Equitas Academy 5

Equitas Academy 5 is a public charter elementary school serving about 184 students in grades K-4 in the Pico-Union area of Los Angeles, showing clear signs of academic improvement over the past year.

The school has moved from a 1-star to a 2-star state rating, with notable gains in English Language Arts proficiency, and it performs better than several neighboring schools like Downtown Value and Norwood Street Elementary. It is particularly effective in supporting its Hispanic and English Language Learner students, ranking at or above the state average for these groups. However, it is the lowest-performing school within its own Equitas Academy 5 District network, lagging behind sister schools like Equitas Academy Charter. A major challenge is chronic absenteeism, which at 35.4% is the highest among all nearby schools and is likely holding back greater academic success.

Equitas Academy 5 operates with a lower student-teacher ratio than many peers, allowing for smaller class sizes, and does so while spending less per student than traditional Los Angeles Unified schools. To continue its positive trajectory, the school's key opportunities are to reduce absenteeism and to learn from the successful practices of higher-performing schools in its network and the area, such as Magnolia Avenue Elementary.