BLOG

Best Charter Schools in Los Angeles
August 9, 2023

Nurture your child’s learning ability by choosing the right school based on their individual interest and enrolling them in one of the best charter schools in Los Angeles!

Every kid is different, so choosing the best school for your child is crucial. It’s a head and heart decision for every parent who only wants what’s best for their children. By having the charter school option, Los Angeles parents have the space to fill the gap between traditional curriculums in public schools and the high tuition fees of private schools. And finding the best charter schools in Los Angeles have been steadily growing in popularity among parents.

Parents Love Browsing Our Kid’s Events


One of the most challenging parts for parents is deciding where to send their kids to school. Charter Schools in Los Angeles compete with each other claiming to be the best than the next school down the block. To identify the best school, we reviewed rankings for all charter schools from the 2023 Best Charter Schools in Los Angeles list released by school and neighborhood data clearinghouse Niche. The rankings below have been compiled based on several factors:

  • analysis of critical data from the U.S. Department of Education
  • average SAT and ACT scores
  • college enrollment
  • culture and diversity
  • student-teacher ratio
  • parent and student surveys
  • private school ratings collected from millions of Niche users

Charter schools provide more curriculum management freedom to enhance students’ academic proficiency. They offer many options that can match the specific needs of your kids’ learning curve with access to a better quality of instruction and a better cultural fit. Find the list below to help you make an essential decision for your child’s specialized education.

Our Featured Los Angeles Charter School

Sky Mountain Charter School

Sky Mountain Charter School

16900 N Highway Nine, Boulder Creek, CA 95006
Phone Number: (800) 979-4436

Overall Grade: A-
Students: 2,185 (PK, K-12)
Student-Teacher Ratio: 23:1
Percent Proficient – Reading: 39%
Percent Proficient – Math: 23%

Sky Mountain Charter School (SMCS) is a WASC-accredited charter school managed by Innovative Education Management (IEM). SMCS was approved as an independent study charter by the California Department of Education in 2007. The school serves San Bernardino, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties students.

Parents work with a California credentialed teacher to develop individualized learning opportunities by choosing home-based or community-based instruction, selecting individualized curriculum based on learning style and functioning grade level, utilizing provided materials, resources, and supportive instruction, all while promoting real-life context-based learning.

Niche’s Top 10 List 

Best Charter Schools in Los Angeles

1. Granada Hills Charter

10535 Zelzah Ave., Granada Hills, CA 91344
Phone Number: (818) 360-2361

#1 in Best Charter Elementary Schools in California
Overall Grade: A+
Students: 5,675 (PK, K-12)
Student-Teacher Ratio: 26:1
Percent Proficient – Reading: 76%
Percent Proficient – Math: 55%

Granada Hills Charter (GHC) creates student-centered environments to develop academic curiosity, practical skills, and positive attitudes that enable successful, lifelong learners and responsible global citizens. They want to ensure that students acquire seminal knowledge and exercise key habits of mind and essential skills leading to graduation and in preparation for college and the 21st-century workforce.

From TK-12, Granada Hills Charter (GHC) School’s growth into elementary and middle schools allows students to have continuity through all grades. Continuity of learning prepares their students for a bright future ahead – one they envision and one they own. In addition to a strong academic foundation, their students will prepare for the rigors of high school, college, and beyond.

2. Larchmont Charter School

444 N. Larchmont Boulevard, #207, Los Angeles, CA 90004
Phone Number: (323) 380-7893

#2 in Best Charter Elementary Schools in Los Angeles Area
Overall Grade: A+
Students: 1,609 (PK, K-12)
Student-Teacher Ratio: 23:1
Percent Proficient – Reading: 76%
Percent Proficient – Math: 61%

Larchmont Charter School is proud to provide students with the opportunity to learn alongside a diverse group of children and families who reflect the racial, cultural, and socio-economic diversity of the community surrounding our school. Its standards-based program provides an academically challenging, creative, and emotionally supportive environment for students and is designed to expand students’ knowledge continually and understanding of concepts, ideas, and information.

Larchmont is a constructivist school. Constructivism is a theory of learning which holds that each of us has a unique schema of the world based on our lived experience and that by interacting with the environment, they connect to what they already know and construct new meaning. It is, therefore, essential that they know their students well to be able to meet them where they are and grow from there.

3. Oxford Preparatory Academy – Saddleback Valley

22882 Loumont Dr., Lake Forest, CA 92630
Phone Number: (949) 540-7800

#3 in Best Charter Elementary Schools in Los Angeles Area
Overall Grade: A+
Students: 690 (PK, K-8)
Student-Teacher Ratio: 22:1
Percent Proficient – Reading: 77%
Percent Proficient – Math: 57%

Oxford Preparatory Academy provides rigorous, standards-based educational opportunities for all students in grades TK – 8 in a welcoming, inclusive environment. They are committed to working collaboratively to develop life-long learners in a safe and caring educational environment where students are challenged, scholarship is expected, and differences are valued. OPA believes that all students are unique and gifted individuals.

At OPA, instruction occurs through the use of Multiple Intelligences in order to ensure that all students are challenged and engaged in activities that best demonstrate each student’s unique abilities and learning styles. Students at OPA achieve academic excellence as measured by state and local assessments. OPA students consistently outperform students in surrounding schools in both ELA and Mathematics.

4. Oxford Preparatory Academy – South Orange County

1 Columbia, Ste. 101, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656
Phone Number: (949) 600-9050

#4 in Best Charter Elementary Schools in Los Angeles Area
Overall Grade: A+
Students: 870 (PK, K-8)
Student-Teacher Ratio: 23:1
Percent Proficient – Reading: 80%
Percent Proficient – Math: 72%

Oxford Preparatory Academy’s (OPA) vision is to create a center for higher learning where students from transitional kindergarten to eighth grade are prepared to pursue university-level academic studies as well as gain skills to be successful in the global community of the 21st century. Their students do not just meet but exceed grade-level expectations and become critical thinkers as they engage with dynamic teaching that makes them self-motivated, competent, and lifelong learners.

OPA fulfills its mission by emphasizing high academic standards, respect, patriotism, and courtesy. They provide a structured environment conducive to learning, implementing the Theory of Multiple Intelligences as part of instruction. They always maintain consistent communication between home, school, and community and engage in community service-based (Service Learning) activities embedded throughout grade-level standards instruction.

5. Renaissance Arts Academy

2558 N. San Fernando Rd., Los Angeles, CA 90065
Phone Number: (323) 259-5700

#9 in Best Charter Elementary Schools in California
Overall Grade: A+
Students: 505 (Grades K-12)
Student-Teacher Ratio: 19:1
Percent Proficient – Reading: 60%
Percent Proficient – Math: 51%

Renaissance Arts Academy utilizes music and movement’s physical, intellectual, and aesthetic disciplines to furnish multiple points of entry into core academic content and create alternate gateways to understanding, communication, and possibility for all students, especially those who might not thrive in a traditional school setting. RenArts’ overall instructional objective is powerful literacy in all subjects.

The program provides high-level performing arts training for students at every level of development. It brings together a cross-section of L.A.’s diverse ethnic, economic, and cultural populations in a focused community designed to provide intellectual challenge, disciplined development of creative skills, and a cohesive school culture accessible to all students.

Citizens of the World

6. Goethe International Charter School

12500 Braddock Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90066
Phone Number: (310) 306-3484

#11 in Best Charter Elementary Schools in California
Overall Grade: A
Students: 391 (Grades K-8)
Student-Teacher Ratio: 18:1
Percent Proficient – Reading: 67%
Percent Proficient – Math: 62%

Goethe International School is one of the best charter schools in Los Angeles and is an award-winning elementary and middle school serving children from across the city. They proudly share their outstanding endeavors and promote awareness in the international education community. GICS was founded on the premise of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Programme, along with a focus on German language immersion.

International Baccalaureate or IB is a rigorous integrated curriculum. IB is not a packaged curriculum but rather an educational philosophy and organizational framework that outlines the process and essential elements for teachers to create a well-rounded curriculum with their students and community in mind.

7. Meadows Arts and Technology Elementary School

2000 La Granada Dr., Thousand Oaks, CA 91362
Phone Number: (805) 495-7037

#3 in Best Public Elementary Schools in Ventura County
Overall Grade: A
Students: 414 (Grades K-5)
Student-Teacher Ratio: 22:1
Percent Proficient – Reading: 77%
Percent Proficient – Math: 72%

MATES is a free, public charter school with students in grades K-5. Their focus is on academic rigor in an arts and technology-infused environment. A committee comprised of staff, parents, and working professionals wrote the curriculum framework over the course of a year and a half. Teachers will rely heavily on resource-based materials to deliver a high-quality program to MATES students.

MATES students will develop meaningful skills in social and academic realms, with the opportunity to develop an awareness of their innate artistic and creative abilities through our arts and technology focus. Students will become creative problem solvers, sophisticated in interacting cooperatively, resolving conflicts peacefully, researching/analyzing data, and engaging in a democratic society.

8. Equitas Academy #3 Charter School

1050 Beacon, Los Angeles, CA 90015
Phone Number: (213) 204-0344

#9 in Best Charter Elementary Schools in Los Angeles Area
Overall Grade: A
Students: 498 (Grades K-4)
Student-Teacher Ratio: 20:1
Percent Proficient – Reading: 77%
Percent Proficient – Math: 72%

The Equitas Academy curriculum incorporates rigorous and developmentally appropriate values and character education programs to prepare students to thrive in school, college, and the world. This curriculum guides all students with the life skills necessary to create self-motivated, competent, and lifelong learners. They create structures and systems to ensure their scholars master literacy skills and develop a deep love of reading.

In kindergarten through third grade, scholars receive intensive phonics and phonemic awareness instruction through the Reading Mastery program to ensure they have a solid foundation in fundamental reading skills. They simultaneously introduce TK/Kindergarten to the basics of reading, exposing scholars to various literature and informational texts.

9. Kinetic Academy

721 Utica Ave, Huntington Beach, CA 92648
Phone Number: (714) 465-4565

#10 in Best Charter Elementary Schools in Los Angeles Area
Overall Grade: A
Students: 320 (Grades K-8)
Student-Teacher Ratio: 18:1
Percent Proficient – Reading: 77%
Percent Proficient – Math: 72%

Kinetic Academy aims to implement a STEAM-based curriculum via a Project Based Learning model. Though that volcano project could still be used here, the nature of the project or problem would change. Students may be given a scenario where they would have to design and construct the best building or bridge to withstand such a volcanic event. Research, discussion, teamwork, design, math, and reflective writing are all incorporated into a single, engaging project.

They also offer enrichment in the form of foreign language, fine arts, physical education, and financial education. In physics, an object’s kinetic energy is the energy it possesses due to its motion. Applied here, they submit that Kinetic Academy’s energy is only beginning and that its journey, along with the students, teachers, and community it serves, will be in motion for years to come.

10. WISH Community School

6550 West 80th St., Los Angeles, CA 90045
Phone Number: (310) 642-9474

#11 in Best Charter Elementary Schools in Los Angeles Area
Overall Grade: A
Students: 775 (Grades K-8)
Student-Teacher Ratio: 20:1
Percent Proficient – Reading: 68%
Percent Proficient – Math: 54%

As indicated in the research, WISH supports the idea that students who are identified as gifted need excellent instruction from the outset within a heterogeneous group of peers. WISH understands that although a child may be gifted in some areas, others must be strengthened. All students receive high-quality instruction using GATE strategies so that everyone has a rigorous and meaningful instructional experience.

WISH educators have attended multiple pieces of training to support the integration of GATE strategies throughout all curricular activities. In addition to their core curricula like Writers Workshop, Readers Workshop, CGI math strategies, and PLTW (Project Lead the Way) STEM activities, their educators also employ Depth and Complexity Icons and open ceiling activities, which naturally allow for differentiation and higher-level thinking.

CWC Silver Lake

Best Charter Schools in Los Angeles

Choosing a school is truly a life-altering decision for parents. If you plan to send your little ones to a charter school in Los Angeles, consider your child’s interests and needs and the best environment for them. Students who don’t feel like they belong won’t perform well in school. So, it’s best to take your time to visit each location and find out which one of the charter schools in Los Angeles fits your child’s academic needs.

Los Angeles offers a wide variety of opportunities for kids to enjoy and have fun all year round! Check out our list of resources for kids, or browse through our Places to Go section. Find out the latest happenings through our Events section.

Are you looking for more kid’s school resources around Los Angeles? Browse through our schools and activities section, or search for more information about school kids’ topics, tips, and guides, check out our education-related blog posts.

Read Next

Best Charter Schools in San Francisco
A Guide to Charter Schools in Sacramento
20 Best Charter Schools in Santa Clara County
15 Best Charter Schools in San Jose

Posted By :
Troy A. View All Posts