Hoover Street Elementary vs Charles H. Kim Elementary

Hoover Street Elementary and Charles H. Kim Elementary are separated by just 1.6 miles in Los Angeles, yet their state rankings tell a meaningful story: Charles H. Kim Elementary sits at #9 of 9,533 California schools while Hoover Street Elementary ranks #19 of 9,533 — both extraordinary placements, with Kim holding a 10-spot edge statewide. The overall rating gap is just 0.1 points, Charles H. Kim Elementary at 9.6/10 versus Hoover Street Elementary at 9.5/10, making this one of the tightest comparisons a parent will encounter at this level.

On academic and growth measures, the two schools are effectively identical. Both Hoover Street Elementary and Charles H. Kim Elementary score 9.5/10 on academics and 9.8/10 on growth — meaning students at each school are advancing at an exceptional pace relative to peers statewide. Parents should not expect a material difference in measured academic outcomes between these two campuses. The distinction lies in the surrounding context, not the performance numbers.

Charles H. Kim Elementary enrolls 472 students compared to Hoover Street Elementary's 579, a difference of 107 students across the same KG–05 grade span. That smaller enrollment translates directly into a tighter student-teacher ratio: 18.2:1 at Charles H. Kim Elementary versus 20.0:1 at Hoover Street Elementary. The free and reduced-price lunch rate diverges more sharply — 97% at Hoover Street Elementary against 88% at Charles H. Kim Elementary — indicating Hoover Street serves a higher concentration of economically disadvantaged families.

Both schools cover the same grade band, KG through 5th grade, so neither offers an extended grade advantage. The equity gap — a 9-percentage-point difference in FRL rates — is the sharpest demographic contrast between them, and it gives Hoover Street Elementary's near-identical academic scores additional weight: the school is producing top-20 statewide results with a nearly fully economically disadvantaged student population.