McKinley

McKinley Elementary School is a K-8 public school serving 538 students in the Pasadena Unified district, located in a Pasadena neighborhood close to some of the state's highest-ranked schools.

Academic performance at McKinley is significantly below state and district averages, with only about 27% of students proficient in English and 15% in math, and the school has experienced a notable decline in its statewide ranking over the past decade. A critical challenge is chronic absenteeism, with 31.3% of students missing too much school, a rate much higher than the state average and a factor strongly linked to lower achievement. It's important to note that despite having a higher per-student spending and a lower student-teacher ratio than many nearby schools, these resources have not yet translated into stronger academic outcomes.

Interesting comparisons show that while Valentine Elementary (in San Marino Unified) and Marengo Elementary (in South Pasadena Unified) are less than 2.5 miles away and rank in the 99th percentile, performance also varies widely within Pasadena Unified itself, with schools like Hamilton Elementary achieving much higher proficiency rates. This indicates that high performance is possible for schools serving similar communities, and for McKinley, targeted efforts to improve attendance and upper-grade math instruction appear to be key areas for improvement.