Overland Avenue Elementary vs Gil Garcetti Learning Academy

Overland Avenue Elementary and Gil Garcetti Learning Academy sit within the same California elementary tier — both score 8.9/10 overall, and their state ranks are nearly identical: Overland Avenue Elementary at #358 of 9,533 California schools and Gil Garcetti Learning Academy at #360 of 9,533. For parents focused purely on the summary number, these two schools land in exactly the same position statewide. The meaningful differences emerge only when the component scores are disaggregated.

On academics, Overland Avenue Elementary scores 9.8/10 versus Gil Garcetti Learning Academy's 8.3/10 — a 1.5-point gap that reflects stronger current proficiency levels at Overland. Gil Garcetti flips that dynamic on growth: it scores 9.9/10 on student growth versus Overland Avenue Elementary's 8.3/10, a 1.6-point advantage that signals Gil Garcetti is accelerating its students at a faster rate regardless of where they start. A family weighing where kids land academically today versus how quickly they progress will find these two schools pulling in opposite directions on those two dimensions.

The demographic and structural differences between the two schools are stark. Overland Avenue Elementary enrolls 488 students with a 23.2:1 student-teacher ratio and serves a low-poverty population — only 12% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Gil Garcetti Learning Academy enrolls 513 students but carries a 99% free and reduced lunch rate, indicating it serves an almost entirely low-income population. Its student-teacher ratio of 19.0:1 means roughly four fewer students per classroom than Overland, which may contribute directly to the school's exceptional growth performance despite the socioeconomic headwinds its students face.

One structural difference that may matter to families: Gil Garcetti Learning Academy extends through sixth grade, while Overland Avenue Elementary ends at fifth. Families with a rising sixth-grader avoid a middle school transition one year earlier at Gil Garcetti. The two schools are 8.9 miles apart in Los Angeles, so the choice is unlikely to be a casual convenience decision — it will reflect deliberate priorities around academic level, school culture, and family circumstance.