Garfield Elementary

Set in Bell Gardens, California, Garfield Elementary is a moderately sized elementary-level community, operated by Montebello Unified. It hosts 455 students across grades K through 5.

Within Montebello Unified, which oversees 29 schools and 19,149 students, Garfield Elementary is one campus in the system.

Demographically, Garfield Elementary lists that 98% of students identify as Hispanic, making the school strongly Hispanic-majority. 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, Staff filings list 22 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 21.0:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 22.3:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. An estimated 88% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment. That share is noticeably above Los Angeles County's rate of about 70%.

With demographic context factored in, Garfield Elementary tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 27.0% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 24.3%.

Zooming out to the county, census data for Los Angeles County shows 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. In all, Los Angeles County runs 2244 public schools (combined enrollment of about 1,265,907 students), of which Garfield Elementary is one.

The closest other public school is Bell Gardens Intermediate, roughly 0.5 miles away. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Garfield Elementary ranks 6th on composite proficiency, behind the local average of 27.7%.

The campus sits in a residential setting.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count fell 37%: 726 students in 2018 compared to 455 in 2025. Class-load math has narrowed: from 29.0:1 in 2018 to 21.0:1 in 2025.

On this page, the feed for Garfield Elementary typically covers open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.