Is Palms Elementary a good school?

Palms Elementary ranks 3884 th of 5862 California elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.

How many students attend Palms Elementary?

In the 2023-24 school year, 241 students attended Palms Elementary.

What is the racial makeup of Palms Elementary?

Students at Palms Elementary are 61% Hispanic, 11% White, 11% Asian, 10% African American, 7% Two or more races.

What schools do graduates of Palms Elementary attend?

Students who attend Palms Elementary usually go on to attend: Middle : Palms Middle High : Alexander Hamilton Senior High

Palms Elementary

Summary:

Palms Elementary is a public elementary school in Los Angeles, California, serving around 250 students in grades K-5. The school faces significant challenges, including high chronic absenteeism rates, low academic performance, and struggles to support certain student subgroups.

Palms Elementary has seen a sharp increase in chronic absenteeism, rising from 10.6% in 2017-2018 to 47.0% in 2022-2023, which is much higher than the Los Angeles Unified and state averages. The school also consistently underperforms the district and state in Smarter Balanced Assessments for English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics, with only 32.58% of students proficient or better in ELA/Literacy and 25.76% in Mathematics, compared to the district's 43.06% and 32.83%, and the state's 47.04% and 35.54%, respectively. Palms Elementary struggles to support certain student subgroups, such as English Language Learners, Special Education students, and Disabled students, who consistently rank in the bottom 10-20% of California elementary schools in these categories.

Interestingly, Palms Elementary performs significantly worse than nearby Shenandoah Street Elementary and Mar Vista Elementary, which are also part of the Los Angeles Unified district, but better than some nearby schools in the Culver City Unified district, such as La Ballona Elementary. Additionally, Palms Elementary's performance has declined over the past decade, with its statewide ranking dropping from 2,193 out of 5,530 California elementary schools in 2012-2013 to 3,884 out of 5,862 in 2023-2024.

Detail:

Public K-5

3520 Motor Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90034-4807

(310) 838-7337

District: Los Angeles Unified

SchoolDigger Rank:
3884^th of 5,862 California Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $17,164

Students who attend Palms Elementary usually attend:

Middle:	Palms Middle
High:	Alexander Hamilton Senior High

Student/teacher ratio: 15.0

Number of students: 241

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

60.6%

White:

10.8%

Asian:

10.8%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 75.1%

See top rated California elementary schools

Compare Palms Elementary to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Palms Elementary ranks worse than 66.3% of elementary schools in California. It also ranks 334^th among 486 ranked elementary schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 30.53. (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 (60.6%), Asian (10.8%), White (10.8%). (See more...)

Compare Details 75.1% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Compare Details (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Palms Elementary is 15, which is the 13^th best among 486 elementary schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District. (See more...)

Compare Palms Elementary employs 16 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Palms Elementary is $17,164, which is the 31^st highest among 486 elementary schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Palms Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks Palms Elementary 3884^th of 5862 California public elementary schools. (See Palms Elementary in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

Special Education students:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Male students:

Hispanic students:

Los Angeles Unified:

SchoolDigger ranks Los Angeles Unified 871^st of 1568 California school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Rank History for Palms Elementary

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Rank History for all students at Palms Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2004	31.51	3158^th	4809	34.3%
2005	29.38	3322^nd	4822	31.1%
2006	25.71	3614^th	4818	25.0%
2007	27.49	3739^th	5113	26.9%
2008	33.20	3378^th	5113	33.9%
2009	25.50	4023^rd	5193	22.5%
2010	32.38	3668^th	5314	31.0%
2011	23.98	4406^th	5377	18.1%
2012	49.46	2656^th	5390	50.7%
2013	58.69	2193^rd	5530	60.3%
2015	30.16	3689^th	5611	34.3%
2016	28.13	3918^th	5614	30.2%
2017	32.43	3648^th	5692	35.9%
2018	27.54	4032^nd	5662	28.8%
2019	23.41	4497^th	5789	22.3%
2022	28.94	3954^th	5883	32.8%
2023	25.23	4346^th	5874	26.0%
2024	30.53	3884^th	5862	33.7%

See the entire list of California Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Palms Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	19.71	3064^th	3246	5.6%
2019	34.17	2192^nd	3275	33.1%
2022	20.81	3167^th	3311	4.3%

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

Rank History for Special Education students at Palms Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	22.07	2097^th	2420	13.3%
2024	20.03	2395^th	2634	9.1%

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

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Palms Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	31.26	3677^th	5084	27.7%
2019	29.91	3865^th	5173	25.3%
2022	30.54	3790^th	5264	28.0%
2023	26.68	4190^th	5374	22.0%
2024	34.39	3584^th	5511	35.0%

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

Rank History for Female students at Palms Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	23.24	4295^th	5413	20.7%
2019	24.00	4296^th	5492	21.8%
2022	28.32	3894^th	5635	30.9%
2023	24.75	4261^st	5617	24.1%
2024	39.08	3131^st	5605	44.1%

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

Rank History for Disabled students at Palms Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	40.59	1019^th	2128	52.1%
2019	16.47	2556^th	2585	1.1%
2022	20.02	2016^th	2227	9.5%

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

Rank History for Male students at Palms Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	32.83	3484^th	5431	35.8%
2019	23.98	4289^th	5510	22.2%
2022	31.13	3692^nd	5663	34.8%
2023	26.34	4110^th	5650	27.3%
2024	25.64	4211^th	5636	25.3%

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

Rank History for African American students at Palms Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2019	46.64	345^th	747	53.8%

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

Rank History for Hispanic students at Palms Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	32.05	3409^th	4830	29.4%
2019	25.76	3985^th	4963	19.7%
2022	28.39	3847^th	5084	24.3%
2023	34.96	3317^th	5098	34.9%
2024	38.66	3062^nd	5102	40.0%

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 Palms Elementary

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	114	66	63	144	0	n/a	n/a	0	387
1989	116	84	52	145	1	n/a	n/a	0	398
1990	114	92	63	150	0	n/a	n/a	0	419
1991	128	90	66	163	2	n/a	n/a	0	449
1992	103	118	69	153	2	n/a	n/a	0	445
1993	82	133	51	180	1	n/a	n/a	0	447
1994	46	125	35	181	1	n/a	n/a	0	388
1995	45	156	49	241	0	n/a	n/a	0	491
1996	45	156	49	241	0	n/a	n/a	0	491
1997	46	179	68	251	1	n/a	n/a	0	545
1998	54	170	66	249	0	n/a	n/a	0	539
1999	58	148	73	286	0	n/a	n/a	0	565
2000	63	110	75	297	0	n/a	n/a	0	545
2001	57	111	63	303	0	n/a	n/a	0	534
2002	62	97	59	343	0	n/a	n/a	0	561
2003	62	97	59	343	0	n/a	n/a	0	561
2004	45	96	65	343	1	n/a	n/a	0	550
2005	39	90	64	322	1	n/a	n/a	0	516
2006	35	89	64	290	2	n/a	n/a	0	480
2007	37	62	54	266	1	n/a	n/a	0	420
2008	29	67	49	265	2	n/a	n/a	0	412
2009	34	75	58	250	2	1	2	0	422
2010	48	80	50	265	0	2	2	0	447
2011	40	85	49	261	0	2	2	0	439
2012	29	75	44	261	1	1	1	0	412
2013	33	68	44	248	1	4	2	0	400
2014	42	73	58	260	1	7	0	0	441
2015	36	64	60	253	1	3	5	0	422
2016	30	63	45	231	0	2	6	0	377
2017	25	61	35	226	0	2	4	0	353
2018	24	53	32	209	0	2	5	0	325
2019	30	53	32	195	0	1	0	0	311
2020	31	45	24	197	1	2	5	0	305
2021	38	41	26	187	1	1	5	0	299
2022	29	24	21	164	1	0	9	0	248
2023	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	250	250
2024	26	25	26	146	0	0	18	0	241

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 Palms Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	387	18.0	21.5	n/a
1989	398	18.0	22.1	n/a
1990	419	19.0	22.0	n/a
1991	449	19.0	23.6	n/a
1992	445	19.3	23.0	44.9
1993	447	19.0	23.5	62
1994	388	16.0	24.3	61.1
1995	491	20.0	24.6	79.4
1996	491	20.0	24.6	79.4
1997	545	25.0	21.8	73.8
1998	539	27.0	20.0	73.3
1999	565	28.5	19.8	81.2
2000	545	28.0	19.5	77.2
2001	534	28.0	19.1	77.5
2002	561	29.0	19.3	74.7
2003	561	29.0	19.3	74.7
2004	550	29.0	19.0	70.4
2005	516	27.0	19.1	71.1
2006	480	28.0	17.1	68.5
2007	420	25.0	16.8	64.5
2008	412	25.5	16.2	57.5
2009	422	26.0	15.1	64.2
2010	447	21.0	21.2	64.4
2011	439	n/a	n/a	72.9
2012	412	20.0	20.6	n/a
2013	400	19.0	21.0	70.8
2014	441	21.0	21.0	73.2
2015	422	19.0	22.2	69.9
2016	377	18.0	20.9	74
2017	353	18.0	19.6	81.3
2018	325	16.0	20.3	76.6
2019	311	17.0	18.2	78.5
2020	305	n/a	n/a	76.4
2021	299	17.0	17.5	74.6
2022	248	16.0	15.5	73
2023	250	16.0	15.6	74.8
2024	241	16.0	15.0	75.1

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 Palms Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	387	18.0	21.5	n/a
1989	398	18.0	22.1	n/a
1990	419	19.0	22.0	n/a
1991	449	19.0	23.6	n/a
1992	445	19.3	23.0	44.9
1993	447	19.0	23.5	62
1994	388	16.0	24.3	61.1
1995	491	20.0	24.6	79.4
1996	491	20.0	24.6	79.4
1997	545	25.0	21.8	73.8
1998	539	27.0	20.0	73.3
1999	565	28.5	19.8	81.2
2000	545	28.0	19.5	77.2
2001	534	28.0	19.1	77.5
2002	561	29.0	19.3	74.7
2003	561	29.0	19.3	74.7
2004	550	29.0	19.0	70.4
2005	516	27.0	19.1	71.1
2006	480	28.0	17.1	68.5
2007	420	25.0	16.8	64.5
2008	412	25.5	16.2	57.5
2009	422	26.0	15.1	64.2
2010	447	21.0	21.2	64.4
2011	439	n/a	n/a	72.9
2012	412	20.0	20.6	n/a
2013	400	19.0	21.0	70.8
2014	441	21.0	21.0	73.2
2015	422	19.0	22.2	69.9
2016	377	18.0	20.9	74
2017	353	18.0	19.6	81.3
2018	325	16.0	20.3	76.6
2019	311	17.0	18.2	78.5
2020	305	n/a	n/a	76.4
2021	299	17.0	17.5	74.6
2022	248	16.0	15.5	73
2023	250	16.0	15.6	74.8
2024	241	16.0	15.0	75.1

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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