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What's the best and worst thing about the food at Sussman (Edward A.) Middle?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
1,240
Middle
DISTRICT 1,284 · STATE 659
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·DOWNEY UNIFIED·NCES 061146001275
Sussman (Edward A.) Middle
12500 Birchdale Ave., Downey, CA 90242 · (562) 904-3572 · Los Angeles County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL1,240 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 75% of California public middle schools
- B-Test 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.
- AThree-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 middle schools
Student : Teacher
20.9:1
59 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 23.2:1 · STATE 20.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
85%
1,050 students
DISTRICT 78% · STATE 65%
Community
6
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 418 | 34% |
| Grade 7 | 433 | 35% |
| Grade 8 | 389 | 31% |
Student demographics
17%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 21% · 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
46.9%
CA avg 49.1% . +13.9pp since 2014
Math
32.5%
CA avg 37.7% . +8.5pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 47 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 33 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 14 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 9 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 14.5% | 32.3% | 26.4% | 26.8% |
| Math | 13.8% | 18.7% | 28.9% | 38.6% |
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 | 46.9% | 32.5% |
| 2023-24 | 43.6% | 28.4% |
| 2022-23 | 39.9% | 23.8% |
| 2021-22 | 41.0% | 23.2% |
| 2018-19 | 43.3% | 32.3% |
| 2017-18 | 37.6% | 27.3% |
| 2016-17 | 36.4% | 23.9% |
| 2015-16 | 40.0% | 24.0% |
| 2014-15 | 33.0% | 24.0% |
% 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
37.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
29.9%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+7.8pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 38% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 30% 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 Sussman (Edward A.) Middle
Sussman (Edward A.) Middle's state test result (37.7% proficient) is higher than 4 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sussman (Edward A.) Middle this school | 1,240 | 84.7% | 37.7% |
| Stauffer (Mary R.) Middle Downey | 1,329 | 83.0% | 44.2% |
| William G. Jehue Middle Colton | 1,444 | 87.1% | 29.9% |
| Harden Middle Salinas | 1,101 | 82.2% | 22.4% |
| Washington Middle Salinas | 1,082 | 81.7% | 33.6% |
| Loma Vista Middle Riverside | 1,027 | 89.1% | 27.6% |
Matched among California middle 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 Sussman (Edward A.) Middle ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Los Angeles County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 37.7% | #568 of 1,224 | #127 of 248 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 32.5% | #547 of 1,227 ▲ 44 | #122 of 248 ▲ 5 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 46.9% | #558 of 1,227 ▲ 12 | #120 of 248 ▲ 2 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +7.6pp | #165 of 1,214 | #57 of 247 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 1,240 | #57 of 1,377 | #21 of 317 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 20.9:1 | #610 of 1,279 | #140 of 301 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 16.8% | #1,099 of 1,278 | #224 of 301 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 84.7% | #418 of 1,329 | #152 of 312 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +0.3% | #253 of 257 | #38 of 38 |
Ranked against other public middle 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
1,240
+167 (+16%) vs 2020
+25% since 1990-91, when it was 992
Student : Teacher
20.9:1
was 22.8:1
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 | 1,240 | 59.2 | 20.9:1 | 85% (1,050) |
| 2023-24 | 1,218 | 54.8 | 22.3:1 | 75% (908) |
| 2022-23 | 1,122 | 48 | 23.4:1 | 79% (883) |
| 2020-21 | 1,073 | 47 | 22.8:1 | 72% (777) |
| 2017-18 | 1,236 | 50.2 | 24.6:1 | 79% (979) |
| 2015-16 | 1,153 | 48 | 24.0:1 | 78% (898) |
| 2010-11 | 1,348 | N/A | N/A | 81% (1,086) |
| 2000-01 | 1,526 | 60 | 25.4:1 | 61% (936) |
| 1990-91 | 992 | 45 | 22.0:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Sussman (Edward A.) Middle.
Since 2017-18: students unchanged (1,236 to 1,240); teachers up 18% (50.2 to 59.2).
About Sussman (Edward A.) Middle
As a high-enrollment middle school, Sussman (Edward A.) Middle serves students in Downey, California. It offers grades 6 through 8 and has 1,240 students enrolled. By comparison, middle schools in California enroll about 659 students on average.
Sussman (Edward A.) Middle sits within Downey Unified, which has 21 schools and 22,405 students.
A large majority of enrollment at Sussman (Edward A.) Middle is Hispanic, at 91%. The rest of enrollment is 3% Black, 3% White, and 2% Asian. Among all residents of Los Angeles County, the Hispanic share is about 48%. Measured by the diversity index, the student body scores 17%.
The school had 59.2 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25. Its student-to-teacher ratio is 20.9:1. The average ratio among middle schools in California is similar, at 20.7:1. The school reported 85% of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch in 2024-25. That rate is above the 70% average among public schools in Los Angeles County.
Sussman (Edward A.) Middle earns an A- on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 75% of California public middle schools.
The model predicts 29.9% for a school in California with Sussman (Edward A.) Middle's free or reduced-price lunch share. Sussman (Edward A.) Middle posts 37.7%.
Census data for Los Angeles County show the median household earns about $90,112 a year, 36% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Public schools in Los Angeles County number 2,244, with about 1,265,907 students.
Sussman (Edward A.) Middle is about 0.4 miles from Alameda Elementary, its nearest public school. Around the school, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. On proficiency, Sussman (Edward A.) Middle is behind the 43.4% nearby average, ranking 7th of 9.
NCES assigns Sussman (Edward A.) Middle the locale Suburb: Large, meaning in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
By 2024-25, enrollment had risen to 1,240, from 1,073 in 2020-21. By 2024-25, the school had 20.9 students per teacher, compared with 22.8 in 2020-21.
People who know Sussman (Edward A.) Middle can post here about homework, tutoring, and testing dates. Parents, students, alumni, and staff are welcome to post.
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 Downey Unified
- Downey HighHigh · 4,051 students
- Warren (Earl) HighHigh · 3,609 students
- Stauffer (Mary R.) MiddleMiddle · 1,329 students
- Doty (Wendy Lopour) MiddleMiddle · 1,304 students
- Griffiths (Gordon) MiddleMiddle · 1,264 students
- Rio Hondo ElementaryElementary · 838 students
Other schools in Downey
- Downey HighHigh · 4,051 students
- Warren (Earl) HighHigh · 3,609 students
- Stauffer (Mary R.) MiddleMiddle · 1,329 students
- Doty (Wendy Lopour) MiddleMiddle · 1,304 students
- Griffiths (Gordon) MiddleMiddle · 1,264 students
- Rio Hondo ElementaryElementary · 838 students
Nearby schools
- Alameda Elementary0.4 mi · 744
- Ward (E. W.) Elementary0.4 mi · 543
- Imperial Elementary0.5 mi · 653
- Carpenter (C. C.) Elementary0.8 mi · 796
- Lewis (Ed C.) Elementary1.0 mi · 810
- Warren (Earl) High1.1 mi · 3,609
Frequently asked questions
About Sussman (Edward A.) MiddleHow many students attend Sussman (Edward A.) Middle?
Sussman (Edward A.) Middle enrolls approximately 1,240 students in grades 06-08.
Is Sussman (Edward A.) Middle an elementary, middle, or high school?
Sussman (Edward A.) Middle is a middle school covering grades 06-08.
How many teachers does Sussman (Edward A.) Middle have?
Sussman (Edward A.) Middle employs 59 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 20.9:1.
How diverse is Sussman (Edward A.) Middle?
Sussman (Edward A.) Middle reports a student body of 3% White, 91% Hispanic, 3% Black, 2% Asian, 1% Two or more.
Who oversees Sussman (Edward A.) Middle?
Sussman (Edward A.) Middle is overseen by Downey Unified in Los Angeles County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.