Is West Athens Elementary a good school?

West Athens Elementary ranks in the bottom 10.7% of California elementary schools.

How many students attend West Athens Elementary?

In the 2023-24 school year, 557 students attended West Athens Elementary.

What is the racial makeup of West Athens Elementary?

Students at West Athens Elementary are 65% Hispanic, 28% African American, 5% Two or more races.

What schools do graduates of West Athens Elementary attend?

Students who attend West Athens Elementary usually go on to attend: High : George Washington Preparatory High

West Athens Elementary

Summary:

West Athens Elementary is a public elementary school in Los Angeles, California, serving 577 students in grades K-5. The school is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District, which is ranked 871 out of 1,568 districts in the state and has a 2-star rating from SchoolDigger.

West Athens Elementary faces significant challenges, including high chronic absenteeism rates that have risen from 15.8% in 2017-2018 to 46.8% in 2022-2023, well above the range of 10.8% to 45.9% at nearby schools. Academically, the school consistently performs below the Los Angeles Unified School District and California state averages in Smarter Balanced Assessments for English Language Arts/Literacy and Mathematics. For example, in 2023-2024, only 21.22% of West Athens students were proficient or better in ELA/Literacy End of Course, compared to 43.06% for the district and 47.04% for the state. In Mathematics, the proficiency rates were even lower at 17.92% for West Athens, 32.83% for the district, and 35.54% for the state.

The school's challenges extend to specific student subgroups, with Hispanic students and English Language Learners performing in the bottom 20-30% of California elementary schools in recent years. However, the school's African American students perform relatively better, ranking in the top 50% of California elementary schools for this subgroup. Additionally, West Athens Elementary has an extremely high rate of free and reduced lunch recipients, at around 98% in recent years, significantly higher than the nearby schools, which range from 89.58% to 99%. Addressing the root causes of high absenteeism, targeted interventions, and a holistic approach to supporting the needs of the predominantly low-income student population may be crucial in improving outcomes at West Athens Elementary.

Detail:

Public K-5

1110 West 119th St.
Los Angeles, CA 90044-6504

(323) 756-9114

District: Los Angeles Unified

SchoolDigger Rank:
5233^rd of 5,862 California Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $9,420

Students who attend West Athens Elementary usually attend:

High:

George Washington Preparatory High

Student/teacher ratio: 19.2

Number of students: 557

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

65.0%

African American:

28.4%

Two or more races:

5.2%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 94.4%

See top rated California elementary schools

Compare West Athens Elementary to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details West Athens Elementary ranks worse than 89.3% of elementary schools in California. It also ranks 465^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 15.68. (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 (65%), African American (28.4%), two or more races (5.2%). (See more...)

Compare Details 94.4% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Compare Details (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at West Athens Elementary is 19.2, which is the 181^st best among 486 elementary schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District. (See more...)

Compare West Athens Elementary employs 29 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at West Athens Elementary is $9,420. 452 elementary schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District spend more per student.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

West Athens Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks West Athens Elementary 5233^rd of 5862 California public elementary schools. (See West Athens Elementary in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

English Language Learner students:

Special Education students:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Male students:

African American 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 West Athens Elementary

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Rank History for all students at West Athens Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2004	13.87	4416^th	4809	8.2%
2005	11.30	4574^th	4822	5.1%
2006	13.24	4449^th	4818	7.7%
2007	9.35	4948^th	5113	3.2%
2008	7.94	5006^th	5113	2.1%
2009	5.53	5141^st	5193	1.0%
2010	2.81	5302^nd	5314	0.2%
2011	4.75	5346^th	5377	0.6%
2012	9.83	5202^nd	5390	3.5%
2013	8.87	5341^st	5530	3.4%
2015	8.90	5534^th	5611	1.4%
2016	5.65	5589^th	5614	0.4%
2017	6.47	5638^th	5692	0.9%
2018	8.36	5515^th	5662	2.6%
2019	8.31	5654^th	5789	2.3%
2022	19.26	4933^rd	5883	16.1%
2023	11.04	5653^rd	5874	3.8%
2024	15.68	5233^rd	5862	10.7%

See the entire list of California Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at West Athens Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	15.26	3224^th	3246	0.7%
2019	17.59	3258^th	3275	0.5%
2022	23.39	3040^th	3311	8.2%
2023	21.74	3059^th	3250	5.9%
2024	38.99	1895^th	3160	40.0%

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

Rank History for Special Education students at West Athens Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	21.68	2118^th	2420	12.5%
2024	22.00	2294^th	2634	12.9%

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

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at West Athens Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	9.77	4962^nd	5084	2.4%
2019	10.66	5034^th	5173	2.7%
2022	28.70	3944^th	5264	25.1%
2023	14.32	5093^rd	5374	5.2%
2024	21.33	4682^nd	5511	15.0%

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

Rank History for Female students at West Athens Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	8.76	5288^th	5413	2.3%
2019	10.06	5308^th	5492	3.4%
2022	21.49	4565^th	5635	19.0%
2023	12.53	5354^th	5617	4.7%
2024	15.09	5108^th	5605	8.9%

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

Rank History for Disabled students at West Athens Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2018	17.51	2092^nd	2128	1.7%
2019	17.00	2537^th	2585	1.9%

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

Rank History for Male students at West Athens Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	8.91	5319^th	5431	2.1%
2019	7.70	5431^st	5510	1.4%
2022	18.87	4821^st	5663	14.9%
2023	11.06	5462^nd	5650	3.3%
2024	17.40	4948^th	5636	12.2%

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

Rank History for African American students at West Athens Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	20.94	613^th	700	12.4%
2019	16.65	705^th	747	5.6%
2022	43.26	321^st	663	51.6%
2023	27.70	502^nd	662	24.2%
2024	44.03	289^th	593	51.3%

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

Rank History for Hispanic students at West Athens Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	14.34	4537^th	4830	6.1%
2019	16.14	4606^th	4963	7.2%
2022	26.04	4039^th	5084	20.6%
2023	15.15	4787^th	5098	6.1%
2024	19.85	4463^rd	5102	12.5%

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 West Athens Elementary

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	4	500	22	584	0	n/a	n/a	0	1110
1989	5	472	11	621	0	n/a	n/a	0	1109
1990	6	435	12	724	2	n/a	n/a	0	1179
1991	4	418	12	728	2	n/a	n/a	0	1164
1992	2	353	10	640	1	n/a	n/a	0	1006
1993	1	384	9	674	1	n/a	n/a	0	1069
1994	5	419	8	686	0	n/a	n/a	0	1118
1995	3	443	10	722	1	n/a	n/a	0	1179
1996	3	443	10	722	1	n/a	n/a	0	1179
1997	6	432	10	744	0	n/a	n/a	0	1192
1998	8	450	8	779	0	n/a	n/a	0	1245
1999	5	430	7	803	2	n/a	n/a	0	1247
2000	2	413	6	828	0	n/a	n/a	0	1249
2001	4	418	6	834	0	n/a	n/a	0	1262
2002	3	357	2	753	1	n/a	n/a	0	1116
2003	3	357	2	753	1	n/a	n/a	0	1116
2004	4	379	3	708	2	n/a	n/a	0	1096
2005	4	325	3	696	4	n/a	n/a	0	1032
2006	5	291	4	697	4	n/a	n/a	0	1001
2007	4	275	3	674	4	n/a	n/a	1	961
2008	4	246	8	658	2	n/a	n/a	0	918
2009	1	234	3	613	5	4	2	0	862
2010	2	208	0	566	5	3	0	0	784
2011	3	207	0	557	4	4	1	0	776
2012	3	216	0	558	4	4	0	0	785
2013	3	208	0	532	2	3	1	0	749
2014	3	225	0	542	2	2	0	0	774
2015	8	233	1	543	3	9	8	0	805
2016	13	200	1	524	0	5	7	0	750
2017	10	213	0	505	1	2	2	0	733
2018	7	183	0	514	3	2	4	0	713
2019	7	192	0	479	2	3	4	0	687
2020	5	189	0	480	1	2	8	0	685
2021	5	177	0	451	1	2	15	0	651
2022	5	131	1	383	0	2	15	0	537
2023	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	577	577
2024	5	158	1	362	1	1	29	0	557

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 West Athens Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	1110	44.0	25.2	n/a
1989	1109	45.0	24.6	n/a
1990	1179	45.0	26.2	n/a
1991	1164	45.0	25.8	n/a
1992	1006	45.7	22.0	94.9
1993	1069	45.0	23.8	84.4
1994	1118	41.5	26.9	90.3
1995	1179	47.0	25.1	95
1996	1179	47.0	25.1	95
1997	1192	54.0	22.1	84.6
1998	1245	57.0	21.8	94.9
1999	1247	70.0	17.8	94
2000	1249	63.0	19.8	97.6
2001	1262	63.0	20.0	96
2002	1116	60.0	18.6	97.3
2003	1116	60.0	18.6	97.3
2004	1096	55.5	19.7	80.2
2005	1032	51.0	20.2	83.3
2006	1001	51.0	19.6	95
2007	961	49.0	19.6	87.6
2008	918	55.0	16.7	92.3
2009	862	43.0	19.6	91.3
2010	784	39.0	20.1	92.5
2011	776	n/a	n/a	51.4
2012	785	32.9	23.8	n/a
2013	749	30.5	24.5	82.2
2014	774	31.5	24.5	70
2015	805	34.0	23.6	84.6
2016	750	30.0	25.0	92.1
2017	733	30.0	24.4	86.5
2018	713	31.0	23.0	90.5
2019	687	30.0	22.9	93.3
2020	685	n/a	n/a	96.6
2021	651	30.0	21.7	97.7
2022	537	29.0	18.5	97.8
2023	577	28.0	20.6	97.9
2024	557	29.0	19.2	94.4

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 West Athens Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	1110	44.0	25.2	n/a
1989	1109	45.0	24.6	n/a
1990	1179	45.0	26.2	n/a
1991	1164	45.0	25.8	n/a
1992	1006	45.7	22.0	94.9
1993	1069	45.0	23.8	84.4
1994	1118	41.5	26.9	90.3
1995	1179	47.0	25.1	95
1996	1179	47.0	25.1	95
1997	1192	54.0	22.1	84.6
1998	1245	57.0	21.8	94.9
1999	1247	70.0	17.8	94
2000	1249	63.0	19.8	97.6
2001	1262	63.0	20.0	96
2002	1116	60.0	18.6	97.3
2003	1116	60.0	18.6	97.3
2004	1096	55.5	19.7	80.2
2005	1032	51.0	20.2	83.3
2006	1001	51.0	19.6	95
2007	961	49.0	19.6	87.6
2008	918	55.0	16.7	92.3
2009	862	43.0	19.6	91.3
2010	784	39.0	20.1	92.5
2011	776	n/a	n/a	51.4
2012	785	32.9	23.8	n/a
2013	749	30.5	24.5	82.2
2014	774	31.5	24.5	70
2015	805	34.0	23.6	84.6
2016	750	30.0	25.0	92.1
2017	733	30.0	24.4	86.5
2018	713	31.0	23.0	90.5
2019	687	30.0	22.9	93.3
2020	685	n/a	n/a	96.6
2021	651	30.0	21.7	97.7
2022	537	29.0	18.5	97.8
2023	577	28.0	20.6	97.9
2024	557	29.0	19.2	94.4

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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