Buchanan Street Elementary

As a compact K-5 school in Los Angeles, California, Buchanan Street Elementary hosts 278 students from grades K through 5, run under Los Angeles Unified. Compared to the state average of about 465 students per school, that is 40% smaller than typical.

Los Angeles Unified runs 784 schools in total, collectively educating 406,887 students. Buchanan Street Elementary is one of those campuses.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Buchanan Street Elementary shows that the largest single group is Hispanic, at 78% of enrollment. Other groups include 9% White, 6% multiracial, 5% Asian. The wider county runs roughly 48% Hispanic, putting the school's mix considerably more Hispanic than the area baseline.

Looking at the economic backdrop, On paper, Buchanan Street Elementary has 16 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 17.4:1. That figure is tighter than the state norm's 22.3:1 average. Around 66% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator.

Adjusting for the school's free-and-reduced-lunch share, Buchanan Street Elementary sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 40.1%; this one delivers 34.6%.

In the surrounding community, ACS estimates for Los Angeles County put the typical household earns roughly $90,112 per year, roughly 36% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and roughly 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Los Angeles County runs 2244 public schools (combined enrollment of about 1,265,907 students), of which Buchanan Street Elementary is one.

Highland Park Continuation is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.3 miles from this campus. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Buchanan Street Elementary comes 3rd of 8 in the immediate cluster, behind the nearby-schools average of 36.0%.

Geographically, the school is in a downtown area.

Looking at the recent track record. Over the past 7-year window, the student count contracted 29%: 392 students in 2018 compared to 278 in 2025. Hispanic enrollment moved from 93% to 78% across the same window. Class-load math has pulled in: from 20.6:1 in 2018 to 17.4:1 in 2025.

On this page, posts here usually surface around pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. Members of the school community can share what they know.