Schools · Downey
Downey, CA schools
Downey’s public schools score well above California’s averages: 65% of students are proficient in reading against 48.5% statewide, and 91% of high schoolers graduate on time against 87.6%. Kids attend one of 12 elementary schools through grade 5, then one of 4 middle schools and Downey High or Warren (Earl) High.
Grades, test scores, graduation, spending and every school, from U.S. Department of Education data.
TownTapestry School GradeNew
A−
Downey’s School Grade: A-
The public schools Downey’s kids attend, from kindergarten through graduation, outperform 76% of California’s districts on state tests and graduation. Among towns with similar incomes, they rank near the top.
A-Test scoresB-Graduation
California school districts we grade (1,139)Better than 76%
Lower resultsHigher results
California towns with similar household incomes (579)Better than 84%
High confidence. Built on 2,228 tested students and a graduating class of 2,773; ordinary year-to-year swings are unlikely to change the grade.
How the School Grade works
- Results, not inputs. Math and reading proficiency on California’s state tests, each against the state average, plus the four-year graduation rate. Spending and class size are shown below but don’t count toward the grade. Tests: 2020–21; graduation: class of 2020.
- The whole path. A town’s grade follows its kids: every district that serves it, weighted by the number of students tested in each. Tests count 60% and graduation 40%.
- Graded within the state. Each state writes its own tests, so districts are lined up against the rest of California only. A+ top 5%A next 10%A- next 10%B B+ to B−, next 30%C C+ to C−, next 30%D D and D−, bottom 15%
- Individual schools are graded the same way on their own test results, against every public school in California with 25+ students. Private schools aren’t graded: they don’t take the state tests.
- What a grade can’t tell you. Test results track family income closely, so a high grade partly reflects who lives in a town. That’s why we also compare towns with similar incomes. Visit, ask other parents, and read neighbor reviews. It’s our own summary of U.S. Department of Education data, not an official rating.
School path
Where Downey kids go to school
Grades K–5
12 elementary schoolsDepends on your address · see the list Downey Unified School DistrictGrades 9–12
Downey High or Warren (Earl) High
Depends on your address Downey Unified School DistrictBased on district boundaries from the U.S. Department of Education. Check with the district before you enroll.
Test scores · 2020–21
Well above the state in reading
Reading (Whittier Union High)65%
State average 48.5%
Math (Whittier Union High)42%
State average 33.4%
Graduation · class of 2020
91% graduate on time
Graduation rate
91%
CA: 87.6%
Graduating class
2,773
students
The share of students who started ninth grade together and earned a regular diploma within four years.
Districts
Two districts serve Downey
Whittier Union High School DistrictGrades 9–12 · 7 schools · 9,798 students
$23,421 per studentCA $21,206A-Downey Unified School DistrictGrades K–12 · 21 schools · 22,405 students
$19,524 per studentCA $21,206B+Each district’s own page has its spending, test scores, enrollment and every school.
Every school
All 29 schools in Downey
Showing 1–29 of 29 schools
Rio Hondo ElementaryElementary · Grades K–5 · 838 students
PublicLewis (Ed C.) ElementaryElementary · Grades K–5 · 810 students
PublicCarpenter (C. C.) ElementaryElementary · Grades K–5 · 796 students
PublicGallatin ElementaryElementary · Grades K–5 · 788 students
PublicPrice (Maude) ElementaryElementary · Grades K–5 · 757 students
PublicRio San Gabriel ElementaryElementary · Grades K–5 · 747 students
PublicAlameda ElementaryElementary · Grades K–5 · 744 students
PublicWilliams (Spencer V.) ElementaryElementary · Grades K–3 · 736 students
PublicImperial ElementaryElementary · Grades K–3 · 653 students
PublicGauldin (A.L.) ElementaryElementary · Grades K–5 · 641 students
PublicUnsworth (Edith) ElementaryElementary · Grades K–5 · 633 students
PublicWard (E. W.) ElementaryElementary · Grades K–5 · 543 students
PublicOld River ElementaryElementary · Grades 4–5 · 540 students
PublicStauffer (Mary R.) MiddleMiddle · Grades 6–8 · 1,329 students
PublicDoty (Wendy Lopour) MiddleMiddle · Grades 6–8 · 1,304 students
PublicGriffiths (Gordon) MiddleMiddle · Grades 6–8 · 1,264 students
PublicSussman (Edward A.) MiddleMiddle · Grades 6–8 · 1,240 students
PublicDowney HighHigh · Grades 9–12 · 4,051 students
PublicWarren (Earl) HighHigh · Grades 9–12 · 3,609 students
PublicColumbus (Christopher) HighHigh · Grades 9–12 · 368 students
PublicLos Padrinos Juvenile HallHigh · Grades 6–12 · 225 students
PublicWoodruff AcademyHigh · Grades 7–12 · 14 students
PublicLos Angeles County ROPHigh · Grades 9–12
PublicCALVARY CHAPEL CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
PrivateCREATIVE BEGINNINGS ELEMENTARY INC
PrivateDOWNEY CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
PrivateKIRKWOOD CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS
PrivateRANCHO LOS AMIGOS CHILDRENS CENTER
PrivateST PIUS X - ST. MATTHIAS HIGH SCHOOL
PrivateSchool data from the U.S. Department of Education (NCES). Ratings are from neighbors on TownTapestry.