Ucla Community K-12, Los Angeles CA

Original Research by School Decision on Ucla Community K-12

UCLA Community K-12 sits on South Mariposa Avenue in the Koreatown-adjacent corridor of central Los Angeles, part of Los Angeles Unified. It serves students from kindergarten through twelfth grade, making it one of the relatively uncommon schools in the district that keeps a family in the same building from the earliest years through graduation. Enrollment is substantial for a K-12 campus, and the school draws almost entirely from the surrounding community: the student body is predominantly Hispanic, with smaller Asian, Black, and white populations. Nearly all students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, placing this firmly among Los Angeles's high-need schools. IEP and English learner rates were not available in the data.

The academic picture, as measured by California's CAASPP assessments in the most recent school year, is a genuine concern. Math proficiency across tested grades from third through eighth is low across the board, with the strongest result still falling well short of the statewide midpoint. ELA results are somewhat better at the middle school level, particularly in sixth grade, where roughly a third of students tested proficient, but elementary ELA scores are also well below state norms. Science proficiency, tested in fifth and eighth grades, follows a similar pattern. When the school's overall proficiency index is placed against districts in Los Angeles County, it falls in the bottom quartile of that comparison set. Trend data covers only a single year, so it is not yet possible to say whether scores are improving, holding steady, or declining. A parent should ask the school directly about instructional supports, intervention programs, and any trajectory data the school tracks internally.

What the data does not tell us is equally worth naming. Graduation rate data was not reported. Course access information, including whether the high school offers AP, career technical education, or dual-enrollment pathways, was absent from the payload. Those are real gaps for a family with a high schooler, and a direct conversation with school staff about what the upper grades offer would be essential before drawing conclusions about the college and career pathway here.

The neighborhood context matters for daily life. The school's zip code sits in a dense, vertical part of Los Angeles where apartments stack above ground-floor businesses, and the area is well served by Metro bus and rail. Housing costs in this zip are high by any national measure, running well above state and national benchmarks, and the rent-to-income ratio is steep, meaning the area is financially demanding for families. Values in the immediate zip have softened modestly year over year, though the underlying market remains expensive. Families in LAUSD also face a long-term property tax increase tied to Measure US, a major school facilities bond approved by voters to repair aging buildings across the district, which is publicly reported as the largest such bond in LAUSD history.

District-wide, LAUSD implemented an all-day cellphone ban beginning in early 2025, covering middle and high school students through the full school day including breaks, with lockable pouches used at most eligible campuses. Families need to plan parent-student communication around that policy. LAUSD's Black Student Achievement Plan, which provides culturally responsive curriculum and additional counseling and support staff at targeted campuses, was restructured in 2024 to broaden eligibility beyond race, and the board added supplemental funding for the 2025-26 cycle.

For a family already in the neighborhood, UCLA Community K-12 offers the continuity of a single school from kindergarten through graduation without a transfer. The academic results as currently reported are low, and that is the central fact any family should sit with and explore further with the school before enrolling.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

State test results and graduation outcomes.

Graduation rate (ACGR)

85-89%Cohort of 124 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 322%

School 22% · District 48% · ▼ 26 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 411%

School 11% · District 43% · ▼ 33 pts below district

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

Grade 510%

School 10% · District 36% · ▼ 26 pts below district

▼ 20 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 615%

School 15% · District 35% · ▼ 20 pts below district

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

Grade 718%

School 18% · District 34% · ▼ 16 pts below district

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

Grade 815%

School 15% · District 32% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 322%

School 22% · District 44% · ▼ 22 pts below district

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 421%

School 21% · District 45% · ▼ 24 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 23 pts below county median

Grade 518%

School 18% · District 47% · ▼ 29 pts below district

▼ 27 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

Grade 637%

School 37% · District 46% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 7 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 733%

School 33% · District 46% · ▼ 13 pts below district

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

Grade 830%

School 30% · District 45% · ▼ 15 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 512%

School 12% · District 29% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 16 pts below state median · ▼ 15 pts below county median

Grade 823%

School 23% · District 27% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 837%

School 37% · District 43% · ▼ 6 pts below district

▼ 12 pts below state median · ▼ 11 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.