Lake Marie Elementary

As a compact elementary-level community in Whittier, California, Lake Marie Elementary serves 186 students from grades K through 6, operated by South Whittier Elementary. That puts it 60% below the typical public school in California, which averages around 465 students.

Lake Marie Elementary is one of 6 schools operated by South Whittier Elementary, a district that hosts 2,253 students overall.

On the student-mix side, Lake Marie Elementary lists that 93% of students identify as Hispanic, making the school strongly Hispanic-majority; the rest consists of 4% White. That is considerably more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 48%.

On the income-and-resources front, On paper, Lake Marie Elementary has 8 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 23.3:1. That figure is higher than the state norm's 22.3:1 average. Around 87% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. That share is higher than Los Angeles County's rate of about 70%.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Lake Marie Elementary sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 27.6%; this one delivers 25.7%.

Zooming out to the county, Los Angeles County reports that 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 Lake Marie Elementary is one.

Richard L. Graves Middle is the nearest neighboring public school, about 0.2 miles from this campus. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Lake Marie Elementary. On composite proficiency, Lake Marie Elementary comes 6th of 7 in the immediate cluster, beneath the nearby-schools average of 38.4%.

Geographically, the school is in a suburban area.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count ticked down 18%: 228 students in 2018 compared to 186 in 2025. The student-to-teacher ratio tightened from 25.3:1 in 2018 to 23.3:1 today.

On this page, the feed for Lake Marie Elementary typically covers pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. Members of the school community can share what they know.