Montebello Gardens Elementary: 52% of kids clear the bar — ahead of the state's 43%. But suspensions run 3× the state rate.
Montebello Gardens posts 52% meeting the standard, against 43% across the state. The number below is the one to ask about on a visit.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 39 | 28% | 52% | -3.8 | 9.9% | 4.6% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Montebello Gardens Elementary scores 39 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 42nd percentile of 5,744 California elementary schools (CDE CAASPP 2025).
Measures test performance, attendance, and climate — not arts, community, or your kid. How we score →
🌱 Building Momentum — This label means the data doesn't clearly sort the school one way or the other — ask what the school is proud of, and what it's working on.
Most rating sites would stop at “52% proficient” and call it done. Montebello Gardens deserves a closer read. The school sits in Pico Rivera, where four in five students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
Montebello Gardens's low-income kids hit 48.9% proficiency in ELA — a number the same group reaches at 38.2% statewide. If you're trying to read past zip-code-driven test scores, that's the signal worth weighing.
The seven-year arc
Slipped from the 83rd to the 42nd percentile since 2019.
This school hasn't fully recovered from the pandemic: 52% meet the standard today, versus 61% in 2019 — a gap worth asking about on a visit.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 60% | 61% | 63% | 55% | 55% |
| Grade 4 | 62% | 57% | 48% | 41% | 48% |
| Grade 5 | 71% | 45% | 56% | 41% | 47% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 60% | 56% | 70% | 61% | 53% |
| Grade 4 | 51% | 43% | 50% | 53% | 55% |
| Grade 5 | 65% | 41% | 58% | 58% | 53% |
The story this school is actually telling
of students met or exceeded the standard, versus 42.7% statewide.
of students were suspended, versus 1.6% statewide — worth asking about on a tour.
The school, grade by grade
ELA · CAASPP 2024–25Different students, same year — each bar is one grade's proficiency mix.
The honest read: the share exceeding falls 25.7pp across grades; the floor slips 7.9pp. The state average rises 4.5pp over the same span. A school visit and conversation with teachers will tell you more than this number.
Montebello Gardens's most underrated number
48.9% of low-income students met the ELA standard — versus 38.2% for the same group statewide. That's the strongest kind of signal a school can post: it holds across income lines.
The 6 things our score weighs
Ask about the discipline philosophy and what a typical suspension is for. Numbers can't tell you whether a campus feels strict or chaotic — a visit can.
- Ask what typically leads to a suspension, and what happens before it gets there.
- Ask what changes between grade 3 and grade 5 here, and who teaches the older kids.
- Ask whether extra support — tutoring, counseling, small groups — reaches kids across income lines, not just the students already ahead.
- Ask whether the tour can step into a working classroom — watch how the teacher handles a student who's stuck.
- Ask to tour while school's in session, and notice how hallways and transitions feel — culture shows up between classes, not just in them.
- Ask how the school communicates with families when a child starts to struggle.
How every group of students does here
At Montebello Gardens Elementary in Pico Rivera, 48.9% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 35.7% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Montebello Gardens Elementary outperforms its district average for low-income students by 13.3 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (51.1% Math proficient); Hispanic students (48.0% ELA proficient). Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 94 students tested.
Change in proficiency from the lowest tested grade — which groups gain ground the longer they stay. Groups with fewer than 10 tested students per grade are not shown.
Low-income student ELA proficiency falls by 2.9pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +2.7pp.
Showing up, and staying in class
Where the path goes
The path below follows attendance boundaries — scores shown for each next step.
Estimated path based on proximity within the same district. Contact your school district for official feeder information.
The people teaching here
Pay is set by the district, not the school.
What gets spent here
$424 per student arrives as federal Title funding — a measure of concentrated need, not school quality.
The district's current expense of education per student, from CDE's annual SACS filing — the freshest district spending figure the state publishes.
District-level, from the district's own SACS general-ledger filing — school-by-school breakdowns aren't published by the state.
Source: NCES F-33 · Full district breakdown →
The neighborhood it serves
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2024) · ZIP-level
At 230 students, this school is much smaller than the typical California elementary school (≈480).
Transitional kindergarten is offered here — confirmed by actual Census Day enrollment, not just the listed grade span.
On the state's science test (CAST), 24% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Montebello Gardens Elementary a good elementary school?
What are Montebello Gardens Elementary's CAASPP test scores?
How does Montebello Gardens Elementary rank in California?
Is Montebello Gardens Elementary getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Montebello Gardens Elementary?
How does Montebello Gardens Elementary compare to other schools in Pico Rivera?
How does Montebello Gardens Elementary serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 66
Nearby Middle Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 45
Nearby High Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 54
Private alternatives nearby
Private schools within ~10 miles. These schools do not participate in state testing and cannot be scored or ranked.
A low score doesn't tell the whole story. Read: Your School Scored Low — Here's What That Actually Means
Every number on this page
Score factors, grade-level breakdowns, subgroup proficiency, and peer comparisons.
| ELA | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 40 | 38% | 18% | 28% | 18% | 55% | +12 |
| Grade 4 | 31 | 32% | 16% | 10% | 42% | 48% | +4 |
| Grade 5 | 34 | 12% | 35% | 35% | 18% | 47% | −1 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 40 | 20% | 33% | 30% | 18% | 53% | +7 |
| Grade 4 | 31 | 35% | 19% | 23% | 23% | 55% | +13 |
| Grade 5 | 34 | 32% | 21% | 26% | 21% | 53% | +18 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 34 | 6% | 18% | 62% | 15% |
CAST is tested in grades 5, 8, and once in high school — not annually. Not part of the Scope Score.
| Subgroup · ELA | Tested | MET+ | vs district | vs CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 94 | 48.9% | +13 | +11 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 100 | 48.0% | +12 | +9 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montebello Gardens Elementary ← | — | 39 | 28.2% | 51.8% | −3.8 | 4.6% |
| Potrero Heights Elementary | 2.5 mi | 77 | 44.9% | 69.4% | +11.7 | 0.3% |
| Daniel Phelan Language Academy | 2.2 mi | 64 | 33.4% | 62.6% | +10.3 | 0.1% |
| Whittier Independent Study | 2.4 mi | 56 | 13.0% | 37.2% | — | 0.9% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 62 | 83 | #944 | 30.1% | 61.4% | 2.5% | 0.1% | +7.7pp |
| 2022 | 39 | 58 | #2438 | 21.4% | 50.5% | 30.1% | 0.1% | -15.6pp |
| 2023 | 46 | 66 | #1946 | 31.3% | 57.5% | 22.2% | 3.0% | -8.9pp |
| 2024 | 54 | 75 | #1458 | 29.7% | 51.5% | 14.5% | 0.9% | -9.0pp |
| 2025 | 39 | 42 | #3356 | 28.2% | 51.8% | 9.9% | 4.6% | -3.8pp |
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 2.8% | 8.3% | +5.5pp |
| Male | 1.7% | 9.3% | +7.6pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 2.2% | 8.4% | +6.2pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 0.0% | 10.4% | +10.4pp |
| English Learners | 0.0% | 3.3% | +3.3pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 2.3% | 8.1% | +5.8pp |
| All Students | 2.2% | 8.8% | +6.6pp |
| Homeless | — | 6.3% | — |
SchoolScope scores and verdicts are our interpretation of public California Department of Education data — independent analysis, not an official rating. How we analyze · Request a correction