Independence Elementary

As a moderately sized primary school in South Gate, California, Independence Elementary instructs 418 students from grades K through 5, operated by Los Angeles Unified.

Across the 784 schools in Los Angeles Unified (406,887 students total), Independence Elementary accounts for its share of the district's footprint.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Independence Elementary records that nearly all students (98%) are Hispanic. The wider county runs roughly 48% Hispanic, putting the school's mix considerably more Hispanic than the area baseline.

In terms of school funding signals, The school reports having 22 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 19.0:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 22.3:1, putting Independence Elementary tighter than the state norm the norm. About 95% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Los Angeles County (around 70%), the school's rate is noticeably above typical.

After controlling for student poverty, Independence Elementary ranks in the top 10% of California public schools. The BeatsExpectations model, a per-state regression of composite proficiency on FRL share, predicts schools with this student profile to land around 23.1%; Independence Elementary posts 37.8%, +14.7 points above that line.

In the surrounding community, the surrounding county (Los Angeles County) reports that the typical household earns roughly $90,112 per year, 36% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and the poverty rate sits near 10%. Independence Elementary is one of 2244 public schools in Los Angeles County (combined enrollment of about 1,265,907 students).

South Gate Senior High is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.3 miles from this campus. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. On composite proficiency, Independence Elementary comes 1st of 6 in the immediate cluster, above the nearby-schools average of 29.2%.

Independence Elementary operates from a bedroom-community location.

Looking at the recent track record. Looking back 7 years, enrollment at Independence Elementary has fell 41%, going from 709 students in 2018 to 418 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 22.9:1 in 2018 to 19.0:1 today.

On the community side, members of the Independence Elementary community share and discuss sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.