Summary:
ZIP code 90003 has four middle schools: three serve grades 6–8, while KIPP Academy of Opportunity serves grades 5–8. In 2024–2025, the schools’ average proficiency was 33% in ELA, 21% in math and 17% in science, compared with 49%, 37% and 33% statewide. The clearest overall finding is that every school scored below the state in all three all-grades subjects.
Alliance College-Ready Middle Academy 4 stands out: it led all three subjects, with 45% proficient in ELA, 32% in math and 24% in science. Its ELA result was 7 percentage points above the next-highest school, Watts Learning Center Charter Middle; its math result was 13 points above KIPP, and its science result was 4 points above Watts. Alliance was also closest to the state in every subject, though still below it by 4 points in ELA, 6 in math and 9 in science. Mary McLeod Bethune Middle had the lowest ELA and science results, at 24% and 12%; Watts had the lowest math result, at 16%.
Bethune’s results improved from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026: ELA rose 7 percentage points, math 2 and science 8, narrowing its gaps to the state in all three subjects. Grade-level results also offer exceptions to the overall picture: Alliance exceeded the state in grade 7 ELA and grade 6 math, while Watts did so in grade 8 ELA. SchoolDigger ranked Alliance highest locally at the 53rd percentile, followed by Watts at the 31st, KIPP at the 22nd and Bethune at the 17th. In 2024–2025, student–teacher ratios ranged from 17.2 at Bethune to 26.5 at Alliance. That year, Bethune, Alliance and KIPP reported 98%, 94% and 83% free/reduced lunch eligible, while Watts reported 65% directly certified for free meals; these are different measures. The two-year test-score comparison is available only for Bethune.
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