Wish Community, Los Angeles CA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Wish Community

WISH Community is a charter school serving kindergarten through eighth grade in the Los Angeles area, operating as part of the WISH Community District. The school sits on West 80th Street in the airport-adjacent part of Los Angeles, in a neighborhood shaped by proximity to LAX and an industrial landscape. It operates as a free public charter school authorized by LAUSD, with admission by random lottery rather than neighborhood assignment.

The school's defining approach is full inclusion, meaning students with mild to severe disabilities learn alongside typically developing and gifted students in the same classrooms. This whole-scholar model anchors the school's identity and is a primary draw for families who seek this environment. The pedagogy is built around STEM, arts, music, and social-emotional support woven through the day. Families with an LAUSD home school receive a weighted preference in the lottery, making the school accessible without a neighborhood boundary but with a nod to district residents.

In terms of academic performance, the school shows a split pattern across its grade range. In the early elementary years (grades three through five), proficiency in English language arts runs in the high range, with most grades in the mid-to-high performance band. Math in those grades sits in the mid-range, with fourth grade performing notably better than third and fifth. The middle school grades tell a different story. Beginning in sixth grade, both English language arts and math proficiency decline, dropping more sharply by seventh and eighth grade. By eighth grade, fewer than half of students meet proficiency in math, and language arts falls into the low-to-mid range. Science testing is limited to grades five and eight; fifth-grade science is solid, but eighth-grade science performance is quite low. Across the tested grades and subjects overall, the school's average proficiency sits above the midpoint among county school districts, a meaningful strength. However, the trajectory downward into the middle grades signals a real soft spot that a parent may want to understand more deeply with school leadership.

Enrollment is modest but stable, around eight hundred students spread across kindergarten through eighth grade. The student body is racially and ethnically diverse, with no single group forming a majority. White students make up roughly one-third of enrollment, Hispanic students roughly one-quarter, Black students roughly one-fifth, and students of two or more races, Asian students, and other groups making up the remainder. The share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch is small, around one in six, notably lower than the broader LAUSD district, which has drawn outside scrutiny during charter renewal. Data on English learner enrollment and students receiving special education services was not available, though the school's inclusion mission suggests serving students with disabilities is a core part of its population.

The broader context of WISH's operation involves ongoing questions about facilities and consolidation. In early 2022, LAUSD proposed relocating another school to free up space so that WISH could consolidate its elementary, middle, and high school programs onto a single campus rather than operating across co-located sites. The proposal was contested and never placed on the board agenda, leaving the long-term facility picture uncertain. This matters for accessibility, particularly for students with disabilities who rely on the same buildings and resources throughout the day.

Los Angeles housing near the school is expensive. In the local zip code, home values are substantially higher than California's state median, and monthly rents are in the mid-to-high range. The neighborhood itself is industrial and car-dependent, shaped by airport proximity and light manufacturing. It is not a walkable, dense residential village; families are drawn to the school's programs and values rather than to neighborhood character.

The school operates tuition-free as a charter school and does not assign students by neighborhood. For families weighing this option, the choice hinges on whether the full-inclusion model, early-grades performance, and lottery-based access outweigh the softer middle-grades outcomes and the school's relatively low share of economically disadvantaged students compared to the broader district. Parents may also want to explore what the middle-grades decline reflects and what supports exist there.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 371%

School 71% · district not reported

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

Grade 478%

School 78% · district not reported

▲ 40 pts above state median · ▲ 37 pts above county median

Grade 571%

School 71% · district not reported

▲ 40 pts above state median · ▲ 37 pts above county median

Grade 654%

School 54% · district not reported

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

Grade 751%

School 51% · district not reported

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Grade 849%

School 49% · district not reported

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 379%

School 79% · district not reported

▲ 38 pts above state median · ▲ 37 pts above county median

Grade 480%

School 80% · district not reported

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

Grade 578%

School 78% · district not reported

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

Grade 675%

School 75% · district not reported

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

Grade 767%

School 67% · district not reported

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

Grade 860%

School 60% · district not reported

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

Science

Grade 566%

School 66% · district not reported

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

Grade 845%

School 45% · district not reported

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 21 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-income50%Higher-income85%35 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income69%Higher-income81%12 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income50%Higher-income83%33 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income46%Higher-income75%28 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income29%Higher-income70%41 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income29%Higher-income80%52 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income38%Higher-income79%42 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income23%Higher-income63%40 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income36%Higher-income56%21 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income26%Higher-income57%30 pp gap