Valiente College Preparatory Charter, South Gate CA

Original Research by School Decision on Valiente College Preparatory Charter

Valiente College Preparatory Charter has permanently closed. The school's governing board voted on March 11, 2024 to shut down at the end of the 2023-24 academic year, and the closure took effect on June 30, 2024. The decision followed a significant decline in student enrollment driven by lower birth rates and gentrification-related residential displacement in South Gate, which reduced the school's funding. The enrollment loss affected the school's ability to sustain operations despite its college-preparatory mission.

Prior to closure, Valiente served grades five through eight and operated as a charter school in South Gate, a mixed-use city in southeastern Los Angeles County roughly seven miles southeast of downtown. The school's final enrollment was small, with students concentrated in the upper grades. Roughly a substantial portion of the school's remaining students transferred to Westbrook Academy.

The academic data from the 2023-24 school year, the school's last, shows proficiency rates that were low across tested subjects and grades. In mathematics, performance ranged from around a small share of sixth-graders meeting proficiency to less than one in five seventh-graders. In English language arts, proficiency rates were similarly modest, ranging from around one in four sixth-graders to one in five eighth-graders. Science proficiency data for eighth grade also reflected low achievement. These proficiency levels placed the school in the bottom quartile relative to other districts in Los Angeles County when a composite proficiency measure is calculated across all tested subjects and grades.

A substantial share of students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting economic need within the enrolled population. The student body was predominantly Latino, with a small additional share identifying as two or more races.

The school is no longer an option for enrollment. Families in South Gate seeking middle-grade instruction should look to other charter and traditional public schools in the area, including the destination school Westbrook Academy, which received transfers from Valiente's closure.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 69%

School 9% · district not reported

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Grade 720%

School 20% · district not reported

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 810%

School 10% · district not reported

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

English language arts

Grade 625%

School 25% · district not reported

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 724%

School 24% · district not reported

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 21 pts below county median

Grade 820%

School 20% · district not reported

▼ 24 pts below state median · ▼ 26 pts below county median

Science

Grade 810%

School 10% · district not reported

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 14 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.