The top reported proficiency rate is 26% in English language arts. The lowest is 11% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Russell Westbrook Why Not? Middle
Russell Westbrook Why Not? Middle is a charter school serving grades six through eight in South Los Angeles. Opened as a rebranded LA Promise Charter Middle School, it is now part of the Russell Westbrook Why Not? Academy, a partnership between NBA player Russell Westbrook and the LA Promise Fund designed around a community-school model with wrap-around supports. In the fall of 2024, the middle school moved to a newly renovated campus in South Gate that it shares with the high school. The facility includes science labs, a film studio, two wellness centers, and expanded academic spaces on a single, consolidated site.
The student body is predominantly Hispanic and Black, with a substantial share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic realities of the South Los Angeles region it serves. The enrollment is small, under one hundred eighty students across the three grades. The school participates in a community-school structure that emphasizes dual-enrollment community college access, career exposure through internships, wellness and mental-health programming, athletic enrichment, and STEM coursework alongside the core academic program.
State testing results for the 2023-24 school year show that the school faces significant academic challenges. In math, proficiency rates are very low across all three grades, ranging from a low point at the seventh-grade level to slightly higher performance in the sixth grade, though no proficiency rate in math reached double digits. English language arts results are somewhat stronger relative to math, with sixth-grade proficiency at roughly one third of students and seventh-grade performance at one quarter, though eighth-grade results drop to one fifth. Science proficiency in the eighth grade is also quite low. When compared to other schools tested in Los Angeles County, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile. A parent may want to look into further with the school whether this performance reflects recent transition disruptions tied to the move to the new campus, what specific academic interventions are in place to address these results, and what progress measures the school is tracking moving forward.
The attendance rate and English learner and special education enrollment data were not available in the data provided, so you may want to ask the school directly about those dimensions of support.
The neighborhood where the school now operates, South Gate, is part of the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area, a sprawling polycentric region organized around diverse residential and commercial zones. South Los Angeles, the school's primary feeder area, has a long history as a Black and Latino community. The housing market in the broader Los Angeles area reflects sustained demand and high property values, though mortgage rates and construction costs have moderated recent building activity.
The school's explicit integration of community partnership, career pathways, wellness supports, and mental-health programming marks it as intentionally designed around student support and real-world readiness, not purely traditional classroom instruction. Whether that model will translate to improved academic outcomes in coming school years will be important for families to monitor.
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