Gil Garcetti Learning Academy vs Charles H. Kim Elementary

Charles H. Kim Elementary ranks #9 of 9,533 California schools, placing it in the top 0.1% statewide. Gil Garcetti Learning Academy ranks #77 of 9,533 — still an exceptional standing, but 68 positions behind. The overall rating gap is narrow: Charles H. Kim Elementary scores 9.6/10 against Gil Garcetti Learning Academy's 9.3/10, a 0.3-point difference that belies a more meaningful split in how each school achieves its result.

The academic score tells the sharpest story. Charles H. Kim Elementary posts a 9.5/10 in academic proficiency against Gil Garcetti Learning Academy's 8.3/10 — a 1.2-point gap that reflects a measurable difference in tested outcomes. Growth scores run in the opposite direction: Gil Garcetti Learning Academy earns a 9.9/10 to Charles H. Kim Elementary's 9.8/10, effectively a tie, but the slight edge at Garcetti signals that students there are advancing at a pace that slightly outpaces their peers regardless of starting point. A school simultaneously ranked #77 statewide and posting a 9.9 growth score is producing outsized academic gains for the students it serves.

Gil Garcetti Learning Academy enrolls 513 students to Charles H. Kim Elementary's 472, with student-teacher ratios of 19.0:1 and 18.2:1 respectively — a modest difference of 0.8 students per teacher. The free and reduced-price lunch rate diverges more substantially: 99% at Gil Garcetti Learning Academy versus 88% at Charles H. Kim Elementary. Both schools serve high-need populations by any measure, but Garcetti's near-universal FRL rate means it is achieving that 9.9 growth score with a student body facing greater economic pressure — a meaningful context for evaluating what both campuses are actually accomplishing.

Grade span separates the two schools by one year. Gil Garcetti Learning Academy runs kindergarten through sixth grade, giving families a longer runway before a middle school transition. Charles H. Kim Elementary covers kindergarten through fifth grade, meaning families will navigate a school change one year sooner. The two campuses sit 6.5 miles apart within Los Angeles, making a cross-town transfer a real logistical consideration.