Richmond Charter Academy, Richmond CA

Original Research by School Decision on Richmond Charter Academy

Richmond Charter Academy is a standalone middle school serving grades six through eight in Richmond, a city in Contra Costa County. The school's single most important feature right now is its recent operational crisis: in April, the district board denied its charter renewal over financial, governance, and diversity concerns. The school appealed and won reinstatement by the county board in June, but it remains open only under imposed financial conditions. For families, this means the school's future is contingent on resolving fiscal problems. A parent may want to look into the school's current stability with its leadership before enrolling.

The school serves a heavily Latino student body, with a vast majority of enrollment, and a substantial share of students from low-income households. The student population is small for the grade band, around mid-range for a standalone middle school. Demographic data on English learners and students with IEPs was not available.

On academics, the picture is mixed. In English and language arts, the school shows moderate proficiency: sixth graders perform at around the low-to-mid range, seventh graders cluster above the midpoint, and eighth graders return to the mid-range. Math proficiency is considerably weaker across all grades, with performance in the low range at sixth and seventh grade and dropping further by eighth grade. Science proficiency in eighth grade is also low. Across the tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index places it below the midpoint among districts in Contra Costa County.

School leadership has publicly reported that test scores are rising and exceed district and state averages. The data provided here covers only the most recent school year, so a longer trend is not visible. The school's academic positioning reflects a student body with substantial economic and educational needs; parents may want to discuss with the school directly what supports and interventions are in place to narrow proficiency gaps, especially in math.

The housing market in the zip code is moderate; median home values have declined modestly over the past year, and median monthly rents reflect the Bay Area context. Unemployment in the region is typical, and median household income is in the solid middle range.

Richmond Charter Academy operates as a nonprofit charter school under Amethod Public Schools. Its appeal to families appears to center on its focus on a specific community and an educational program that, by its own characterization, shows momentum. That appeal is now weighed against documented fiscal instability and the uncertainty of operating under county-imposed conditions. For families considering the school, the question is whether its academic direction and community fit outweigh the operational risk, and whether the school can demonstrate that the financial and governance issues that prompted the initial denial are being resolved.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 620%

School 20% · district not reported

▼ 10 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 719%

School 19% · district not reported

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 815%

School 15% · district not reported

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 642%

School 42% · district not reported

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 752%

School 52% · district not reported

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 845%

School 45% · district not reported

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 2 pts below county median

Science

Grade 814%

School 14% · district not reported

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

This schoolDistrict average, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 6Lower-income39%Higher-income60%22 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income49%Higher-income67%18 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income42%Higher-income64%22 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income17%Higher-income40%23 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income15%Higher-income40%25 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income9%Higher-income50%41 pp gap