Granada Hills Charter, Granada Hills CA

Original Research by School Decision on Granada Hills Charter

Granada Hills Charter operates as a K-12 charter school that has undergone substantial recent expansion, now serving students from kindergarten through grade twelve at two campuses. The Zelzah Avenue high school site anchors the school for grades nine through twelve, while a newer TK-8 program launched in a separate Devonshire campus in Northridge in the mid-2010s, allowing the school to offer a continuous charter pathway rather than requiring families to seek secondary education elsewhere.

The student body is diverse and economically mixed. About half of enrolled students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The racial and ethnic makeup is roughly equal parts Hispanic and Asian, with white students and other groups forming smaller shares. Enrollment spans from small classes in the early elementary grades to much larger cohorts in the high school years, reflecting the charter's growth and its expanded grade span.

In state testing, Granada Hills Charter shows uneven performance across subjects. English language arts proficiency runs solidly higher than mathematics. In the middle elementary grades, reading proficiency is strong, and it remains robust in the upper middle grades and early high school. Mathematics proficiency starts very strong in third grade but drops sharply by fourth grade and remains weaker through eighth grade, settling in the low-to-mid range across the tested years. Science proficiency, where assessed in grades five and eight, runs lower still, in the low-to-mid range. Overall proficiency across tested grades and subjects places the school in the top quartile among the schools tested in Los Angeles County, a meaningful strength driven primarily by the strength in reading and the solid early elementary math results.

The school's IB affiliation offers a particular academic pathway. The TK-8 program is accredited as an International Baccalaureate World School offering the Primary Years and Middle Years Programmes, and the high school offers IB as an advanced academic option. This framework shapes curriculum and pedagogy at both campuses and appeals to families seeking a structured, inquiry-based, globally oriented approach to learning.

A structural element shapes enrollment decisions. Admission is by lottery, as is standard for charter schools, but graduates of the TK-8 program receive priority enrollment at the high school, effectively guaranteeing them a seat and bypassing the lottery for grades nine through twelve. This means the realistic path to continuous enrollment at Granada Hills Charter runs through enrolling in the younger grades, a factor families choosing schools should understand.

The Granada Hills neighborhood itself is a residential area on the north side of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley, characterized by quieter streets, larger housing stock, and lower density than central LA. The area has substantial parkland and is family-oriented, though transit options are limited and most residents rely on cars. Housing values in the zip code are well above the California average and rising. Commercial activity is concentrated in strip malls along a few main streets rather than a walkable downtown corridor.

The school is part of Granada Hills Charter District, a single-school charter district. The two campuses operate under one enrollment process but serve distinct grade bands and, by design, different academic models. A parent evaluating this school should weigh the IB curriculum pathway, the performance profile in reading versus math, the charter enrollment structure and priority admission for grade-continuity, and the fit of the school's approach against what matters most for their child.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

94.0%Cohort of 1,140 students · Class of 2021

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

2,394 schools plotted. 142 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 392%

School 92% · district not reported

▲ 49 pts above state median · ▲ 45 pts above county median

Grade 474%

School 74% · district not reported

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 33 pts above county median

Grade 565%

School 65% · district not reported

▲ 34 pts above state median · ▲ 31 pts above county median

Grade 670%

School 70% · district not reported

▲ 40 pts above state median · ▲ 39 pts above county median

Grade 766%

School 66% · district not reported

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 35 pts above county median

Grade 868%

School 68% · district not reported

▲ 40 pts above state median · ▲ 38 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 388%

School 88% · district not reported

▲ 47 pts above state median · ▲ 45 pts above county median

Grade 474%

School 74% · district not reported

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 30 pts above county median

Grade 572%

School 72% · district not reported

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Grade 687%

School 87% · district not reported

▲ 43 pts above state median · ▲ 42 pts above county median

Grade 777%

School 77% · district not reported

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 31 pts above county median

Grade 885%

School 85% · district not reported

▲ 41 pts above state median · ▲ 39 pts above county median

Science

Grade 563%

School 63% · district not reported

▲ 35 pts above state median · ▲ 35 pts above county median

Grade 863%

School 63% · district not reported

▲ 38 pts above state median · ▲ 39 pts above 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 3Lower-income79%Higher-income93%13 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income61%Higher-income81%20 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income59%Higher-income85%26 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income75%Higher-income97%22 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income73%Higher-income83%10 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income76%Higher-income93%17 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income88%Higher-income94%6 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income65%Higher-income79%14 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income57%Higher-income73%16 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income56%Higher-income82%26 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income64%Higher-income67%3 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income55%Higher-income79%24 pp gap