About Our School
Western Avenue Elementary is a single-track school that has served the Chesterfield Square community in South Los Angeles for over 100 years. Situated within the Western/Slauson Redevelopment Area and the Los Angeles State Enterprise Zone, the campus covers approximately one city block. The school is located along a high-traffic stretch of Western Avenue which contains small businesses, motels, single family homes, and multi-resident dwellings. Western’s student body is comprised of approximately 600 students in 30 classrooms, serving Pre-kindergarten to 5th grade. QEIA (Quality Education Investment Act) funds allow Western Avenue to keep class sizes at 20:1 for K-3, 21:1 for 4th grade, and 25:1 for 5th grade.
Academic Performance
Based on the 2010 API score of 644, Western Avenue became a Focus school in the third round of Public School Choice. We recognized that our students were not achieving academically and worked hard during the 2010-2011 school year to improve our student achievement. We are proud to have achieved a 2011 API score of 740, a gain of 96 points and the second highest gain in the district's elementary schools. In 2012, we went up 19 points and scored 758 API points. Last year, Western Avenue once again increased its API score to reach 764 points. After 13 years of being identified as a Program Improvement school, Western Avenue became a Watch School in the old system of NCLB which covered the Public School Choice.
In the new system developed by the California Office to Reform Education (CORE), this year Western Avenue is awarded the Reward School status for improving student achievement not just in terms of increasing API scores, but also in terms of excellent attendance, lowering suspension and expulsion rates, strengthening Special Education identification and EL reclassification, and strong involvement from all stakeholders - a feat that Western Avenue shares with only 54 other elementary schools in the entire state.
Western Avenue Elementary is a Phase 1 school of LAUSD's Common Core Technology Project. Since the deployment of the iPads to our classrooms, our school has been at the forefront of technology integration and instruction. Teachers and students have demonstrated the power of technology in enhancing the curriculum through our various activities and projects that showcase the connection of the Common Core State Standards and modern technology. Visit the Technology section of this website to learn more about the technological wonders happening at Western Avenue Elementary School.
Demographics
We provide services for a student population composed of 25% African American and 75% Latino. We are a school-wide Title 1 school with 100% of our students receiving free meals. Forty-two percent of our students are English Learners in the Structured English Immersion program and 12% are students with disabilities. Our special education program consists of six special day classes (PSI, PSM, Autistic K-2, Autistic 3-5, MMR, and SLD 2-5) and one Resource Specialist Program (RSP).