The top reported proficiency rate is 18% in English language arts. The lowest is 1% in Math.
Original Research by School Decision on Academia Avance Charter
Academia Avance Charter sits on North Avenue 53 in Highland Park, a densely urban Northeast Los Angeles neighborhood of Craftsman bungalows, active commercial corridors, and Metro light rail access. The school serves grades six through twelve as a charter and operates as its own single-school district. Enrollment is small for a school spanning that full grade band, and the student body is overwhelmingly Latino, reflecting the community it sits within. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, pointing to a predominantly lower-income enrollment. Data on English learner rates and students with IEPs were not available in what we reviewed.
The academic picture is the hardest part of this profile to read positively. State testing results on the California CAASPP and CAST assessments, reported for the most recent school year, show proficiency rates in math that are extremely low across the tested middle grades, with sixth and seventh grade math results at or near zero and eighth grade only marginally above that. English language arts results are low as well, in the range of roughly one in five students meeting or exceeding standard in the tested middle grades. Science results at eighth grade follow a similar pattern. Taken across all tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile relative to districts in Los Angeles County. That is a significant gap from the county midpoint, and a parent considering this school would want to ask the school directly about how it is diagnosing and addressing these outcomes, what support structures are in place, and what trajectory the school is on. Only one year of data was available, so trend direction cannot be assessed.
High school grades are enrolled but California does not report CAASPP results at the high school level in the same way, so the tested grades here cover only the middle school span. No graduation rate data was available in what we reviewed, which is a meaningful gap for a school that does serve through twelfth grade. A parent evaluating the high school pathway here should ask the school for its graduation and college preparation data directly.
No program information was provided in the data, so we cannot speak to AP course availability, dual enrollment, career pathways, or extracurricular offerings. The district brief search found no confirmed parent-relevant changes to report.
On housing, Highland Park has shifted considerably over the past two decades. Publicly reported sources describe a rapid gentrification process that has pushed home values well above the California statewide median and far above the national median, driven by demand for the neighborhood's historic single-family stock. Rents have moved upward as well, though more slowly in the most recent period. New mixed-use and transit-oriented development is actively reshaping corridors along Figueroa and near the Metro A Line stations, and some projects have encountered friction from the Highland Park-Garvanza Historic Preservation Overlay Zone. For a family relocating to be near this school, the housing market is a high-cost one within a neighborhood whose character is still actively changing.
The neighborhood itself offers genuine urban amenities: walkable commercial corridors on York Boulevard and North Figueroa, light rail access connecting to downtown Los Angeles and Pasadena, neighborhood parks including Debs Regional Park for hiking, and a dense independent business scene of cafes, galleries, and restaurants. Employment in the immediate area is fragmented across small businesses, schools, and services rather than anchored to any large employer.
What the data does not show is any program or outcome evidence that would let a parent evaluate how this school performs at the high school level, whether its graduation pipeline is strong, or what college-going outcomes look like. The tested-grade academic results are low enough that a parent would reasonably want to dig well beyond what this profile can offer before enrolling.
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