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What's the best and worst thing about the food at Sierra Madre Elementary?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
652
Elementary
DISTRICT 468 · STATE 465
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PASADENA UNIFIED·NCES 062994004687
Sierra Madre Elementary
141 West Highland Ave., Sierra Madre, CA 91024 · (626) 396-5890 · Los Angeles County
GRADES KG–05ELEMENTARY21-SUBURBREGULAR SCHOOL652 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 83% of California public elementary schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- CThree-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
24.3:1
27 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 23.1:1 · STATE 22.3:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
30%
194 students
DISTRICT 62% · 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 | 134 | 21% |
| Grade 1 | 100 | 15% |
| Grade 2 | 99 | 15% |
| Grade 3 | 98 | 15% |
| Grade 4 | 110 | 17% |
| Grade 5 | 111 | 17% |
This year's kindergarten class (134) is 21% larger than its 5th grade class (111).
Student demographics
70%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 62% · 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
73.0%
CA avg 49.1% . +7.0pp since 2014
Math
68.2%
CA avg 37.7% . +3.2pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 73 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 68 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 7 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 3 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 44.4% | 28.6% | 15.2% | 11.8% |
| Math | 41.7% | 26.4% | 19.8% | 12.1% |
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 | 73.0% | 68.2% |
| 2023-24 | 71.5% | 71.8% |
| 2022-23 | 69.9% | 71.6% |
| 2021-22 | 72.9% | 70.7% |
| 2018-19 | 69.3% | 70.2% |
| 2017-18 | 71.6% | 67.2% |
| 2016-17 | 64.0% | 63.9% |
| 2015-16 | 69.0% | 67.0% |
| 2014-15 | 66.0% | 65.0% |
% 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
71.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
62.1%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+9.0pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 71% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 62% 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 Sierra Madre Elementary
Sierra Madre Elementary's state test result (71.1% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sierra Madre Elementary this school | 652 | 29.8% | 71.1% |
| Pomelo Community Charter West Hills | 612 | 31.7% | 63.9% |
| Pleasant Hill Elementary Pleasant Hill | 652 | 26.8% | 56.9% |
| Maude B. Davis Elementary Costa Mesa | 570 | 33.2% | 73.0% |
| Villa Park Elementary Villa Park | 604 | 32.6% | 71.5% |
| Bernardo Elementary Escondido | 664 | 25.6% | 63.3% |
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 Sierra Madre Elementary ranks
Among elementary schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Los Angeles County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 71.1% | #609 of 5,151 | #136 of 1,126 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 68.2% | #681 of 5,172 ▼ 162 | #150 of 1,129 ▼ 33 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 73.0% | #592 of 5,172 ▲ 41 | #131 of 1,129 ▲ 9 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -1.2pp | #1,444 of 5,116 | #239 of 1,116 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 652 | #1,007 of 5,915 | #183 of 1,300 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 24.3:1 | #3,932 of 5,352 | #899 of 1,213 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 69.7% | #668 of 5,354 | #109 of 1,214 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 29.8% | #4,768 of 5,625 | #1,135 of 1,276 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -3.1% | #3,523 of 3,837 | #896 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
652
+25 (+4%) vs 2020
+3% since 1990-91, when it was 630
Student : Teacher
24.3:1
was 23.2:1
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 | 652 | 26.9 | 24.3:1 | 30% (194) |
| 2023-24 | 618 | 24.9 | 24.9:1 | 35% (217) |
| 2022-23 | 630 | 24 | 26.3:1 | 36% (224) |
| 2020-21 | 627 | 27 | 23.2:1 | 30% (191) |
| 2017-18 | 673 | 28.3 | 23.8:1 | 19% (131) |
| 2015-16 | 666 | 26 | 25.6:1 | 20% (135) |
| 2010-11 | 1,034 | N/A | N/A | 22% (223) |
| 2000-01 | 709 | 35 | 20.3:1 | 53% (376) |
| 1990-91 | 630 | 26 | 24.2:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Sierra Madre Elementary.
Since 2017-18: students down 3% (673 to 652); teachers down 5% (28.3 to 26.9).
About Sierra Madre Elementary
Sierra Madre Elementary is a medium-sized elementary school in Sierra Madre, California, administered by Pasadena Unified. It educates 652 students in kindergarten through 5. The school's enrollment is 40% larger than the 465 average for elementary schools in California.
Pasadena Unified is made up of 23 schools with 13,639 students in all.
No single group makes up more than half of enrollment at Sierra Madre Elementary. The largest is White students, at 45%. The remaining students are 24% Hispanic, 19% multiracial, and 11% Asian. Census figures show Los Angeles County is about 31% White. Sierra Madre Elementary's diversity index is 70%, against a US figure of 70%.
Its teaching staff equals 26.9 full-time positions, a ratio of 24.3:1. That is higher than the 22.3:1 average for elementary schools in California. Free and reduced-price lunch eligibility, a common measure of family income, is 30%. That is 40 points below the 70% average for public schools in Los Angeles County.
Measured against California public elementary schools, Sierra Madre Elementary receives an A-. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
Sierra Madre Elementary's actual average proficiency rate on state tests (71.1%) and its predicted rate (62.1%) put it outside the top and bottom 10% of California schools.
Recent Census Bureau figures for Los Angeles County show that the median household income is $90,112, roughly 36% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 10%. Sierra Madre Elementary is one of 2,244 public schools in the county.
Sierra Madre Middle is the public school closest to Sierra Madre Elementary, about 0.7 miles away. The count of other public schools within five miles is at least 8. Sierra Madre Elementary is 4th of 8 nearby schools by average proficiency rate.
The school's locale code, Suburb: Large, means it is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Sierra Madre Elementary's enrollment climbed from 627 in 2020-21 to 652 in 2024-25. From 2020-21 to 2024-25, the ratio rose from 23.2:1 to 24.3:1.
The allk12 site hosts a discussion page for Sierra Madre Elementary covering things like sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
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 Pasadena Unified
- Marshall FundamentalHigh · 1,689 students
- Pasadena HighHigh · 1,303 students
- John Muir HighHigh · 1,206 students
- Blair HighHigh · 1,053 students
- Mary W. Jackson STEAM Multilingual Magnet ElementaryElementary · 658 students
- Sierra Madre MiddleMiddle · 597 students
Nearby schools
- Sierra Madre Middle0.7 mi · 597
- Pasadena Rosebud Academy1.0 mi · 169
- Don Benito Fundamental1.0 mi · 384
- Field (Eugene) Elementary1.2 mi · 449
- Highland Oaks Elementary1.5 mi · 655
- Foothills Middle1.9 mi · 650
Frequently asked questions
About Sierra Madre ElementaryHow large is Sierra Madre Elementary?
Sierra Madre Elementary enrolls approximately 652 students in grades KG-05.
What age range does Sierra Madre Elementary serve?
Sierra Madre Elementary serves students from grade KG through grade 05.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Sierra Madre Elementary?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Sierra Madre Elementary is approximately 24.3:1 (27 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Sierra Madre Elementary?
At Sierra Madre Elementary, the student body is approximately 45% White, 24% Hispanic, 2% Black, 11% Asian, 19% Two or more.
What district is Sierra Madre Elementary in?
Sierra Madre Elementary is part of Pasadena Unified.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.