Summary:
This analysis examines four public schools in the 90802 zip code of Long Beach, California, all part of the Long Beach Unified district, including three elementary schools and one middle school serving a total of over 2,100 students in a high-need area.
Among these schools, Stevenson Elementary shows the strongest test scores in English and math, while Chavez Elementary stands out for its notable improvement, rising in state ranking over the last three years, and for having the best student-teacher ratio. In contrast, Edison Elementary faces significant challenges, with the lowest academic ranking and the highest rate of chronic student absenteeism, despite having the highest per-student spending.
Overall, all schools in this zip code perform below district and state averages academically, and they share a critical challenge with chronic absenteeism rates over 30%, which is far above the state average. However, the progress at Chavez Elementary demonstrates that improvement is possible. For parents, this suggests that while the area's schools face common hurdles, individual school environments and trajectories, such as the strong middle-grade growth at Franklin Classical Middle, can vary significantly.
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