The top reported proficiency rate is 25% in English language arts. The lowest is 6% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Russell Westbrook Why Not? High
Russell Westbrook Why Not? High is a small charter high school in Bell, in the southeast Los Angeles area, serving grades nine through twelve. It is part of a broader six-through-twelve academy that, publicly reported, was formed in early 2021 when NBA player Russell Westbrook and his Why Not? Foundation partnered with the LA Promise Fund to take over a former charter school and relaunch it under a new name and mission. Westbrook and his business partner sit on the board directly. That foundation backing and board structure are unusual for a charter school and are worth weighing as part of any enrollment decision.
The school is small. Its enrollment spans four high school grades, with the largest cohort in the junior year. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a smaller Black population and virtually no other racial or ethnic groups represented. The economic picture is clear: the vast majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing this solidly in the high-need category. IEP and English learner rates were not available in the data.
The campus itself changed recently. Publicly reported, the academy moved in fall 2024 into a newly renovated permanent facility in South Gate, uniting its middle and high school under one roof. The building includes a library lounge, wellness center, and classrooms, replacing earlier leased or co-located sites. For families who remember the school in a previous configuration, the physical setting is now materially different.
The academic model, publicly reported, is built around what the school calls a community-school approach: wraparound services that include dual-enrollment community college coursework, internships, college advising, mental health and wellness programs, and enrichment in athletics and STEM. Behavioral support follows a Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports and Restorative Justice framework oriented toward prevention rather than punishment.
On state assessments, the results are low and a family should engage the school directly to understand trajectory. Across all tested grades and subjects on the California state assessments, overall proficiency sits in the bottom quartile relative to districts in Los Angeles County. Math results are particularly thin across the tested grades, with the strongest showing still well below what most California schools report. English language arts results are more variable by grade level, with one middle-school grade performing notably better than the others, though still modest. Science scores are very low. The school had only one year of data available in this dataset, so no multi-year trend can be assessed. The "no trend" situation is worth noting: this is a young or recently restructured school, and prior-year comparisons do not exist in the available record.
A graduation rate was not reported in the data, so that outcome measure is unavailable here. Chronic absenteeism data was also absent.
On housing, the Bell and South Gate zip code area carries home values meaningfully above the national median but below the California state benchmark, and rents are substantial in the local market. The area sits within the dense, working-class southeast corridor of Los Angeles County, though detailed community character information for Bell was not available from research conducted for this profile.
This school is likely to fit families who are drawn to the community-school model, value the foundation's direct involvement and the wraparound services that come with it, and are making an active choice around the school's stated mission rather than selecting primarily on test scores. The academic proficiency numbers are low across the board, and a parent who wants to understand what support the school provides to move students toward grade-level standards would be right to ask that question directly. The new campus, the dual-enrollment pathway, and the wellness infrastructure are concrete things to explore on a visit. The absence of trend data means this school's direction is genuinely unknown from the outside.
See more original research from School Decision →