Best High Schools in Zip Code 90016

Zip code 90016 in Los Angeles is served by two public high schools within the Los Angeles Unified district: the comprehensive Susan Miller Dorsey Senior High and the much smaller alternative View Park Continuation.

Susan Miller Dorsey Senior High is the area's main high school, serving over 850 students. Its graduation rate of 82.3% is below the state and district averages, and it faces significant challenges with chronic absenteeism, affecting more than half of its students. Academic proficiency, particularly in math and science, is notably lower than averages for Los Angeles Unified and California. In contrast, View Park Continuation serves about 20 students in a specialized program for at-risk youth, featuring a very low student-teacher ratio of 10-to-1.

Comparing the two schools reveals a stark contrast in resources and outcomes. View Park Continuation spends more than twice as much per student as Dorsey, yet has a much lower graduation rate and an extremely high chronic absenteeism rate. Interestingly, its students showed a higher English proficiency rate than Dorsey's in recent assessments. Both schools serve a student population with very high economic need, and parents should note that the district itself performs below the state average, indicating broader systemic challenges affecting these schools.