Third Street Elementary vs Charles H. Kim Elementary

Third Street Elementary and Charles H. Kim Elementary are separated by 1.5 miles and just one spot in California's statewide rankings — Third Street at #8 of 9,533 schools and Charles H. Kim at #9 of 9,533. Both earn an overall rating of 9.6/10, placing them among the top fraction of a percent of elementary schools in the state. For parents in Los Angeles choosing between two genuinely elite options, the differences lie in the details beneath that near-identical headline score.

Academically, Third Street Elementary holds an edge: its academic score of 10.0/10 compares to Charles H. Kim Elementary's 9.5/10 — a half-point gap that signals measurably stronger tested proficiency at Third Street. Growth scores are closer, with Third Street at 9.9/10 and Charles H. Kim at 9.8/10, meaning both schools are advancing students at exceptional rates relative to peers statewide. Neither school shows a meaningful weakness in trajectory; the academic delta is the primary differentiator on performance measures.

The two schools diverge more sharply on demographics. Third Street Elementary enrolls 691 students against Charles H. Kim's 472, making Third Street a noticeably larger campus. The student-teacher ratio at Third Street is 22.3:1 versus 18.2:1 at Charles H. Kim — a four-student difference per classroom that translates to more individualized attention at Kim. The free and reduced-price lunch rates tell a different story about the families each school serves: 43% at Third Street versus 88% at Charles H. Kim. Kim achieves its near-identical overall rating while serving a substantially higher-need population, which makes its performance particularly notable from an equity standpoint.

Both schools serve grades KG through 05, so the grade span is identical and neither offers a structural advantage for families with children across multiple elementary years. The choice comes down to whether a family prioritizes the slightly higher academic proficiency score at Third Street, or the smaller class sizes and stronger equity performance at Charles H. Kim — both within a mile and a half of each other in Los Angeles.