Best Public Schools in Carson, CA

Carson’s 24 listed schools include 14 elementary schools, three middle schools, six high schools and one alternative school, serving students from elementary grades through high school. Most are in Los Angeles Unified; the list also includes schools in Long Beach Unified, Compton Unified and Magnolia Science Academy 3 District. Rounded school averages are 52% in ELA and 43% in math, both above state figures of 49% and 38%; the 35% science average is just below the state’s 36%. Most important, Carson is not uniformly strong or weak: scores vary sharply across schools, from 94% to 35% in ELA and 90% to 6% in science.

California Academy of Mathematics and Science leads all three All Grades subjects, with 94% ELA, 91% math and 90% science. The next-highest results are at Two Hundred Thirty-Second Place Elementary: 68% ELA, 63% math and 52% science, putting the Academy ahead by 26, 28 and 39 points, respectively. At the low end, Broadacres Avenue Elementary Visual & Performing Arts Magnet has the lowest ELA score, 35%, and science score, 6%; Academies of Education and Empowerment at Carson High has the lowest math score, 11%, versus 38% statewide. High school results can diverge by subject: Carson Senior High is near the state in math (37% versus 38%) and above it in ELA (58% versus 49%).

Recent changes are mixed, though science improved most on average: 14 of 22 schools with scores in both years rose in science, compared with 12 of 22 in ELA and math. Some grade-specific results also reveal strengths: Dominguez Elementary had 73% fifth-grade ELA proficiency, and Ralph Bunche Elementary had 89% seventh-grade math proficiency. SchoolDigger gives the Academy a 99th-percentile ranking and five stars; Carnegie’s percentile rose from 47 to 63 between 2023–2024 and 2025–2026. Reported free/reduced lunch eligible shares in 2024–2025 also differ: 37% at the Academy, compared with 78% at both Caroldale and Bonita Street, whose ELA scores are 53% and 42%. The Academy’s student–teacher ratio is 24.8, the highest reported, so these context measures do not provide a simple explanation for test results. Schools serve different grade spans, so All Grades results are not fully like-for-like.