Carthay Elementary Of Environmental Studies Magnet vs Charles H. Kim Elementary

Charles H. Kim Elementary ranks #9 of 9,533 schools in California, placing it among the top 0.1% of all elementary schools in the state. Carthay Elementary Of Environmental Studies Magnet is itself an exceptional school at #217 of 9,533, but the gap between the two is substantial — Kim sits 208 positions higher in a field of nearly ten thousand schools. The overall rating difference is 0.6 points, with Charles H. Kim Elementary scoring 9.6/10 against Carthay's 9.0/10, a margin that reflects a consistent edge across every measured dimension.

On academics, Charles H. Kim Elementary scores 9.5/10 versus Carthay Elementary Of Environmental Studies Magnet's 9.0/10 — a half-point difference that, at this tier, represents a meaningful separation. Growth scores tell a similar story: Kim earns a 9.8/10 compared to Carthay's already-strong 9.5/10. That 0.3-point growth gap is notable because growth scores capture how much students improve year over year, controlling for where they started — Kim is accelerating students at a rate that puts it at the very top of the state.

The two schools differ sharply on demographics and classroom structure. Charles H. Kim Elementary serves a higher-need population, with 88% of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch compared to 67% at Carthay Elementary Of Environmental Studies Magnet — a 21-percentage-point difference. Kim also enrolls 472 students versus Carthay's 364. Despite the larger enrollment, Kim's student-teacher ratio is 18.2:1, meaningfully lower than Carthay's 22.8:1, meaning Kim students get more individual teacher attention on average. Achieving a #9 state ranking while serving a predominantly high-need population makes Kim's performance particularly striking.

Both schools serve grades KG–05 and sit just 3.6 miles apart in Los Angeles. The most structurally distinctive difference is Carthay's identity as an environmental studies magnet, which shapes its curriculum around sustainability, ecology, and place-based learning — a programmatic focus that Kim, as a traditional neighborhood elementary, does not replicate. Families who specifically want a thematic magnet environment will find that only Carthay delivers it.