Original Research by School Decision on Da Vinci Rise High District
Da Vinci RISE High District serves high school students, primarily juniors and seniors, with a deliberately small enrollment that reflects its design as an alternative and flexible charter model. The district operates one school, Da Vinci RISE High, and the student body is predominantly Latinx and Black, with the remainder split between multiracial and white students. The data available does not include free-or-reduced-price lunch rates, special education enrollment, or English learner counts, a gap typical of alternative schools where demographic documentation differs from traditional district tracking.
The enrollment is heavily weighted toward upper grades, particularly junior year, which suggests the school functions as a re-enrollment or completion pathway. This school design makes sense: Da Vinci RISE appears built to serve students experiencing foster care, housing instability, and other significant life disruptions. A parent considering this school is likely weighing it precisely because their student needs flexibility and stability rather than a conventional four-year high school arc.
State testing results and graduation rate data were not available. For a school of this type and size, those absences almost always reflect the alternative model itself—students in recovery pathways do not always align with state testing calendars or cohort-based graduation metrics the way traditional schools do. This is characteristic of the space, not a signal of weakness. What the district does report speaks to quality: in its most recent accreditation cycle, Da Vinci RISE earned the full term of accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (ACS WASC), the highest level WASC grants. For a school serving such a vulnerable population, that marks genuine institutional stability and adherence to standards.
The district has expanded career and technical education significantly, now offering multiple CTE pathways alongside a newly reconfigured skilled-trades workshop that RISE students access. This work is project-based and industry-partnered. The school has also integrated project-based learning into core academics, including partnerships with USC for media production. For a student who learns best by making and doing rather than traditional classroom work, this is a real structural advantage.
Among Los Angeles County's districts, Da Vinci RISE shows a chronic absenteeism rate in the bottom quartile, meaning absence rates are substantially higher than the county median. This is not unusual for schools serving students navigating housing instability and other disruptions; it reflects the reality of the population served, not necessarily a school quality failure. The school spends per pupil at the upper end of the county range, well above the median, suggesting genuine investment in smaller cohorts and more intensive support.
A parent evaluating this school should do so knowing what it is: a re-enrollment and completion model for students whose lives have been derailed by circumstances beyond their control. It is not a college-prep powerhouse in the traditional sense, and families drawn here are typically making a deliberate choice about pedagogy and stability over prestige metrics. The accreditation and program expansion signal that Da Vinci RISE is taking that mission seriously. For a student who has struggled in or dropped out of conventional high school, the alternative pathway and hands-on learning it offers can make the difference between no diploma and one.
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