LA Harbor News

In the 2023-24 school year, kindergarten was the largest grade in Long Beach Unified School District, with 5,635 students making up 8.8% of the student body, according to the California Department of Education. This represents a growth of 0.5% compared to the previous year.

The grade with the second highest number of students was 12th grade, with 5,234 students, or 8.2% of the student body.

The school that had the highest number of kindergarten students in Long Beach Unified School District during the period was Grant Elementary School, while Hudson had the fewest.

Overall, Long Beach Unified School District enrolled 63,858 students, ranking as the fourth highest enrolled district in California for the 2023-24 school year. It also ranked fourth highest in the previous school year.

California's public schools face a growing financial crisis driven by declining enrollment and an increase in chronic absenteeism, both impacting the state's school funding model.

Enrollment, which peaked at 6.3 million students in the early 2000s, has steadily declined to under 6 million today, with projections indicating it could fall below 5.2 million by 2032. This trend is attributed to lower birth rates, slowed immigration, and families relocating out of state due to high housing costs. Rural and coastal districts have been particularly affected, facing tough decisions such as school closures and staffing reductions.

At the same time, chronic absenteeism has surged from 12% pre-pandemic to 25%, disproportionately impacting younger students and jeopardizing their long-term success.

School	Total Enrollment
Addams Elementary School	747
Alvarado Elementary School	394
Avalon K-12	453
Bancroft Middle School	817
Barton Elementary School	440
Birney Elementary School	496
Bixby Elementary School	548
Bobbie Smith Elementary School	663
Bryant Elementary School	334
Burbank Elementary School	563
Burcham Elementary School	344
Cabrillo High School	1,721
California Academy of Mathematics and Science	667
Carver Elementary School	520
Chavez Elementary School	307
Cleveland Elementary School	455
Cubberley K-8	946
Dooley Elementary School	725
Edison Elementary School	427
Educational Partnership High School	422
Emerson Parkside Academy	337
Ernest S. McBride Senior High School	718
Eunice Sato Academy of Math & Science	502
Franklin Classical Middle School	1,025
Fremont Elementary School	439
Gant Elementary School	663
Garfield Elementary School	556
Gompers	363
Grant Elementary School	966
Hamilton Middle School	815
Harte Elementary School	761
Helen Keller Middle School	477
Henry	816
Holmes Elementary School	388
Hoover Middle School	513
Hudson	269
Hughes Middle School	1,260
Jefferson Leadership Academies	1,005
Jenny Oropeza Elementary School	544
Jessie Nelson Academy	818
Jordan High School	2,207
Kettering Elementary School	349
King Elementary School	583
Lafayette Elementary School	849
Lakewood High School	2,580
Lincoln Elementary School	810
Lindbergh STEM Academy	411
Lindsey Academy	715
Longfellow Elementary School	961
Los Cerritos Elementary School	465
Lowell Elementary School	601
MacArthur Elementary School	312
Madison Elementary School	416
Mann Elementary School	343
Marshall Academy of the Arts	955
McKinley Elementary School	494
Millikan High School	3,369
Muir K-8	1,046
Naples Elementary School	306
Newcomb Academy	862
Olivia Nieto Herrera Elementary School	689
Polytechnic High School	3,954
Powell Academy for Success	777
Prisk Elementary School	472
Reid High School	113
Renaissance High School for the Arts	393
Richard D. Browning High School	326
Riley Elementary School	430
Robinson Academy	765
Rogers Middle School	778
Roosevelt Elementary School	841
Signal Hill Elementary School	620
Stanford Middle School	1,157
Stephens Middle School	692
Stevenson Elementary School	479
Tincher Preparatory	824
Twain Elementary School	437
Washington Middle School	889
Webster Elementary School	497
Whittier Elementary School	554
Willard Elementary School	560
Wilson High School	3,452