California Pacific Charter- Los Angeles, Costa Mesa CA

Original Research by School Decision on California Pacific Charter- Los Angeles

California Pacific Charter-Los Angeles is a K-12 charter school with a mailing address in Costa Mesa, operating as its own single-school district under the California Pacific Charter-Los Angeles District. The name references Los Angeles, but the school's registered location is in Orange County, a detail worth clarifying directly with the school if proximity matters to your family.

The school serves a genuinely diverse student body across a wide grade span, from kindergarten through twelfth grade. Hispanic students make up the largest share of enrollment, followed by white students, Black students, and smaller populations of Asian and multiracial students. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting a community with real economic need. Data on English learner populations and students with IEPs were not available in what we received.

On state assessments, the picture is mixed and worth examining closely. The school participates in California's CAASPP Smarter Balanced assessments in English language arts and math for grades three through eight, and in the California Science Test at fifth and eighth grades. In ELA, proficiency rates vary considerably by grade, with some middle grades reaching around half of students meeting standard and others falling well below that. Math follows a similar uneven pattern; some grades perform in the low-to-mid range and a couple dip noticeably lower. Science scores at fifth grade are stronger than at eighth. The overall proficiency index, which averages across tested subjects and grades, places this school in the bottom quartile relative to districts in Orange County. No high school assessment results were reported in the data, so performance for ninth through twelfth grade cannot be characterized here. Parents of high schoolers may want to ask the school directly about academic outcomes for those grades.

Trend data is limited to a single year of reporting, so there is no trajectory to describe. Whether scores are improving, stable, or declining is simply unknown from what is available. A parent would want to ask the school what its academic improvement plan looks like and what specific supports are in place for students who are not yet meeting grade-level standards.

No information on graduation rates, AP or dual-enrollment course access, chronic absenteeism, discipline practices, or staffing was available in the data. These are meaningful gaps for a K-12 school, and direct outreach to the school is warranted on each of them.

The school's Costa Mesa address puts it in a city that sits in one of the more expensive housing markets in California, well above both the state and national medians for home values and rents. Costa Mesa itself is a mid-sized Orange County city organized around distinct neighborhoods, commercial corridors along 17th Street and South Coast Metro, and a mix of mid-century residential stock. The OC Fair and Event Center, South Coast Plaza, and institutions like Orange Coast College anchor the community. Walkability is uneven across the city, with certain neighborhoods and corridors being genuinely pedestrian-friendly while the broader grid requires a car. Transit exists but is limited. Several large-scale housing developments are moving through approvals, pointing toward a densifying city over the next decade.

We found no publicly reported news about recent changes, new leadership, or strategic priorities at the California Pacific Charter-Los Angeles District.

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Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

65-69%Cohort of 73 students · Class of 2021

The federal source publishes a banded range instead of an exact rate when the graduating cohort is small enough that an exact number could risk identifying individual students.

How this school compares to all schools in this state

Each dot is one school’s SY 2020-21 graduation rate, binned by integer rate. Taller columns mean more schools at that rate. This school is highlighted.

2,394 schools plotted. 142 additional schools' rates are federally suppressed and not shown. Data: EDFacts SY 2020-21.

Math

Grade 344%

School 44% · district not reported

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 420%

School 20% · district not reported

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 34 pts below county median

Grade 541%

School 41% · district not reported

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

Grade 655%

School 55% · district not reported

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

Grade 752%

School 52% · district not reported

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 828%

School 28% · district not reported

even with state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 337%

School 37% · district not reported

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▼ 13 pts below county median

Grade 453%

School 53% · district not reported

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

Grade 559%

School 59% · district not reported

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

Grade 630%

School 30% · district not reported

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 30 pts below county median

Grade 752%

School 52% · district not reported

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 839%

School 39% · district not reported

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

Science

Grade 559%

School 59% · district not reported

▲ 31 pts above state median · ▲ 18 pts above county median

Grade 833%

School 33% · district not reported

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▼ 11 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.