Ocean Charter, Los Angeles CA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Ocean Charter

Ocean Charter is a tuition-free, Waldorf-informed charter school serving kindergarten through eighth grade in Del Rey, a beach-adjacent neighborhood on Los Angeles' Westside. The school sits in a housing market where home values are substantially above the state average and rents are moderate relative to that price; the area is a mixed residential and commercial zone typical of LA's polycentric form.

The school's defining operational fact is recent. After years on two separate, leased campuses, Ocean Charter consolidated onto a single, purpose-built facility at Panama Street in March 2021. The new campus includes a performing arts center, woodwork and handwork rooms, a rooted library and kitchen, a rooftop learning garden, and three age-grouped play yards. This consolidation ended fragmentation for families and gave the school dedicated spaces aligned to its Waldorf philosophy rather than adapted ones.

Enrollment is small to moderate for the grade band, distributed fairly evenly across ages. About one in four students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is majority white, with meaningful shares of Hispanic, multiracial, and Asian students; the specific composition reflects both the school's location and its charter status and pedagogical draw.

Academic performance shows a split pattern. In English language arts, proficiency climbs as students advance: middle performance in grades three through five, then a clear lift in grades six, seven, and eight, where the majority of students meet grade-level standards. In mathematics, the picture is less consistent. Third and sixth graders show around half meeting standards; fourth and fifth graders fall below that; seventh graders perform strongest; eighth graders land near the middle. Science proficiency, assessed in grades five and eight, sits in the low range both years. Across tested subjects overall, the school's average proficiency places it above the midpoint among schools in Los Angeles County.

A parent weighing this school would want to explore the mathematics trajectory with the school directly, since grades four and five show noticeably weaker outcomes than surrounding grades. The stronger English language arts results in the upper grades suggest the school's model may align better with older students, or that instructional practices in ELA are supporting more students to standard. Science results warrant a conversation about curricular priorities and support.

The school's location is characteristic of LA's Westside: the neighborhood mixes residential blocks with commercial corridors, and the broader region is walkable in pockets around transit nodes and shopping areas, though car dependence remains the dominant pattern. The consolidated campus itself is a material asset for daily operations and family experience.

Ocean Charter draws families to its Waldorf approach and tuition-free status within the charter sector. For those prioritizing pedagogical philosophy, neighborhood setting, and a unified, small-school community, it offers a coherent fit. For those prioritizing demonstrated math proficiency across all grades, it presents a question worth asking the school directly.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 354%

School 54% · district not reported

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 437%

School 37% · district not reported

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

Grade 531%

School 31% · district not reported

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

Grade 653%

School 53% · district not reported

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

Grade 766%

School 66% · district not reported

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

Grade 842%

School 42% · district not reported

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 350%

School 50% · district not reported

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▲ 8 pts above county median

Grade 453%

School 53% · district not reported

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 556%

School 56% · district not reported

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 671%

School 71% · district not reported

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

Grade 778%

School 78% · district not reported

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

Grade 876%

School 76% · district not reported

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

Science

Grade 533%

School 33% · district not reported

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 834%

School 34% · district not reported

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 10 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 4Lower-income47%Higher-income55%8 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income39%Higher-income62%23 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income67%Higher-income73%6 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income68%Higher-income81%13 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income59%Higher-income83%25 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income12%Higher-income45%33 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income8%Higher-income38%30 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income47%Higher-income55%8 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income42%Higher-income73%31 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income24%Higher-income50%27 pp gap