Summary
Bell Gardens High is a grades 9–12 school in Bell Gardens, California, serving 2,046 students in Montebello Unified. Its latest graduation rate is 91%, above California’s 88%, and chronic absenteeism is 17%, below both the state’s 18% and the district’s 18%. But test results reveal a clear academic challenge: math proficiency is just 14%, 25 points below the state and 12 below the district.
English language arts is Bell Gardens High’s strongest tested subject relative to nearby schools and its district: 44% of students are proficient, 7 points above the district, though 5 below the state. Nearby schools average 48% in ELA, putting Bell Gardens 3 points below that comparison. In math, its 14% result is 8 points below the nearby average of 21%; in science, its 24% is 5 points below the nearby average of 29%, but 2 points above the district. It ranks in the middle among nearby schools in math, while its ELA and science standing is lower. The school remains below the state in all three subjects.
Results have improved across the four school years reported: ELA rose 7 points, math 6, and science 13; science also moved from below to above the district result. The gaps to the state narrowed, especially in science, although math remains far behind. SchoolDigger places the school at the 36th percentile statewide and gives it 2 stars. Its 2024–2025 student-teacher ratio was 19.2, the third-highest among nearby schools with reported ratios. The school reported 87% free/reduced lunch eligible in 2024–2025, compared with a 91% average among nearby schools reporting the same measure and year. SchoolDigger’s measure of how well the school serves English Language Learner Students fell from the 71st percentile in 2021–2022 to the 32nd in 2023–2024. Its measure for Special Education Students rose from the 15th percentile in 2024–2025 to the 44th in 2025–2026, above the school’s overall 36th-percentile standing that year.
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