Kipp Prize Preparatory Academy, San Jose CA

Original Research by School Decision on Kipp Prize Preparatory Academy

Kipp Prize Preparatory Academy is a charter middle school in San Jose's Alum Rock area, serving grades five through eight with a student body of roughly four hundred. The school is small for its grade band, with nearly four classes per grade level.

The student population is predominantly Hispanic, with about three quarters of the enrollment identifying as such; about a quarter of students are Asian. A substantial majority of the school qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting an economically stretched community. Data on special education enrollment and English learner status was not available, so a parent would want to ask the school directly about the breadth of support services it offers to those populations.

The school has published its most recent state test results on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress. In English language arts across all grades, students achieve proficiency at a rate around the midpoint of performance statewide. Results in mathematics are notably lower, with fewer than four in ten students meeting proficiency across the four grades. Science proficiency, measured in grades five and eight, trails both ELA and math. The pattern suggests particular strength in literacy relative to math, though absolute performance across all three subjects sits below where parents might hope. Results are stable in the single year of data available.

When placed against other schools in Santa Clara County, Kipp Prize's overall proficiency index sits below the midpoint among comparable schools. A parent seeking higher test performance or looking for schools where most peers are proficient learners would want to consider alternatives.

The school's housing context sits in San Jose's broader Bay Area real estate environment. Median home value in the zip code is well above the state average, reflecting the region's role as the economic engine of Silicon Valley and tech employment; median rents have risen modestly over the past year. San Jose itself is a sprawling city with dense downtown and scattered walkable centers, ringed by suburban single-family neighborhoods. The Alum Rock area, where Kipp Prize sits, is working-class residential. The city hosts large tech employers, a regional transit hub at Diridon Station, and ongoing downtown development that has accelerated housing construction over the past several years.

What is not present in available data: the school's graduation outcomes (not measured for middle schools), chronic absenteeism, discipline rates, staffing or class size, specialized programs or course pathways, specific enrollment trends over time, or any school-level strategic changes in recent years. A parent considering this school should contact the school directly to learn about its academic model, advisory structure, extracurriculars, and how it supports students who arrive below grade level in reading or math.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 533%

School 33% · district not reported

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 651%

School 51% · district not reported

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

Grade 735%

School 35% · district not reported

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 831%

School 31% · district not reported

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 541%

School 41% · district not reported

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

Grade 659%

School 59% · district not reported

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 750%

School 50% · district not reported

▲ 4 pts above state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 852%

School 52% · district not reported

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

Science

Grade 525%

School 25% · district not reported

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Grade 831%

School 31% · district not reported

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▼ 6 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-income35%Higher-income71%36 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income56%Higher-income69%14 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income49%Higher-income50%1 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income48%Higher-income73%25 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 5Lower-income27%Higher-income65%38 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income41%Higher-income81%40 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income34%Higher-income44%10 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income29%Higher-income40%11 pp gap