Summary
D. D. Johnston Elementary serves 361 students in kindergarten through fifth grade in Norwalk, California, and is part of the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified district. In 2025–2026, proficiency was above state and district levels in all three tested subjects; the clearest strength was science, where Johnston outperformed the district by 12 points and the state by 10.
Science is also Johnston’s strongest subject compared with nearby schools: 46% of students were proficient, versus a 39% average for nearby K–5 schools. Math was 46%, compared with a nearby average of 44%; ELA was 52%, versus 50%. Despite these advantages, Johnston ranked sixth among 10 nearby K–5 schools in each subject. Within its district, it ranked second among nearby schools in ELA and math and first in science. Results vary by grade, though: third-grade math proficiency was 57%, but fourth-grade math was 37%—5 points below the state and 4 below the district. That makes fourth-grade math a specific weakness to ask about, rather than assuming results are similar in every grade.
Scores have improved overall since 2022–2023: ELA rose from 46% to 52%, math from 40% to 46%, and science from 17% to 46%. Science has been less steady, climbing to 56% in 2024–2025 before falling by 10 points the following year. Chronic absenteeism also declined, from 41% in 2021–2022 to 19% in 2025–2026. SchoolDigger ranked Johnston 1,918th of 5,804 California schools, at the 67th percentile with 3 stars; that was fifth-highest among nearby schools. Its statewide measure of how well it serves Hispanic students was at the 87th percentile in 2025–2026, while its measure for students in special education was at the 29th percentile, down from 51 in 2023–2024. For context, the student–teacher ratio was 22.3 in 2024–2025, compared with 21.7 nearby, and 73% of students were free/reduced lunch eligible that school year, compared with a nearby average of 79%.
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