Is Ward (E. W.) Elementary a good school?

Ward (E. W.) Elementary ranks 3070 th of 5862 California elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.

How many students attend Ward (E. W.) Elementary?

In the 2022-23 school year, 576 students attended Ward (E. W.) Elementary.

What is the racial makeup of Ward (E. W.) Elementary?

Students at Ward (E. W.) Elementary are 92% Hispanic, 4% White, 2% African American, 1% Asian.

Ward (E. W.) Elementary

Summary:

Ward (E. W.) Elementary is a public elementary school located in Downey, California, serving 576 students from kindergarten to 5th grade. The school is part of the Downey Unified School District, which is ranked 562 out of 1,568 school districts in the state.

While Ward (E. W.) Elementary has seen a significant increase in chronic absenteeism rates, rising from 10.3% in 2017-2018 to 51.9% in 2021-2022, this is notably higher than the nearby Carpenter (C.C.) Elementary (26.5%) and Alameda Elementary (38.7%). Additionally, the school consistently underperforms compared to the Downey Unified School District and the state of California in Smarter Balanced Assessments, with only 39.87% of students proficient or better in English Language Arts/Literacy and 33.77% in Mathematics.

Ward (E. W.) Elementary has a high percentage of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, with 80.73% of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch in 2022-2023, significantly higher than the nearby Carpenter (C.C.) Elementary (43.87%) and Alameda Elementary (77.41%). However, the school's Hispanic students and English Language Learner students have higher rankings compared to the overall school performance, suggesting that these subgroups may be performing better than the general student population.

Detail:

Public K-5

8851 East Adoree St.
Downey, CA 90242-4501

(562) 904-3591

District: Downey Unified

SchoolDigger Rank:
3070^th of 5,862 California Elementary Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures: $15,147

Student/teacher ratio: 25.0

Number of students: 576

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

91.8%

White:

4.3%

African American:

1.9%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 80.7%

See top rated California elementary schools

Compare Ward (E. W.) Elementary to nearby elementary schools!

Performance Trends

Compare Details Ward (E. W.) Elementary ranks worse than 52.4% of elementary schools in California. It also ranks 10^th among 11 ranked elementary schools in the Downey Unified School District. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 41.85. (See more...)

Chronic absenteeism in a high 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 (91.8%), White (4.3%), African American (1.9%). (See more...)

Compare Details 80.7% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Compare Details (See more...)

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Ward (E. W.) Elementary is 25. 6 elementary schools in the Downey Unified School District have better student/teacher ratios. (See more...)

Compare Ward (E. W.) Elementary employs 23 full-time teachers.

Finance

Compare Details The average total spent per student at Ward (E. W.) Elementary is $15,147, which is the 2^nd highest among 11 elementary schools in the Downey Unified School District.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Ward (E. W.) Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks Ward (E. W.) Elementary 3070^th of 5862 California public elementary schools. (See Ward (E. W.) 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:

Hispanic students:

Downey Unified:

SchoolDigger ranks Downey Unified 562^nd of 1568 California school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Rank History for Ward (E. W.) Elementary

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Rank History for all students at Ward (E. W.) Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2022	29.57	3903^rd	5883	33.7%
2023	36.23	3415^th	5874	41.9%
2024	41.85	3070^th	5862	47.6%

See the entire list of California Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Ward (E. W.) Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2022	45.02	1465^th	3311	55.8%
2023	58.10	856^th	3250	73.7%
2024	47.58	1316^th	3160	58.4%

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

Rank History for Special Education students at Ward (E. W.) Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2023	36.99	1335^th	2420	44.8%
2024	35.90	1505^th	2634	42.9%

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

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Ward (E. W.) Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2022	40.47	2967^th	5264	43.6%
2023	47.88	2508^th	5374	53.3%
2024	51.98	2263^rd	5511	58.9%

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

Rank History for Female students at Ward (E. W.) Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2022	25.67	4151^st	5635	26.3%
2023	36.64	3250^th	5617	42.1%
2024	42.16	2912^th	5605	48.0%

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

Rank History for Disabled students at Ward (E. W.) Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2022	29.01	1540^th	2227	30.8%

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

Rank History for Male students at Ward (E. W.) Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2022	34.89	3382^nd	5663	40.3%
2023	36.10	3329^th	5650	41.1%
2024	41.22	2983^rd	5636	47.1%

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

Rank History for Hispanic students at Ward (E. W.) Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2022	41.38	2799^th	5084	44.9%
2023	50.22	2218^th	5098	56.5%
2024	56.70	1856^th	5102	63.6%

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 Ward (E. W.) Elementary

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Not Specified	Total
1988	275	3	16	204	0	n/a	n/a	0	498
1989	211	22	52	285	0	n/a	n/a	0	570
1990	203	23	33	287	7	n/a	n/a	0	553
1991	193	28	46	330	1	n/a	n/a	0	598
1992	216	31	49	344	1	n/a	n/a	0	641
1993	187	46	50	370	5	n/a	n/a	0	658
1994	181	51	60	402	3	n/a	n/a	0	697
1995	153	38	63	515	2	n/a	n/a	0	771
1996	153	38	63	515	2	n/a	n/a	0	771
1997	128	27	50	528	2	n/a	n/a	0	735
1998	124	33	37	566	5	n/a	n/a	0	765
1999	108	34	33	616	6	n/a	n/a	0	797
2000	62	30	17	420	3	n/a	n/a	0	532
2001	42	14	14	413	0	n/a	n/a	0	483
2002	29	11	10	449	0	n/a	n/a	0	499
2003	29	11	10	449	0	n/a	n/a	0	499
2004	27	11	5	456	0	n/a	n/a	1	500
2005	30	10	9	415	0	n/a	n/a	0	464
2006	27	16	8	475	0	n/a	n/a	5	531
2007	24	17	4	453	1	n/a	n/a	5	504
2008	14	15	7	431	1	n/a	n/a	0	468
2009	13	20	8	434	1	2	11	0	489
2010	12	18	10	405	1	3	1	0	450
2011	12	16	10	439	0	2	1	0	480
2012	16	16	9	424	0	1	2	0	468
2013	10	19	5	417	1	0	1	0	453
2014	8	13	4	418	1	0	0	0	444
2015	5	8	8	423	4	2	1	0	451
2016	6	8	11	420	2	2	3	0	452
2017	6	7	7	412	2	1	3	0	438
2018	7	7	7	391	1	1	2	0	416
2019	6	7	9	434	1	0	1	0	458
2020	5	10	11	497	1	0	0	0	524
2021	15	11	13	581	1	0	1	0	622
2022	23	11	7	479	1	0	1	0	522
2023	25	11	6	529	2	1	2	0	576

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 Ward (E. W.) Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	498	20.0	24.9	n/a
1989	570	22.0	25.9	n/a
1990	553	23.0	24.0	n/a
1991	598	24.0	24.9	n/a
1992	641	24.4	26.2	54.6
1993	658	24.0	27.4	50.3
1994	697	25.0	27.9	63.3
1995	771	29.0	26.6	67.1
1996	771	29.0	26.6	67.1
1997	735	30.0	24.5	71.4
1998	765	31.0	24.7	70.5
1999	797	30.0	26.6	44.8
2000	532	27.6	19.3	66.5
2001	483	26.0	18.6	79.3
2002	499	28.0	17.8	75.6
2003	499	28.0	17.8	75.6
2004	500	26.1	19.2	74.7
2005	464	25.4	18.3	77.8
2006	531	27.4	19.4	73.6
2007	504	26.4	19.1	75.6
2008	468	27.8	16.8	72
2009	489	27.5	15.8	77.7
2010	450	28.0	16.0	84.4
2011	480	n/a	n/a	75.2
2012	468	18.5	25.2	n/a
2013	453	17.0	26.6	80.6
2014	444	17.0	26.1	81.3
2015	451	19.0	23.7	81.8
2016	452	18.0	25.1	79.2
2017	438	18.0	24.3	81.1
2018	416	18.0	23.1	82.2
2019	458	20.0	22.9	77.9
2020	524	n/a	n/a	80.3
2021	622	26.0	23.9	73.8
2022	522	22.0	23.7	79.1
2023	576	23.0	25.0	80.7

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 Ward (E. W.) Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	498	20.0	24.9	n/a
1989	570	22.0	25.9	n/a
1990	553	23.0	24.0	n/a
1991	598	24.0	24.9	n/a
1992	641	24.4	26.2	54.6
1993	658	24.0	27.4	50.3
1994	697	25.0	27.9	63.3
1995	771	29.0	26.6	67.1
1996	771	29.0	26.6	67.1
1997	735	30.0	24.5	71.4
1998	765	31.0	24.7	70.5
1999	797	30.0	26.6	44.8
2000	532	27.6	19.3	66.5
2001	483	26.0	18.6	79.3
2002	499	28.0	17.8	75.6
2003	499	28.0	17.8	75.6
2004	500	26.1	19.2	74.7
2005	464	25.4	18.3	77.8
2006	531	27.4	19.4	73.6
2007	504	26.4	19.1	75.6
2008	468	27.8	16.8	72
2009	489	27.5	15.8	77.7
2010	450	28.0	16.0	84.4
2011	480	n/a	n/a	75.2
2012	468	18.5	25.2	n/a
2013	453	17.0	26.6	80.6
2014	444	17.0	26.1	81.3
2015	451	19.0	23.7	81.8
2016	452	18.0	25.1	79.2
2017	438	18.0	24.3	81.1
2018	416	18.0	23.1	82.2
2019	458	20.0	22.9	77.9
2020	524	n/a	n/a	80.3
2021	622	26.0	23.9	73.8
2022	522	22.0	23.7	79.1
2023	576	23.0	25.0	80.7

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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