Enrollment
358
Elementary
DISTRICT 316 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·LOS NIETOS·NCES 062289003501
Ada S. Nelson Elementary
8140 South Vicki Dr., Whittier, CA 90606 · (562) 692-0615 · Los Angeles County
GRADES KG–06ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL358 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 76% of California public elementary schools
- B+Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- ABeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- CThree-year trend Change in reading and math proficiency over the last three test years.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded California public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
25.6:1
14 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 23.1:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
84%
301 students
DISTRICT 88% · STATE 65%
Community
0
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 61 | 17% |
| Grade 1 | 56 | 16% |
| Grade 2 | 53 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 44 | 12% |
| Grade 4 | 52 | 15% |
| Grade 5 | 52 | 15% |
| Grade 6 | 40 | 11% |
This year's kindergarten class (61) is 53% larger than its 6th grade class (40).
Student demographics
16%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 11% · STATE 62% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
School pathway
Students here typically continue to
Ada S. Nelson Elementary→Los Nietos Middle
Based on grade levels within Los Nietos. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
CAASPP 2024-25 . % met or exceeded standardEnglish Language Arts
53.5%
CA avg 49.1% . +19.5pp since 2014
Math
44.7%
CA avg 37.7% . +22.7pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 54 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 45 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all California schools, those numbers are about 49 and 38. Reading and writing scores are up about 20 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 23 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 21.6% | 31.9% | 24.9% | 21.6% |
| Math | 20.2% | 24.5% | 31.4% | 23.9% |
Share of tested students at each CAASPP level. Each student counts in one level, so a row adds to about 100%.
CAASPP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 53.5% | 44.7% |
| 2023-24 | 56.1% | 42.9% |
| 2022-23 | 53.0% | 49.7% |
| 2021-22 | 55.3% | 45.2% |
| 2020-21 | 40.6% | 28.3% |
| 2018-19 | 53.4% | 47.1% |
| 2017-18 | 47.0% | 39.9% |
| 2016-17 | 51.7% | 42.5% |
| 2015-16 | 46.0% | 33.0% |
| 2014-15 | 34.0% | 22.0% |
% met or exceeded standard, all students and all tested grades.
Source: CAASPP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
OUTPERFORMING
Top 10% of CA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
49.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
30.3%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+18.9pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 49% of students here test proficient in math and reading, well above the roughly 30% typical for California schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations ranks schools against others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school can post high scores and still fall short of its prediction, or post lower scores and still beat it. This school clears its prediction by about 19 points, placing it in California's top 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Ada S. Nelson Elementary
Ada S. Nelson Elementary's state test result (49.2% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ada S. Nelson Elementary this school | 358 | 84.1% | 49.2% |
| Earl E. Edmondson Elementary Norwalk | 352 | 83.0% | 27.6% |
| Ruby Drive Elementary Placentia | 373 | 82.3% | 38.1% |
| Henry (Patrick) Elementary Anaheim | 343 | 85.4% | 16.3% |
| Locust Elementary Fontana | 346 | 82.1% | 30.3% |
| Las Lomas Elementary La Habra | 345 | 86.4% | 31.6% |
Matched among California elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Ada S. Nelson Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Los Angeles County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 49.2% | #1,770 of 5,151 | #401 of 1,126 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 44.7% | #1,955 of 5,172 ▲ 21 | #479 of 1,129 ▼ 22 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 53.5% | #1,789 of 5,172 ▼ 300 | #400 of 1,129 ▼ 76 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -1.2pp | #1,438 of 5,116 | #238 of 1,116 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 358 | #4,202 of 5,915 | #911 of 1,300 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 25.6:1 | #4,699 of 5,352 | #1,065 of 1,213 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 15.9% | #4,655 of 5,354 | #957 of 1,214 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 84.1% | #1,758 of 5,625 | #613 of 1,276 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -12.5% | #2,363 of 3,837 | #679 of 947 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
358
-12 (-3%) vs 2020
-33% since 1990-91, when it was 532
Student : Teacher
25.6:1
was 26.4:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 358 | 14 | 25.6:1 | 84% (301) |
| 2023-24 | 378 | 15 | 25.2:1 | 72% (273) |
| 2022-23 | 382 | 16 | 23.9:1 | 77% (296) |
| 2020-21 | 370 | 14 | 26.4:1 | 75% (277) |
| 2017-18 | 409 | 16 | 25.6:1 | 83% (341) |
| 2015-16 | 429 | 15 | 28.6:1 | 88% (378) |
| 2010-11 | 517 | N/A | N/A | 99% (514) |
| 2000-01 | 554 | 25 | 22.2:1 | 73% (406) |
| 1990-91 | 532 | 21 | 25.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Ada S. Nelson Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 12% (409 to 358); teachers down 12% (16 to 14).
About Ada S. Nelson Elementary
Ada S. Nelson Elementary is a small elementary school. Its address is in Whittier, California. The school serves 358 students in kindergarten through 6 in 2024-25. For comparison, elementary schools in California average about 465 students.
Los Nietos (4 schools, 1,210 students) runs Ada S. Nelson Elementary.
Hispanic students are the large majority at Ada S. Nelson Elementary, with 92% of enrollment. Next come 4% Asian. That compares with about 48% Hispanic among all Los Angeles County residents. By the diversity index, Ada S. Nelson Elementary comes in at 16%.
The school reported 14 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25 and a ratio of 25.6:1. The 22.3:1 average for elementary schools in California is lower than this school's figure. Eligible students account for 84% of enrollment in the free or reduced-price lunch program. Compared with the 70% average for public schools in Los Angeles County, the school's rate is higher.
allk12 grades Ada S. Nelson Elementary an A-. The grade compares the school only with California public elementary schools, because each state gives its own test.
The allk12 BeatsExpectations score for Ada S. Nelson Elementary is +18.9 points, in the top 10% of California. Its average proficiency rate on state tests is 49.2%, and the predicted rate is 30.3%.
Recent Census Bureau figures for Los Angeles County show that median household income is about $90,112, 36% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 10% of people live in poverty. Federal data list 2,244 public schools in Los Angeles County, with a combined enrollment of about 1,265,907.
Pioneer High is located about 0.2 miles from Ada S. Nelson Elementary. Within five miles are at least 8 other public schools. Its average proficiency rate of 49.2% is above the 42.4% average for nearby schools.
The school is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more, according to its NCES locale (Suburb: Large).
From 2020-21 to 2024-25, Ada S. Nelson Elementary went from 370 students to 358.
Threads on this page can be about school events, clubs, and volunteer needs. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.
Los Angeles County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
9,808,667
Census ACS
Median income
$90,112
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
36%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
10%
Below federal line
Schools in county
2,244
1,265,907 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Los Nietos
- Rancho Santa Gertrudes ElementaryElementary · 307 students
- Aeolian ElementaryElementary · 283 students
- Los Nietos MiddleMiddle · 262 students
Other schools in Whittier
- La Serna HighHigh · 2,372 students
- California HighHigh · 2,261 students
- Whittier HighHigh · 1,652 students
- Pioneer HighHigh · 1,000 students
- Granada MiddleMiddle · 989 students
- East Whittier MiddleMiddle · 985 students
Nearby schools
- Pioneer High0.2 mi · 1,000
- Los Nietos Middle0.4 mi · 262
- Aeolian Elementary0.5 mi · 283
- Daniel Phelan Language Academy0.7 mi · 507
- Katherine Edwards Mid Sch STEAM & Dual Immersion Acad1.0 mi · 894
- Christian Sorensen Science Academy1.1 mi · 446
Frequently asked questions
About Ada S. Nelson ElementaryHow many students attend Ada S. Nelson Elementary?
Ada S. Nelson Elementary enrolls approximately 358 students in grades KG-06.
What grades does Ada S. Nelson Elementary serve?
Ada S. Nelson Elementary serves grades KG-06.
How many students per teacher at Ada S. Nelson Elementary?
Approximately 25.6:1 students per teacher at Ada S. Nelson Elementary.
How diverse is Ada S. Nelson Elementary?
Ada S. Nelson Elementary reports a student body of 1% White, 92% Hispanic, 2% Black, 4% Asian, 1% Two or more.
Is Ada S. Nelson Elementary public or private?
Ada S. Nelson Elementary is a public K-12 school, overseen by Los Nietos.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.