Summary
Palms Elementary in Lakewood, California, serves 463 students in kindergarten through grade 6 in the ABC Unified district. Its clearest academic concern is English language arts (ELA): in 2025–2026, 40% of students were proficient, compared with 49% statewide and 64% in the district; Palms also finished 13 percentage points below the nearby-school average of 53%. ELA is the school’s most consistent shortfall against these comparisons.
Science is Palms’ strongest subject compared with the state and nearby schools, while math and ELA results lag local benchmarks. Science proficiency was 48%, 12 points above the state and 7 points above the nearby-school average, though just below the district’s 49%. Math proficiency was 36%, 2 points below the state, 17 below the district, and 11 below the nearby-school average. Sixth grade stands out as a particular concern: ELA and math proficiency were both 25%; the ELA result was the lowest among Palms and the 10 nearby schools, while sixth-grade math was second-lowest. Grade 5 was a brighter spot, with ELA at 54% and math at 41%, both above state results for that grade.
Results have moved unevenly over time: from 2022–2023 to 2025–2026, ELA rose 4 percentage points and math rose 1, while science rose 4; in the latest year, ELA fell 4 points and math fell 6, as science climbed 19. Chronic absenteeism improved from 32% to 20% over that period, but remained above the district’s 12% rate in 2025–2026. SchoolDigger ranks Palms at the 52nd percentile statewide with three stars, down 6 percentile points from 2023–2024; its 24.3 students per teacher is the fifth-highest ratio among the 11 schools. Palms reported 82% free/reduced lunch eligible in 2024–2025; California is identified in the supplied data as a state where all students receive free school meals. SchoolDigger’s group rankings differ notably from its overall standing: Palms was at the 8th percentile for effectiveness serving Multi-racial students, compared with the 52nd percentile overall, and at the 79th percentile for serving Special Education students.
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