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What's the most underrated thing about La Merced Academy that outsiders don't know?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
665
Elementary
DISTRICT 503 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MONTEBELLO UNIFIED·NCES 062547003799
La Merced Academy
724 North Poplar Ave., Montebello, CA 90640 · (323) 721-5043 · Los Angeles County
GRADES KG–08ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL665 STUDENTS
B
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 64% of California public elementary schools
- B-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- BBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- A+Three-year trend Change in reading and math proficiency over the last three test years.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded California public elementary schools
Student : Teacher
22.0:1
30 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 20.9:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
74%
490 students
DISTRICT 86% · STATE 65%
Community
6
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other elementary schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten | 145 | 22% |
| Grade 1 | 56 | 8% |
| Grade 2 | 74 | 11% |
| Grade 3 | 69 | 10% |
| Grade 4 | 92 | 14% |
| Grade 5 | 97 | 15% |
| Grade 6 | 58 | 9% |
| Grade 7 | 34 | 5% |
| Grade 8 | 40 | 6% |
This year's kindergarten class (145) is 263% larger than its 8th grade class (40).
Student demographics
6%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 8% · STATE 62% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
CAASPP 2024-25 . % met or exceeded standardEnglish Language Arts
42.9%
CA avg 49.1% . +26.9pp since 2014
Math
35.8%
CA avg 37.7% . +24.8pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 43 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 36 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all California schools, those numbers are about 49 and 38. Reading and writing scores are up about 27 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 25 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 19.8% | 23.1% | 19.3% | 37.8% |
| Math | 18.4% | 17.4% | 26.5% | 37.7% |
Share of tested students at each CAASPP level. Each student counts in one level, so a row adds to about 100%.
CAASPP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 42.9% | 35.8% |
| 2023-24 | 37.4% | 30.6% |
| 2022-23 | 28.3% | 25.0% |
| 2021-22 | 29.7% | 21.9% |
| 2020-21 | 28.1% | 16.7% |
| 2018-19 | 35.2% | 25.1% |
| 2017-18 | 33.4% | 25.3% |
| 2016-17 | 30.8% | 18.9% |
| 2015-16 | 24.0% | 15.0% |
| 2014-15 | 16.0% | 11.0% |
% met or exceeded standard, all students and all tested grades.
Source: CAASPP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
40.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
36.4%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+3.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 40% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 36% typical for California schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among California's top nor bottom 10%.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like La Merced Academy
La Merced Academy's state test result (40.2% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| La Merced Academy this school | 665 | 73.7% | 40.2% |
| Cesar Chavez Elementary Greenfield | 642 | 70.2% | 22.4% |
| Dogwood Elementary Heber | 606 | 71.3% | 46.9% |
| Lucas Elementary Ceres | 668 | 77.2% | 23.9% |
| Henry F. Kammann Elementary Salinas | 743 | 73.2% | 19.0% |
| Mountain Vista Elementary Indio | 599 | 76.8% | 29.1% |
Matched among California elementary schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where La Merced Academy ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Los Angeles County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 40.2% | #2,463 of 5,151 | #600 of 1,126 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 35.8% | #2,668 of 5,172 ▲ 339 | #679 of 1,129 ▲ 78 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 42.9% | #2,651 of 5,172 ▲ 326 | #642 of 1,129 ▲ 64 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +13.6pp | #258 of 5,116 | #104 of 1,116 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 665 | #923 of 5,915 | #163 of 1,300 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 22.0:1 | #2,225 of 5,352 | #613 of 1,213 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 5.9% | #5,157 of 5,354 | #1,144 of 1,214 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 73.7% | #2,716 of 5,625 | #820 of 1,276 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -14.4% | #2,110 of 3,837 | #635 of 947 |
Ranked against other public elementary schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
665
-98 (-13%) vs 2020
+25% since 1990-91, when it was 530
Student : Teacher
22.0:1
was 23.8:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 665 | 30.2 | 22.0:1 | 74% (490) |
| 2023-24 | 649 | 34.7 | 18.7:1 | 63% (408) |
| 2022-23 | 624 | 32.7 | 19.1:1 | 62% (385) |
| 2020-21 | 763 | 32 | 23.8:1 | 70% (535) |
| 2017-18 | 777 | 32 | 24.3:1 | 75% (582) |
| 2015-16 | 786 | 28 | 28.1:1 | 81% (638) |
| 2010-11 | 891 | N/A | N/A | 66% (589) |
| 2000-01 | 750 | 38 | 19.7:1 | 60% (450) |
| 1990-91 | 530 | 21 | 25.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for La Merced Academy.
Since 2017-18: students down 14% (777 to 665); teachers down 6% (32 to 30.2).
About La Merced Academy
La Merced Academy is a mid-sized elementary school in Montebello, California, one of the schools in Montebello Unified. Its enrollment is 665 students, spread over kindergarten through 8. Across elementary schools in California, the average enrollment is about 465.
District-wide, Montebello Unified has 29 schools and 19,149 students.
Roughly 97% of students at La Merced Academy are Hispanic. By comparison, Los Angeles County residents are about 48% Hispanic. Measured by the diversity index, the student body scores 6%.
La Merced Academy lists 30.2 full-time-equivalent teachers; that is about 22.0 students per teacher. The average ratio among elementary schools in California is similar, at 22.3:1. About 74% of students at La Merced Academy are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
La Merced Academy holds a B allk12 Grade, placing it above 64% of California public elementary schools.
On the allk12 BeatsExpectations measure, La Merced Academy is 3.8 points above the average proficiency rate across its state test results predicted for its free or reduced-price lunch share: 40.2% actual, 36.4% predicted. That is outside both the top and bottom 10% in California.
In the wider Los Angeles County area, median household income comes to about $90,112, 36% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Los Angeles County counts 2,244 public schools with about 1,265,907 students.
La Merced Academy's nearest public school is La Merced Intermediate (about 0.2 miles). Inside a five-mile radius, there are at least 8 other public schools. Compared with its nearest neighbors, La Merced Academy ranks 2nd of 9 on average proficiency.
La Merced Academy is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more, a location NCES labels Suburb: Large.
Enrollment was 665 in 2024-25. In 2020-21, it was 763. Staffing shifted too: the ratio moved from 23.8:1 to 22.0:1.
La Merced Academy has a community page on allk12 for topics such as athletics, class schedules, and weather closures. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Los Angeles County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
9,808,667
Census ACS
Median income
$90,112
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
36%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
10%
Below federal line
Schools in county
2,244
1,265,907 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Montebello Unified
- Schurr HighHigh · 2,121 students
- Bell Gardens HighHigh · 2,046 students
- Montebello HighHigh · 1,907 students
- Bell Gardens IntermediateMiddle · 790 students
- Greenwood ElementaryElementary · 746 students
- Montebello IntermediateMiddle · 733 students
Other schools in Montebello
- Schurr HighHigh · 2,121 students
- Montebello HighHigh · 1,907 students
- Greenwood ElementaryElementary · 746 students
- Montebello IntermediateMiddle · 733 students
- Washington ElementaryElementary · 685 students
- La Merced IntermediateMiddle · 682 students
Nearby schools
- La Merced Intermediate0.2 mi · 682
- Fremont Elementary0.7 mi · 366
- Montebello Gardens Elementary0.9 mi · 230
- Washington Elementary1.1 mi · 685
- North Ranchito Elementary1.2 mi · 319
- Durfee Elementary1.3 mi · 322
Frequently asked questions
About La Merced AcademyHow many students attend La Merced Academy?
La Merced Academy enrolls approximately 665 students in grades KG-08.
What grades does La Merced Academy serve?
La Merced Academy serves grades KG-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at La Merced Academy?
The student-to-teacher ratio at La Merced Academy is approximately 22.0:1 (30 FTE teachers).
How diverse is La Merced Academy?
La Merced Academy reports a student body of 1% White, 97% Hispanic, 2% Asian, 1% Two or more.
Is La Merced Academy public or private?
La Merced Academy is a public K-12 school, overseen by Montebello Unified.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.