Kipp Scholar Academy, Los Angeles CA

Original Research by School Decision on Kipp Scholar Academy

KIPP Scholar Academy is a middle school serving grades five through eight in South Los Angeles, located on West Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in the 90062 zip code. It is a charter school and part of the KIPP SoCal network. The school moved into a new purpose-built campus in January 2024, giving it a stable physical home after an extended period without a permanent facility.

The school enrolls a small student body, with students distributed across the four middle grades. The population is economically challenged: a substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The school serves a predominantly Black and Hispanic student body, with roughly equal shares of each group, and small numbers of students identifying as multiracial.

Academic performance, measured by California's CAASPP and CAST assessments in the most recent school year, shows proficiency rates below what is typical among schools statewide. In English Language Arts, students show slightly stronger results, with proficiency growing from grade five through eighth grade, reaching around two-fifths of students meeting proficiency standards by eighth grade. Math proficiency is considerably lower, ranging from about one-sixth of fifth graders to just over one-quarter of eighth graders. Science proficiency on the state assessment is also low, in the range of one-seventh to just under one-fifth of students. When proficiency rates across all tested subjects and grades are averaged together, the school sits in the bottom quartile relative to other districts across Los Angeles County.

The school does not report data on special education enrollment or English learner enrollment, so a parent may want to ask the school directly about the scope of these services and the populations they serve. No prior-year trend data is available, so it is not possible to determine whether performance is changing direction.

A parent considering KIPP Scholar Academy should know that the KIPP SoCal network has undergone contraction in recent years. Three of its campuses closed at the end of a prior school year due to declining enrollment, and another nearby KIPP school narrowly avoided closure in 2025 after facing a charter non-renewal petition from the district, though it was renewed on appeal by the county. These circumstances reflect real risks that charter networks can face. At the same time, KIPP Scholar Academy itself currently remains open and has secured a new permanent facility, which represents a concrete commitment to the school's stability.

The broader South Los Angeles neighborhood is part of the sprawling, polycentric greater Los Angeles region, a diverse, working-class area with a substantial percentage of renters and homeowners facing considerable housing costs relative to incomes across the county.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 516%

School 16% · district not reported

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

Grade 623%

School 23% · district not reported

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 726%

School 26% · district not reported

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 827%

School 27% · district not reported

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 530%

School 30% · district not reported

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

Grade 639%

School 39% · district not reported

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 740%

School 40% · district not reported

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Grade 840%

School 40% · district not reported

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Science

Grade 514%

School 14% · district not reported

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

Grade 817%

School 17% · district not reported

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 7 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 5Lower-income28%Higher-income42%14 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income41%Higher-income35%5 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income38%Higher-income53%16 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income15%Higher-income25%10 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income27%Higher-income24%3 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income25%Higher-income33%8 pp gap