Denker Avenue Elementary

Located at 1620 West 162nd St., in Gardena, California, Denker Avenue Elementary is a reasonably sized elementary school that hosts 670 students (grades K through 5), overseen by Los Angeles Unified. Compared to the state average of about 465 students per school, that is 44% above typical.

Los Angeles Unified comprises 784 schools with combined enrollment of 406,887 students; Denker Avenue Elementary is among them.

In terms of who attends, Denker Avenue Elementary logs that Hispanic students make up the majority at 62%. Other groups include 16% Asian, 12% multiracial, 7% Black. The wider county runs roughly 48% Hispanic, putting the school's mix meaningfully more Hispanic than the area baseline.

On the income-and-resources front, The school reports having 32 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 20.9:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 22.3:1, putting Denker Avenue Elementary tighter than the state norm the norm. Around 80% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. That share is above Los Angeles County's rate of about 70%.

After controlling for student poverty, Denker Avenue Elementary tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 31.9% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 42.4%.

Zooming out to the county, Los Angeles County reports that median household income runs about $90,112, 36% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 10%. Across Los Angeles County's 2244 public schools (combined enrollment of about 1,265,907 students), Denker Avenue Elementary is one campus in the mix.

Nearest neighbor: KIPP Generations Academy, around 0.2 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Denker Avenue Elementary. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Denker Avenue Elementary at 4th of 7; the average score across the group is 47.2%.

Denker Avenue Elementary operates from an inner-city location.

Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Denker Avenue Elementary has shrank 13%, going from 767 students in 2018 to 670 in 2025. The Black share of enrollment fell from 14% to 7% over that span. Class-load math has narrowed: from 22.2:1 in 2018 to 20.9:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, members of the Denker Avenue Elementary community share and discuss fundraisers, lost-and-found posts, and report-card season. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.