Aviation Elementary

Located at 5403 West 138th St., in Hawthorne, California, Aviation Elementary is a medium-sized elementary campus that teaches 439 students (grades 3 through 5), run under Wiseburn Unified.

Across the 5 schools in Wiseburn Unified (2,536 students total), Aviation Elementary accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

Looking at the student body, Aviation Elementary logs that 55% of students identify as Hispanic, with the remaining enrollment distributed across several groups. Other groups include 21% White, 9% multiracial, 8% Asian, 7% Black.

Looking at the economic backdrop, The school reports having 16 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 27.9:1. The state averages around 22.3:1, so this campus is higher than the state norm typical. Roughly 30% of students at Aviation Elementary qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. That share is south of Los Angeles County's rate of about 70%.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Aviation Elementary performs roughly as the BeatsExpectations model predicts for a school with this FRL share. The predicted value is around 61.7%, the actual is 62.2%, a residual of +0.5 points.

In the broader community, the surrounding county (Los Angeles County) reports that median household income runs about $90,112, roughly 36% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Across Los Angeles County's 2244 public schools (combined enrollment of about 1,265,907 students), Aviation Elementary is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: Wiseburn Middle, around 0.1 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Aviation Elementary.

The school occupies an outer-ring site.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count decreased 8%: 477 students in 2018 compared to 439 in 2025. The Asian share of enrollment climbed from 4% to 8% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio widened from 25.9:1 in 2018 to 27.9:1 today.

On the community side, the page collects discussion, questions, and updates around classroom updates, athletics, and weather closures. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to weigh in.