%
2019	42.73	792^nd	1149	31.1%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Asian Students!

Rank History for African American students at Willard Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	48.02	319^th	700	54.4%
2019	72.17	146^th	747	80.5%
2022	41.16	344^th	663	48.1%
2023	59.65	205^th	662	69.0%
2024	37.00	349^th	593	41.1%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for African American Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Willard Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	50.05	2223^rd	4830	54.0%
2019	50.03	2282^nd	4963	54.0%
2022	43.42	2635^th	5084	48.2%
2023	36.62	3172^nd	5098	37.8%
2024	53.79	2015^th	5102	60.5%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Hispanic Students!

Data source: test scores: California Department of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Data source: California Department of Education

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Enrollment information for Willard Elementary

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	168	94	293	96	3	n/a	n/a	0	654
1989	111	113	409	119	5	n/a	n/a	0	757
1990	83	146	452	151	3	n/a	n/a	0	835
1991	77	171	466	186	8	n/a	n/a	0	908
1992	63	221	445	196	4	n/a	n/a	0	929
1993	49	237	385	243	0	n/a	n/a	0	914
1994	46	252	331	258	1	n/a	n/a	0	888
1995	44	237	310	317	0	n/a	n/a	0	908
1996	44	237	310	317	0	n/a	n/a	0	908
1997	43	220	289	426	1	n/a	n/a	0	979
1998	33	187	305	497	0	n/a	n/a	0	1022
1999	48	170	275	551	0	n/a	n/a	0	1044
2000	42	133	230	612	0	n/a	n/a	0	1017
2001	39	125	204	635	0	n/a	n/a	0	1003
2002	32	117	167	687	0	n/a	n/a	0	1003
2003	32	117	167	687	0	n/a	n/a	0	1003
2004	36	97	148	705	0	n/a	n/a	0	986
2005	39	124	128	707	0	n/a	n/a	0	998
2006	37	132	136	716	1	n/a	n/a	0	1022
2007	31	99	105	655	1	n/a	n/a	1	892
2008	23	73	84	584	1	n/a	n/a	0	765
2009	22	63	75	561	1	0	4	0	726
2010	22	57	73	532	1	1	4	0	690
2011	21	72	88	545	2	0	12	0	740
2012	27	91	82	568	0	2	29	0	799
2013	31	104	82	543	1	2	35	0	798
2014	37	106	91	545	2	3	32	0	816
2015	30	112	98	535	4	2	29	0	810
2016	21	90	85	476	4	2	35	0	713
2017	29	87	75	491	3	1	43	0	729
2018	25	87	75	484	6	1	44	0	722
2019	23	76	65	462	4	2	33	0	665
2020	17	82	66	445	1	2	16	0	629
2021	11	85	64	423	1	2	10	1	597
2022	10	67	51	419	0	4	8	1	560
2023	12	63	56	424	2	4	10	0	571

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Willard Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	654	26.0	25.1	n/a
1989	757	33.0	22.9	n/a
1990	835	34.0	24.5	n/a
1991	908	36.0	25.2	n/a
1992	929	36.6	25.3	75.3
1993	914	39.0	23.4	71.3
1994	888	36.0	24.7	93.7
1995	908	35.3	25.7	94.9
1996	908	35.3	25.7	94.9
1997	979	40.3	24.3	95
1998	1022	47.0	21.7	94.9
1999	1044	44.0	23.7	94.9
2000	1017	53.0	19.2	97.4
2001	1003	53.0	18.9	83.3
2002	1003	53.0	18.9	77.4
2003	1003	53.0	18.9	77.4
2004	986	52.5	18.8	77.3
2005	998	53.0	18.8	92.4
2006	1022	53.0	19.3	98.5
2007	892	48.0	18.6	99.8
2008	765	41.5	18.4	93.6
2009	726	36.0	18.6	95.2
2010	690	36.0	19.1	97.4
2011	740	n/a	n/a	94.1
2012	799	27.0	29.5	n/a
2013	798	27.0	29.5	89
2014	816	28.5	28.6	92.9
2015	810	30.0	27.0	93.3
2016	713	27.0	26.4	93.3
2017	729	24.0	30.3	92.7
2018	722	24.4	29.5	92.4
2019	665	23.4	28.4	92.2
2020	629	n/a	n/a	92.7
2021	597	23.4	25.5	77.2
2022	560	22.4	25.0	73.9
2023	571	21.4	26.6	71.6

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Willard Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	654	26.0	25.1	n/a
1989	757	33.0	22.9	n/a
1990	835	34.0	24.5	n/a
1991	908	36.0	25.2	n/a
1992	929	36.6	25.3	75.3
1993	914	39.0	23.4	71.3
1994	888	36.0	24.7	93.7
1995	908	35.3	25.7	94.9
1996	908	35.3	25.7	94.9
1997	979	40.3	24.3	95
1998	1022	47.0	21.7	94.9
1999	1044	44.0	23.7	94.9
2000	1017	53.0	19.2	97.4
2001	1003	53.0	18.9	83.3
2002	1003	53.0	18.9	77.4
2003	1003	53.0	18.9	77.4
2004	986	52.5	18.8	77.3
2005	998	53.0	18.8	92.4
2006	1022	53.0	19.3	98.5
2007	892	48.0	18.6	99.8
2008	765	41.5	18.4	93.6
2009	726	36.0	18.6	95.2
2010	690	36.0	19.1	97.4
2011	740	n/a	n/a	94.1
2012	799	27.0	29.5	n/a
2013	798	27.0	29.5	89
2014	816	28.5	28.6	92.9
2015	810	30.0	27.0	93.3
2016	713	27.0	26.4	93.3
2017	729	24.0	30.3	92.7
2018	722	24.4	29.5	92.4
2019	665	23.4	28.4	92.2
2020	629	n/a	n/a	92.7
2021	597	23.4	25.5	77.2
2022	560	22.4	25.0	73.9
2023	571	21.4	26.6	71.6

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.

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