Alliance Virgil Roberts Leadership Academy

Alliance Virgil Roberts Leadership Academy is a public charter middle school serving 399 students in grades 6-8 in South Los Angeles, operating within its own Alliance Virgil Roberts Leadership Academy District.

Academic performance at the school is significantly below state averages, with only about a quarter of students proficient in English and even fewer in math and science. This places it in the bottom third of California middle schools. Notably, the school's performance has declined over the past five years, and it faces a serious challenge with chronic absenteeism, where 30% of students miss too much school, a rate much higher than the state average and a key factor often linked to lower achievement.

When compared to nearby schools serving similar student populations, the results are concerning. For example, Wilder's Preparatory Academy Charter Middle and Century Community Charter achieve much higher academic results with lower absenteeism, despite Alliance Virgil Roberts spending more per student. The data also shows a large performance gap between male and female students at the school, and its effectiveness with special education students has recently dropped. This suggests the school has significant room for improvement, particularly in improving attendance, addressing the gender gap, and learning from the practices of higher-performing charter schools in the same area like Libertas College Preparatory Charter.