Summary:
The Duarte Unified school district consists of six schools serving roughly 2,900 students from transitional kindergarten through 12th grade, presenting a mix of strong performers and schools facing significant challenges within a generally high-need community.
Standout schools include Valley View Academy of Technical and Creative Learning (Tk-6), the district's top-ranked elementary school with notably high math and science scores, and Duarte High, a highly-ranked high school with an excellent 96.9% graduation rate. In contrast, Mt. Olive Innovation and Technology High struggles with very low academic proficiency and extremely high chronic absenteeism, despite having the highest per-student spending. Other elementary schools like Royal Oaks STEAM Academy (K-8) and Beardslee Dual Language Immersion Academy (Pk-8) show varied academic results.
A key district-wide concern is a chronic absenteeism rate of 37.4%, nearly double the state average, which likely impacts learning. Academically, the district's average English scores are on par with the state, but math scores lag behind. The wide performance gap between schools suggests that effective practices from top performers like Valley View and Duarte High could provide a roadmap for improvement across the district.
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