Rockdale Visual & Performing Arts Magnet, Los Angeles CA

Original Research by School Decision on Rockdale Visual & Performing Arts Magnet

Rockdale Visual & Performing Arts Magnet is a public elementary school serving kindergarten through sixth grade on the east side of Los Angeles, within the Los Angeles Unified district. It is structured around a visual and performing arts focus, which shapes curriculum and student experience across the grade band.

The school serves a student population of roughly three hundred students, with an enrollment that spans from younger grades (kindergarten) through middle elementary and into sixth. About half of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting a community with moderate-to-substantial economic diversity. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with smaller populations of white, Asian, and multiracial students represented.

State testing data from the most recent year shows students performing in the moderate range. In English language arts, students across tested grades hover around mid-to-high proficiency, with stronger performance in grades five and six than in lower grades. Mathematics proficiency is somewhat lower, in the low-to-mid range across grades three through six, with a slight decline in sixth grade. Science results, measured only in grade five, sit below the overall proficiency median. When results are averaged across all tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile among schools in Los Angeles County, a meaningful distinction that reflects solid academic grounding across the cohort.

The school sits in a community undergoing active growth and housing transition. Los Angeles has embarked on significant rezoning to address a statewide housing shortage, and property values in the 90041 zip code are substantial, with rental costs rising modestly in recent years. The cost of housing relative to household income is high in this area, a factor families weighing relocation should consider closely. The broader city is preparing for the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics, with major development concentrated downtown and in high-profile neighborhoods, though impacts ripple across the district.

Within the Los Angeles Unified district, two recent shifts affect all families. In February, the district implemented a district-wide cellphone and smartwatch ban during the school day, including lunch and breaks, a policy that began in the middle of the school year and shapes daily communication between students and families. Additionally, voters approved a major facilities bond that will fund repairs and upgrades to aging school buildings across LAUSD through a property tax increase that could extend for many years, a long-term financial consideration for homeowners and renters weighing a move into the district.

The arts-centered curriculum is the school's defining feature. For families seeking an elementary experience organized around creative practice and performance, this school offers that pathway. For families looking for a traditional academic core or advanced academic tracks in primary grades, the magnet designation means the school's primary identity is arts-focused rather than academically accelerated. The performance and visual arts emphasis is likely to be both the appeal and the defining parameter of student experience here.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 363%

School 63% · District 48% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 17 pts above county median

Grade 467%

School 67% · District 43% · ▲ 23 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

Grade 563%

School 63% · District 36% · ▲ 27 pts above district

▲ 33 pts above state median · ▲ 30 pts above county median

Grade 656%

School 56% · District 35% · ▲ 20 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 363%

School 63% · District 44% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

Grade 464%

School 64% · District 45% · ▲ 19 pts above district

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 20 pts above county median

Grade 570%

School 70% · District 47% · ▲ 22 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

Grade 670%

School 70% · District 46% · ▲ 24 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 554%

School 54% · District 29% · ▲ 25 pts above district

▲ 26 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

This schoolLos Angeles Unified, 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income44%Higher-income77%34 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income45%Higher-income80%35 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income52%Higher-income87%35 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income52%Higher-income90%38 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 3Lower-income50%Higher-income73%23 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income60%Higher-income72%12 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income48%Higher-income78%31 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income30%Higher-income85%55 pp gap