Summary:
Schools in ZIP code 90242 include 13 schools: seven elementary schools, two middle schools, and four juvenile-hall or camp high schools. Across the nine elementary and middle schools, average proficiency is above the state in all three subjects, with the clearest advantage in math: 47% compared with 38% statewide. The most important finding is that results vary substantially between conventional schools, so a ZIP-code average can hide very different academic profiles.
Old River Elementary leads in ELA at 63%—14 percentage points above the state—and is second in math at 55%, 17 points above the state. Garcia Elementary leads in math at 60%, while Carpenter Elementary leads in science at 46%, 10 points above the state. At the other end, Gauldin Elementary is lowest in all three subjects: 39% in ELA, 34% in math, and 22% in science—10, 4, and 14 points below the state, respectively. The strongest-to-weakest spread is about 24 to 26 points in each subject.
Results generally improved from 2024–25 to 2025–26: average scores rose 4 points in ELA, 4 in math, and 5 in science among schools with comparable results. Gains were uneven: Garcia gained 10 points in ELA and Old River gained 10 in math, while Gauldin and Ward Elementary lost 8 and 6 points in science. SchoolDigger’s statewide percentile rankings rose from 60th to 70th for Carpenter and 68th to 78th for Old River. Context also varies: in 2024–25, 53% of Carpenter students and 89% of Gauldin students were free/reduced lunch eligible; their student-teacher ratios were 27.4 and 22.1, respectively. The four juvenile-hall or camp high schools have distinct settings and should be considered separately from conventional schools.
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