Is Nelson Elementary a good school?

Nelson Elementary ranks 4247 th of 5862 California elementary schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 1 star out of 5.

How many students attend Nelson Elementary?

In the 2023-24 school year, 306 students attended Nelson Elementary.

What is the racial makeup of Nelson Elementary?

Students at Nelson Elementary are 93% Hispanic, 4% Asian, 3% Two or more races.

What schools do graduates of Nelson Elementary attend?

Students who attend Nelson Elementary usually go on to attend: Middle : Sparks Middle High : La Puente High

Nelson Elementary

Summary:

Nelson Elementary is a public elementary school in La Puente, California, serving 314 students in grades K-6 and part of the Hacienda la Puente Unified School District.

While Nelson Elementary is part of a district that is ranked 782 out of 1,568 districts in California, the school itself faces significant challenges. It has a much higher chronic absenteeism rate of 38.5% compared to the district average of 28.9%. Additionally, Nelson Elementary consistently underperforms the district and state averages in Smarter Balanced Assessments for English Language Arts and Mathematics, with only 29.7% of students proficient or better in ELA, compared to 48.59% for the district and 47.04% for the state. The school also struggles with the performance of several student subgroups, such as male students and students with disabilities, who rank in the 1st percentile statewide.

When comparing Nelson Elementary to other nearby schools in the same district, it becomes clear that the school is one of the lower-performing ones. For example, Fairgrove Academy and Workman Elementary both outperform Nelson in test scores and have lower chronic absenteeism rates. The high rates of chronic absenteeism and the large proportion of students from low-income families (75.8%) at Nelson Elementary may be contributing factors to the school's lower academic performance. However, these challenges also present an opportunity for improvement, as targeted interventions and support could potentially lead to meaningful gains for the students at Nelson Elementary.

Detail:

Public K-6

330 North California Ave.
La Puente, CA 91744-3718

(626) 933-8400

District: Hacienda la Puente Unified

SchoolDigger Rank:
4247^th of 5,862 California Elementary Schools

Students who attend Nelson Elementary usually attend:

Middle:	Sparks Middle
High:	La Puente High

Student/teacher ratio: 19.1

Number of students: 306

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

93.1%

Asian:

3.9%

Two or more races:

2.9%

Free/discounted lunch recipients: 77.5%

See top rated California elementary schools

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Performance Trends

Compare Details Nelson Elementary ranks worse than 72.4% of elementary schools in California. It also ranks 18^th among 22 ranked elementary schools in the Hacienda la Puente Unified School District. (See more...)

Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 26.52. (See more...)

Chronic absenteeism in a school refers to a situation where students repeatedly miss school, with the threshold often defined as missing 10% or more of school days for any reason, excused or unexcused.

Student Body

Compare Details Racial makeup is: Hispanic (93.1%), Asian (3.9%), two or more races (2.9%). (See more...)

Compare Details 77.5% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)

Compare Details

Teachers

Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Nelson Elementary is 19.1, which is the 2^nd best among 22 elementary schools in the Hacienda la Puente Unified School District. (See more...)

Compare Nelson Elementary employs 16 full-time teachers.

Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Nelson Elementary:

SchoolDigger ranks Nelson Elementary 4247^th of 5862 California public elementary schools. (See Nelson Elementary in the ranking list.)

Elementary School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:

Special Education students:

Low Socio Economic Status students:

Female students:

Male students:

Hispanic students:

Hacienda la Puente Unified:

SchoolDigger ranks Hacienda la Puente Unified 782^nd of 1568 California school districts. (See district ranking list.)

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Rank History for Nelson Elementary

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Rank History for all students at Nelson Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2004	29.33	3284^th	4809	31.7%
2005	27.03	3478^th	4822	27.9%
2006	23.17	3790^th	4818	21.3%
2007	20.41	4260^th	5113	16.7%
2008	34.83	3283^rd	5113	35.8%
2009	35.68	3326^th	5193	36.0%
2010	33.36	3592^nd	5314	32.4%
2011	42.93	3034^th	5377	43.6%
2012	30.74	3890^th	5390	27.8%
2013	37.16	3518^th	5530	36.4%
2015	34.75	3344^th	5611	40.4%
2016	36.30	3310^th	5614	41.0%
2017	33.32	3574^th	5692	37.2%
2018	35.51	3432^nd	5662	39.4%
2019	22.95	4544^th	5789	21.5%
2022	31.16	3773^rd	5883	35.9%
2023	25.83	4285^th	5874	27.1%
2024	26.52	4247^th	5862	27.6%

See the entire list of California Elementary School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Nelson Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2018	27.59	2555^th	3246	21.3%
2022	36.87	2050^th	3311	38.1%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Nelson Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2024	34.05	1611^th	2634	38.8%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Nelson Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	43.52	2784^th	5084	45.2%
2019	26.77	4110^th	5173	20.5%
2022	38.84	3105^th	5264	41.0%
2023	31.91	3746^th	5374	30.3%
2024	33.06	3692^nd	5511	33.0%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Nelson Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	36.65	3306^th	5413	38.9%
2019	26.05	4148^th	5492	24.5%
2022	36.43	3238^th	5635	42.5%
2023	35.18	3347^th	5617	40.4%
2024	35.67	3357^th	5605	40.1%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Disabled students at Nelson Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile	SchoolDigger Rating
2019	18.13	2441^st	2585	5.6%
2022	22.93	1868^th	2227	16.1%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Disabled Students!

Rank History for Male students at Nelson Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	35.44	3317^th	5431	38.9%
2019	21.93	4481^st	5510	18.7%
2022	30.00	3787^th	5663	33.1%
2023	22.89	4462^nd	5650	21.0%
2024	21.34	4578^th	5636	18.8%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Nelson Elementary

Year	Avg Standard Score	Statewide Rank	Total # Ranked Elementary Schools	CA State Percentile
2018	46.51	2439^th	4830	49.5%
2019	30.18	3682^nd	4963	25.8%
2022	39.71	2924^th	5084	42.5%
2023	33.85	3406^th	5098	33.2%
2024	32.84	3512^th	5102	31.2%

See the entire list of Best California Elementary Schools for Hispanic Students!

Data source: test scores: California Department of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Data source: California Department of Education

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Enrollment information for Nelson Elementary

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Year	White	African American	Asian	Hispanic	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Total
1988	77	26	4	406	1	n/a	n/a	514
1989	67	27	3	433	0	n/a	n/a	530
1990	61	17	3	473	0	n/a	n/a	554
1991	48	22	9	512	0	n/a	n/a	591
1992	41	26	17	502	0	n/a	n/a	586
1993	33	23	18	487	1	n/a	n/a	562
1994	27	27	15	496	1	n/a	n/a	566
1995	28	16	10	507	2	n/a	n/a	563
1996	28	16	10	507	2	n/a	n/a	563
1997	26	12	7	551	4	n/a	n/a	600
1998	21	8	11	478	7	n/a	n/a	525
1999	17	4	8	448	5	n/a	n/a	482
2000	19	11	9	473	4	n/a	n/a	516
2001	16	8	9	454	5	n/a	n/a	492
2002	11	1	11	492	1	n/a	n/a	516
2003	11	1	11	492	1	n/a	n/a	516
2004	6	7	8	494	1	n/a	n/a	516
2005	9	8	6	458	1	n/a	n/a	482
2006	4	12	8	457	0	n/a	n/a	481
2007	9	8	8	509	0	n/a	n/a	534
2008	5	10	12	475	n/a	n/a	n/a	502
2009	8	7	15	473	0	1	0	504
2010	3	6	11	465	0	0	0	485
2011	2	9	9	403	0	1	0	424
2012	3	6	12	401	3	1	1	427
2013	4	6	14	396	2	1	1	424
2014	4	5	7	368	1	1	1	387
2015	5	4	9	362	1	2	0	383
2016	6	6	11	342	2	2	0	369
2017	3	5	11	341	1	2	0	363
2018	2	6	10	335	1	1	0	355
2019	4	6	10	290	1	1	0	312
2020	2	6	7	283	1	0	0	299
2021	0	4	8	252	1	0	0	265
2022	0	4	8	267	0	0	2	281
2023	1	2	12	293	0	0	6	314
2024	0	0	12	285	0	0	9	306

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Nelson Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	514	19.0	27.0	n/a
1989	530	20.1	26.3	n/a
1990	554	20.2	27.4	n/a
1991	591	22.2	26.6	n/a
1992	586	22.6	25.9	63.5
1993	562	23.0	24.4	51.4
1994	566	21.0	27.0	67.7
1995	563	21.0	26.8	74.4
1996	563	21.0	26.8	74.4
1997	600	23.0	26.1	80.8
1998	525	23.0	22.8	78.1
1999	482	24.0	20.1	85.5
2000	516	24.7	20.9	79.5
2001	492	26.0	18.9	77.4
2002	516	27.0	19.1	95
2003	516	27.0	19.1	95
2004	516	27.0	19.1	81.2
2005	482	25.4	19.0	82
2006	481	23.0	20.9	74.2
2007	534	26.2	20.4	81.5
2008	502	25.0	20.1	73.3
2009	504	24.0	20.2	81.5
2010	485	24.0	20.1	93.2
2011	424	n/a	n/a	89.4
2012	427	19.0	22.4	99.3
2013	424	19.0	22.3	93.2
2014	387	17.0	22.7	94.3
2015	383	18.0	21.2	92.7
2016	369	16.0	23.0	91.9
2017	363	16.0	22.6	90.1
2018	355	15.0	23.6	88.5
2019	312	15.0	20.8	91.7
2020	299	n/a	n/a	89.3
2021	265	12.0	22.0	92.5
2022	281	14.0	20.0	73.3
2023	314	15.0	20.9	75.8
2024	306	16.0	19.1	77.5

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Nelson Elementary

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Year	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/Teacher ratio	% Free/Discounted Lunch
1988	514	19.0	27.0	n/a
1989	530	20.1	26.3	n/a
1990	554	20.2	27.4	n/a
1991	591	22.2	26.6	n/a
1992	586	22.6	25.9	63.5
1993	562	23.0	24.4	51.4
1994	566	21.0	27.0	67.7
1995	563	21.0	26.8	74.4
1996	563	21.0	26.8	74.4
1997	600	23.0	26.1	80.8
1998	525	23.0	22.8	78.1
1999	482	24.0	20.1	85.5
2000	516	24.7	20.9	79.5
2001	492	26.0	18.9	77.4
2002	516	27.0	19.1	95
2003	516	27.0	19.1	95
2004	516	27.0	19.1	81.2
2005	482	25.4	19.0	82
2006	481	23.0	20.9	74.2
2007	534	26.2	20.4	81.5
2008	502	25.0	20.1	73.3
2009	504	24.0	20.2	81.5
2010	485	24.0	20.1	93.2
2011	424	n/a	n/a	89.4
2012	427	19.0	22.4	99.3
2013	424	19.0	22.3	93.2
2014	387	17.0	22.7	94.3
2015	383	18.0	21.2	92.7
2016	369	16.0	23.0	91.9
2017	363	16.0	22.6	90.1
2018	355	15.0	23.6	88.5
2019	312	15.0	20.8	91.7
2020	299	n/a	n/a	89.3
2021	265	12.0	22.0	92.5
2022	281	14.0	20.0	73.3
2023	314	15.0	20.9	75.8
2024	306	16.0	19.1	77.5

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.

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