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Bell Gardens Elementary

Public Grades K-5
3683rd
SchoolDigger Rank ?
of 5,857 California Elementary Schools
Better than 37% of California elementary schools
Summary

Bell Gardens Elementary is a public elementary school located in Bell Gardens, CA, serving 659 students in grades K-5. It is part of the Montebello Unified School District, which is ranked 1034 out of 1565 districts in California and has a 2-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Bell Gardens Elementary has consistently ranked in the bottom half of California elementary schools, with below-average performance on Smarter Balanced Assessments compared to the district and state. For example, in 2024-2025, only 33.02% of Bell Gardens Elementary students were proficient or better in English Language Arts, compared to 37.01% for Montebello Unified and 48.81% for California. The school performs relatively better for Hispanic students and English Language Learners, but struggles with other subgroups like female students, male students, students with disabilities, and low-socioeconomic status students. Additionally, Bell Gardens Elementary has had high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 16.6% to 26.9% in recent years, which is significantly above the state average.

Interestingly, the nearby schools within the Montebello Unified District, such as Garfield Elementary and Cesar E. Chavez Elementary, have similar academic performance and student demographic profiles as Bell Gardens Elementary. However, the schools in the neighboring Los Angeles Unified District, such as Jaime Escalante Elementary, generally perform better academically, with higher proficiency rates and better rankings compared to Bell Gardens Elementary. The high rates of poverty and English Language Learners at Bell Gardens Elementary and the surrounding schools may be contributing factors to the lower academic performance, along with the chronic absenteeism issue and relatively lower funding and resources compared to the state average.

624
Students ?
20.4
Student/teacher ratio ?
$17,638
Per pupil spending ?
90.5%
Free/discounted lunch ?
 5620 Quinn St.
       Bell Gardens, CA  90201-5421

(562) 927-1223

District: Montebello Unified


Students who attend Bell Gardens Elementary usually attend:

Middle:    Bell Gardens Intermediate
High:    Bell Gardens High
Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
98.4%
Asian:
0.5%
Two or more races:
0.5%
more
 See top rated California elementary schools

 Compare Bell Gardens Elementary to nearby elementary schools!
At a glance
Ranking trend: Improving — 19th percentile in 2015 → 37th in 2025
Strengths
Ranking is trending up — up 18 percentile points since 2015
Worth a look
!Test scores below the California average (32% vs 41% meeting standards)
!English Language Arts/Literacy scores 16 pts below the California average
Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?
This school32%
District avg30%
California avg41%
3,683rd of 5,857
California public elementary schools ?
Bottom 37%▲ up 18 pts since 2015
From bottom 19% (2015) to bottom 37% (2025)
See the entire ranking list of California Elementary Schools →
SchoolDigger rating ?
6th of 17Elementary Schools in the Montebello Unified
1028th of 1,543Montebello Unified among California districts
Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)
Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202533.53683 of 585737.1%★★☆☆☆
202433.73623 of 586938.3%★★☆☆☆
202331.83736 of 585936.2%★★☆☆☆
202224.34422 of 588324.8%★☆☆☆☆
202116.81243 of 141712.3%★☆☆☆☆
201931.83790 of 578934.5%★★☆☆☆
201834.23529 of 566237.7%★★☆☆☆
201722.04511 of 569220.7%★☆☆☆☆
201618.44752 of 561415.4%★☆☆☆☆
201520.94534 of 561119.2%★☆☆☆☆
201318.34849 of 553012.3%★☆☆☆☆
201216.94848 of 539010.1%★☆☆☆☆
201122.34521 of 537715.9%★☆☆☆☆
201028.14001 of 531424.7%★☆☆☆☆
200933.93444 of 519333.7%★★☆☆☆
200831.93458 of 511332.4%★★☆☆☆
200731.83447 of 511332.6%★★☆☆☆
200622.63811 of 481820.9%★☆☆☆☆
200513.34437 of 48228.0%☆☆☆☆☆
200414.54380 of 48098.9%☆☆☆☆☆

Disabled

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202248.5842 of 222762.2%★★★☆☆
202120.4268 of 2938.5%☆☆☆☆☆
201951.3945 of 258563.4%★★★☆☆
201858.7609 of 212871.4%★★★★☆

English Language Learner

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202463.9576 of 316281.8%★★★★☆
202362.1709 of 324578.2%★★★★☆
202256.4909 of 331172.5%★★★★☆
202149.9202 of 60266.4%★★★☆☆
201953.51067 of 327567.4%★★★☆☆
201856.3994 of 324669.4%★★★☆☆

Female

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202538.53193 of 559743.0%★★☆☆☆
202437.13262 of 561241.9%★★☆☆☆
202331.13666 of 560934.6%★★☆☆☆
202224.24294 of 563523.8%★☆☆☆☆
202116.31145 of 12679.6%☆☆☆☆☆
201932.83604 of 549234.4%★★☆☆☆
201836.53319 of 541338.7%★★☆☆☆

Hispanic

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202547.92439 of 510752.2%★★★☆☆
202446.92475 of 510751.5%★★★☆☆
202347.32394 of 508752.9%★★★☆☆
202235.13284 of 508435.4%★★☆☆☆
201945.92553 of 496348.6%★★☆☆☆
201849.12283 of 483052.7%★★★☆☆

Homeless

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202250.3146 of 35659.0%★★★☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202547.02656 of 546051.4%★★★☆☆
202442.52950 of 551746.5%★★☆☆☆
202347.32551 of 536352.4%★★★☆☆
202235.43386 of 526435.7%★★☆☆☆
202128.3847 of 111023.7%★☆☆☆☆
201948.12527 of 517351.2%★★★☆☆
201849.22422 of 508452.4%★★★☆☆

Male

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202528.83954 of 562829.7%★☆☆☆☆
202430.73765 of 564333.3%★★☆☆☆
202333.43511 of 563837.7%★★☆☆☆
202225.84154 of 566326.6%★☆☆☆☆
202118.81063 of 127216.4%★☆☆☆☆
201931.23685 of 551033.1%★★☆☆☆
201832.13548 of 543134.7%★★☆☆☆

Special Education

YearAvg scoreStatewide rankCalifornia percentileRating
202531.91887 of 284733.7%★★☆☆☆
202456.9793 of 263569.9%★★★☆☆
202348.3956 of 242060.5%★★★☆☆
How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)
English Language Learner (2024)82nd percentile+44 vs school
Disabled (2022)62nd percentile+37 vs school
Homeless (2022)59th percentile+34 vs school
Hispanic (2025)52nd percentile+15 vs school
Low Socio Economic Status (2025)51st percentile+14 vs school
Female (2025)43rd percentile+6 vs school
Special Education (2025)34th percentile-3 vs school
Male (2025)30th percentile-7 vs school
By subject vs California (2024-2025) ?
English Language Arts/Literacy33%-16 vs state
Mathematics32%-5 vs state
Science28%-5 vs state

5.0
1 rating · 1 written review
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What people are saying
by a parent
Thursday, May 15, 2014

Open Quote MRS. MOLINA IS THE BEST TEACHER. MY DAUGHTER LOVES HER AND I AM SO HAPPY THAT MY DAUGHTER GOT A TEACHER WHO REALLY TAKES THE TIME TO TEACH. Close Quote





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Frequently Asked Questions about Bell Gardens Elementary

Students at Bell Gardens Elementary are 98% Hispanic.

Bell Gardens Elementary ranks 3683rd of 5857 California elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.

In the 2024-25 school year, 624 students attended Bell Gardens Elementary.

Students who attend Bell Gardens Elementary usually go on to attend:

Middle : Bell Gardens Intermediate
High : Bell Gardens High

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Latest California data All new data »
2024–25 school spending dataJul 1, 2026
2024–25 attendance dataMar 13, 2026
2024–25 CSA Spanish test scoresDec 22, 2025
2024–25 dropout rates & graduation ratesNov 14, 2025


SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.





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