Downey Unified School District ("DUSD") is the public school system in Downey, California

Downey, California

Downey is a city located in southeast Los Angeles County, California, United States, southeast of downtown Los Angeles. The city is best known as the birthplace of the Apollo space program, and is the city where folk singer Karen Carpenter lived and died...

. The current enrollment for 2009 is 22,500 divided among thirteen elementary, four middle, and three high schools.

Governance

Downey Unified School District is governed by a 7-member Board of Education, which appoints a superintendent, who runs the daily operations of the district. Members of the board are elected directly by voters from separate districts that encompass communities that the DUSD serves. The district's current superintendent is Wendy L. Doty, Ed.D. The current members of Board of Education include Tod M. Corrin, William A. Gutierrez, Donald E. LaPlante, D. Mark Morris, Barbara R. Samperi, Martha E. Sodetani, and Nancy A. Swenson. Every DUSD household or residential area is zoned to an elementary school, a middle school and a high school.

Demographics

In the year 2003, there were 22,298 students. In 2004, the number of students climbed to 22,523 and then to 22,800 by 2005. In 2006, the number declined to 22,584. In 2007, the number of students declined further to 22,456. In terms of the dropout rate, 1.8% of Downey Unified School District's students dropped out of school as opposed to 12.8% of students in the state.
In 2003, 74.6% of the teachers held a bachelor's degree while 25.0% held a master's degree. Only 0.5% held a doctorate degree. In 2007, the average class size for the district was 22.8 students per teacher; this is opposed to 20.8 students per teacher for the state.

In terms of race and ethnicity in 2007, Hispanic

Hispanic and Latino Americans

Hispanic or Latino Americans are Americans with origins in the Hispanic countries of Latin America or in Spain, and in general all persons in the United States who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino.1990 Census of Population and Housing: A self-designated classification for people whose origins...

 students made up the vast majority (79.5%) of the district's student population. In addition, white

White American

White Americans are people of the United States who are considered or consider themselves White. The United States Census Bureau defines White people as those "having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa...

 students were the largest minority; they made up 11.0% of the district's student population. Asian

Asian American

Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...

 and black students made up 4.7 and 3.8% of the district's student population respectively. The remaining 1.0% of the student population are mostly American Indian

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 students. In addition, a majority of the school district's students (55.0%) were economically disadvantaged.

Schools

Public schools include within the DUSD include Alameda Elementary, Carpenter Elementary, Gallatin Elementary, Gauldin Elementary, Imperial Elementary, Lewis Elementary, Old River Elementary, Price Elementary, Rio Hondo Elementary, Rio San Gabriel Elementary, Unsworth Elementary, Ward Elementary, Williams Elementary, East Middle, Griffiths Middle, Sussman Middle School, West Middle, Downey High

Downey High School

Downey High School is one of two senior high schools located in the Los Angeles suburb of Downey, California, and within the Downey Unified School District. It is located at 11040 Brookshire Ave. At the present time the school has an enrollment of about 3719 students, of a variety of racial and...

, Warren High

Warren High School (Downey, California)

Warren High School, formerly Earl Warren Senior High School, is a public secondary school located in Downey, California . Warren High School enrolls students in grades 9-12 and is a part of the Downey Unified School District.-History:...

, and Columbus Continuation.

The private schools located within the district include Calvary Chapel, Downey (pre K-12), St. Matthias High School

St. Matthias High School

St. Matthias High School is a girls private, Roman Catholic high school in Downey, California. It is located in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles.-Background:St. Matthias was established in 1960.St...

, Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish School, Saint Raymond's Catholic School, and Saint Mark's Episcopal School