Gil Garcetti Learning Academy, Los Angeles CA

Original Research by School Decision on Gil Garcetti Learning Academy

Gil Garcetti Learning Academy serves kindergarten through sixth grade in the South Los Angeles neighborhood of Vermont-Slauson. The school is small, with an enrollment of just over five hundred students, and carries the economic signature of its neighborhood: nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is primarily Hispanic, with a smaller Black population and very few white or Asian students. The school operates within the Los Angeles Unified School District, which recently implemented a district-wide cellphone ban and approved a major facilities bond that will raise property taxes on area families for decades.

State testing results from 2024-25 show proficiency across tested grades and subjects, but at levels well below what California expects. In English language arts, roughly two-fifths of students tested met the proficiency threshold overall, with fourth and sixth graders performing near or above that average while third and fifth graders fell substantially short. Math proficiency was lower overall, near one-third, with wider grade-to-grade swings: fourth graders achieved above one-half proficiency while fifth graders reached only one-quarter. Science proficiency, tested in fifth grade, was notably low. Placed against other schools in Los Angeles County, this school's overall proficiency index sits below the midpoint among schools with reported data.

The pattern suggests that students are gaining ground in the upper elementary years, particularly in grades four and six, but face consistent challenges in the fifth-grade transition. Parents considering this school should expect that academic support and intervention will be central to the experience. The school has not published detailed program information beyond its regular elementary curriculum, so questions about reading intervention, math small-group instruction, English learner support, or enrichment offerings would be worth asking directly of the principal or at a visit. Data on special education services, English learner enrollment, chronic absenteeism, and staffing were not available, limiting a fuller picture of the school's support infrastructure.

The neighborhood's housing market has seen modest price and rent declines and carries a high cost of living relative to household income, typical of South Los Angeles. Families moving into this area, or already here, face the recent Measure US property tax increase alongside the underlying economic strain. The school's strength lies in its small size and neighborhood rootedness; its challenge is the wide gap between student proficiency and state benchmarks, which points to a school where families will need to actively monitor student progress and engage closely with teachers to understand how their child is advancing and where support is needed.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 334%

School 34% · District 48% · ▼ 14 pts below district

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Grade 452%

School 52% · District 43% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 525%

School 25% · District 36% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 644%

School 44% · District 35% · ▲ 9 pts above district

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

English language arts

Grade 332%

School 32% · District 44% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 456%

School 56% · District 45% · ▲ 11 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

Grade 530%

School 30% · District 47% · ▼ 18 pts below district

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

Grade 654%

School 54% · District 46% · ▲ 8 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 514%

School 14% · District 29% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 15 pts below state median · ▼ 14 pts below 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.