Sussman (Edward A.) Middle

Sussman (Edward A.) Middle is one of the roomy junior highs in Downey, California, run under Downey Unified, with 1,240 students on its rolls from grades 6 through 8. Enrollment runs roughly 88% bigger than the state mean of about 659.

Downey Unified comprises 21 schools with combined enrollment of 22,405 students; Sussman (Edward A.) Middle is among them.

Demographically, Sussman (Edward A.) Middle shows that the student body is overwhelmingly Hispanic (91%). Other groups include 3% Black, 3% White, 2% Asian. That is meaningfully more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 48%.

On the income-and-resources front, Staff filings list 59 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 20.9:1 students per teacher. The state averages about 20.7:1, putting this campus right in line with peers. About 85% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. That share is north of Los Angeles County's rate of about 70%.

On a demographically-adjusted basis, Sussman (Edward A.) Middle sits in the middle band of the BeatsExpectations distribution. Schools with this campus's student mix typically land near 29.1%; this one delivers 36.0%.

In the area at large, community-level numbers for Los Angeles County indicate median household earnings sit near $90,112, about 36% of the adult population holds a bachelor's degree or above, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 10%. Sussman (Edward A.) Middle is one of 2244 public schools in Los Angeles County (combined enrollment of about 1,265,907 students).

The closest other public school is Alameda Elementary, roughly 0.4 miles away. 8 of the 8 nearest public schools sit inside a five-mile radius. Among the 9 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Sussman (Edward A.) Middle ranks 7th on composite proficiency, below the local average of 41.4%.

The campus sits in a suburban setting.

Five-year trend. Sussman (Edward A.) Middle's enrollment has showed little movement since 2018, when it stood at 1,236 (now 1,240). Class-load math has pulled in: from 24.6:1 in 2018 to 20.9:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, recent activity here tends to focus on school events, parent volunteer needs, and clubs. The community welcomes input from current and former families.