Ward (E. W.) Elementary

As an average-sized elementary-level community in Downey, California, Ward (E. W.) Elementary caters to 543 students from grades K through 5, operated by Downey Unified.

Within Downey Unified, which oversees 21 schools and 22,405 students, Ward (E. W.) Elementary is one campus in the system.

Demographically, Ward (E. W.) Elementary shows that the student body is overwhelmingly Hispanic (87%). Beyond that, the school logs 6% White, 3% Asian. By comparison, Los Angeles County as a whole is about 48% Hispanic, so the school skews meaningfully more Hispanic than its surroundings.

Looking at school resources, The school currently runs with 24 full-time-equivalent teachers, for a student-teacher ratio near 22.6:1. That tracks the state average closely. Roughly 87% of students at Ward (E. W.) Elementary qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, often used as a Title I proxy. By comparison, Los Angeles County runs at roughly 70%, so the school's eligibility rate is higher than the surrounding baseline.

After controlling for student poverty, Ward (E. W.) Elementary tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 27.5% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 37.2%.

Around the school, community-level numbers for Los Angeles County indicate the typical household earns roughly $90,112 per year, roughly 36% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 10%. Ward (E. W.) Elementary is one of 2244 public schools in Los Angeles County (combined enrollment of about 1,265,907 students).

Nearest neighbor: Sussman (Edward A.) Middle, around 0.4 miles off. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Ranking that nearby cluster on reported proficiency puts Ward (E. W.) Elementary at 5th of 9; the average score across the group is 39.1%.

The school occupies a bedroom-community site.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count ticked up 31%: 416 students in 2018 compared to 543 in 2025. Over the same period, the Hispanic share edged down from 94% to 87%.

Inside the community feed, posts here usually surface around open house dates, ride-share offers, and field-trip permission slips. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.