Virtual Academy of the Arts & Entertainment

Virtual Academy of the Arts & Entertainment is a K–12 alternative school in Carson, serving 878 students in the Los Angeles area. Its recent test-score gains are encouraging, but attendance and completion remain major concerns: 62% of students were chronically absent in 2025–2026, compared with 23% in Los Angeles Unified and 18% statewide. The graduation rate was 74%, while the dropout rate was 16%. The most important finding for families is that chronic absenteeism is far higher than both district and state levels.

The school’s strongest current results are in math and science; ELA remains its clearest academic weakness. In 2025–2026, ELA was 39%, below the district’s 48% and state’s 49%. Math was 41%, above the district’s 40% and state’s 38%, while science was 37%, above the district’s 32% and state’s 36%. Among nearby schools with reported results, the school was third-lowest of six in ELA and math, but second-highest of five in science. For example, science was higher than results at Lifeline Education Charter and Thurgood Marshall. Graduation was also below district and state rates by 16 and 14 percentage points, respectively. Nearby comparisons include only schools with numeric scores reported for the same year.

Scores have risen substantially since 2022–2023: ELA increased by 9 percentage points, math by 25, and science by 25. Math and science moved from well below the state to slightly above it, while ELA remains below. SchoolDigger does not supply a school-level rank or star rating; its three-star rating and rank of 450 out of 968 are for the district, not this school. The 2024–2025 student-teacher ratio was 20.1, near the middle among nearby schools with reported figures. In 2024–2025, 88% of students were free/reduced lunch eligible, the fourth-highest reported value among nearby schools with that measure. California is identified as a statewide-free-meals state, so this eligibility figure does not indicate whether students can access free meals.