Original Research by School Decision on Da Vinci Science
Da Vinci Science is a charter high school serving grades nine through twelve in El Segundo. The enrollment is small, with roughly balanced class sizes across each grade. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, followed by white and Asian students, with smaller numbers of Black students and other groups. A meaningful share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing the school's population in a working-to-middle-class range.
The school's academic performance shows uneven results across subjects. In English language arts, proficiency is above the midpoint. Science proficiency sits in the mid-range. Mathematics proficiency is the soft spot: fewer than half of students reach the proficiency threshold. The school has only one year of recent state assessment data available, so trend information is not yet present.
El Segundo's housing market is expensive relative to California and national benchmarks, with home values substantially above state average. Rental costs are similarly elevated. The cost of entry to the community is high, though the local economic environment shows moderate unemployment and median household income in the solid range.
Da Vinci Science District operates as its own local education agency, meaning the school is the operational unit. Little information is currently available about district-level strategic priorities or recent changes, so a parent seeking that context may want to reach out directly to the school or district office.
The school's name signals a science and STEM orientation, and families choosing this charter school likely have that emphasis in mind. The specific structure of academics, electives, pathways, and extracurricular offerings was not available in the data provided. A parent evaluating fit should visit the school's website and speak with staff about curriculum design, course sequences, and how the science focus is woven through the program. The four-year graduation rate was also not reported in the available data, making it worth confirming with the school directly.
The combination of a small, demographically mixed cohort, a tuition-free charter option, and location in an upscale coastal town suggests Da Vinci Science may appeal to families prioritizing choice, science or technical pathways, and community over size. The mathematics proficiency gap is worth discussing with admissions or current staff to understand whether additional support or acceleration is built into the program and how students performing below grade level or above it are served.
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