Kentwood Elementary vs Charles H. Kim Elementary

Kentwood Elementary and Charles H. Kim Elementary are both Los Angeles elementary schools serving kindergarten through fifth grade, separated by 9.3 miles, but they sit in very different positions in the state standings. Charles H. Kim Elementary holds an overall rating of 9.6/10 against Kentwood Elementary's 9.1/10 — a 0.5-point gap that translates to a dramatic difference in state rank: Charles H. Kim Elementary sits at #9 of 9,533 California elementary schools, while Kentwood Elementary ranks #168 of 9,533. Both are genuinely elite schools, but one is top-ten in the state.

On the academic measures, Charles H. Kim Elementary leads in both categories. Its academic score of 9.5/10 edges Kentwood Elementary's 9.1/10, and the growth gap is similarly consistent: Charles H. Kim Elementary scores 9.8/10 on growth versus Kentwood Elementary's 9.4/10. Growth scores reflect how much students improve year over year relative to academic peers — a 0.4-point advantage at that scale is meaningful and suggests Charles H. Kim Elementary is consistently accelerating student achievement beyond what entry-level performance would predict.

The two schools diverge sharply on demographics. Kentwood Elementary enrolls 297 students with 31% qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, pointing to a relatively lower-poverty population. Charles H. Kim Elementary serves 472 students and has an 88% free/reduced lunch rate — meaning the school is achieving its near-perfect growth and academic scores with a predominantly economically disadvantaged student body, which makes its #9 state ranking especially notable. On classroom size, Charles H. Kim Elementary also holds an edge: its student-teacher ratio is 18.2:1 versus Kentwood Elementary's 21.2:1, meaning students at Charles H. Kim Elementary have roughly three fewer peers per teacher on average.

Both schools cover the same grade span — KG through 5 — so families with children in those years have a direct apples-to-apples comparison. No specialized program data distinguishes the two in the available facts; the decision comes down to overall performance level, classroom density, and the community each school serves.