Ninety-Second Street Elementary vs Charles H. Kim Elementary

Charles H. Kim Elementary ranks #9 out of 9,533 schools in California, placing it in the top 0.1% statewide. Ninety-Second Street Elementary ranks #290 out of 9,533 — still a top-3% school, but trailing Kim by 281 positions. The overall rating gap is 0.7 points, with Charles H. Kim Elementary scoring 9.6/10 against Ninety-Second Street Elementary's 8.9/10. Both schools sit in the same city but are 9.1 miles apart, making daily logistics a real factor for families weighing the gap.

On academics, Charles H. Kim Elementary scores 9.5/10 versus Ninety-Second Street Elementary's 8.0/10 — a 1.5-point delta that reflects a meaningful difference in measured proficiency. Growth, which tracks how much students improve year over year regardless of starting point, tells a closer story: Ninety-Second Street Elementary earns a 9.4/10 and Charles H. Kim Elementary a 9.8/10. Ninety-Second Street Elementary's growth score is notably strong relative to its academic score, suggesting students there are making substantial gains even if absolute proficiency levels are lower.

Ninety-Second Street Elementary enrolls 633 students compared to Charles H. Kim Elementary's 472, giving Kim a smaller campus feel. The student-teacher ratio at Ninety-Second Street Elementary is 19.2:1 versus 18.2:1 at Charles H. Kim Elementary — a modest but real difference in individual attention. The free and reduced-price lunch rate is 99% at Ninety-Second Street Elementary versus 88% at Charles H. Kim Elementary, indicating Ninety-Second Street serves a higher-poverty population. Both schools demonstrate that high-poverty demographics and strong performance are not mutually exclusive, though Kim's lower FRL rate likely contributes to its academic score advantage.

Ninety-Second Street Elementary serves grades KG through 6, while Charles H. Kim Elementary covers KG through 5 only. Families with a rising sixth-grader need to factor in a middle school transition one year earlier at Kim. For parents whose child will spend the full elementary arc at one school, Ninety-Second Street's grade span offers an extra year of continuity before that transition.