Lake Balboa College Preparatory Magnet K-12: 44% of kids clear the bar — ahead of the state's 43%. But math slips between grade 3 and grade 5.
Lake Balboa College Preparatory Magnet K-12 posts 44% meeting the standard, against 43% across the state. The number below is the one to ask about on a visit.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 40 | 19% | 44% | -13.9 | 16.1% | 0.6% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Lake Balboa College Preparatory Magnet K-12 scores 40 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 43rd percentile of 5,744 California elementary schools (CDE CAASPP 2025).
Measures test performance, attendance, and climate — not arts, community, or your kid. How we score →
🌱 Building Momentum — This label means the data doesn't clearly sort the school one way or the other — ask what the school is proud of, and what it's working on.
Most rating sites would stop at “44% proficient” and call it done. Lake Balboa College Preparatory Magnet K-12 deserves a closer read. The school sits in Lake Balboa, where three in four students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
Lake Balboa College Preparatory Magnet K-12's low-income kids hit 53.0% proficiency in ELA — a number the same group reaches at 38.2% statewide. If you're trying to read past zip-code-driven test scores, that's the signal worth weighing.
The seven-year arc
Slipped from the 54th to the 43rd percentile since 2019.
This school hasn't fully recovered from the pandemic: 44% meet the standard today, versus 48% in 2019 — a gap worth asking about on a visit.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 64% | 46% | 48% | 21% | 43% |
| Grade 4 | 57% | 62% | 48% | 51% | 41% |
| Grade 5 | 57% | 39% | 40% | 31% | 46% |
| Grade 6 | 69% | 58% | 48% | 45% | 60% |
| Grade 7 | 60% | 66% | 60% | 60% | 59% |
| Grade 8 | 61% | 45% | 43% | 64% | 64% |
| Grade 11 | 45% | 60% | 41% | 55% | 87% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 43% | 66% | 54% | 40% | 57% |
| Grade 4 | 46% | 40% | 48% | 43% | 53% |
| Grade 5 | 19% | 30% | 25% | 30% | 26% |
| Grade 6 | 42% | 36% | 38% | 40% | 46% |
| Grade 7 | 43% | 37% | 29% | 50% | 41% |
| Grade 8 | 45% | 25% | 37% | 30% | 47% |
| Grade 11 | 34% | 29% | 17% | 13% | 57% |
The story this school is actually telling
of students met or exceeded the standard, versus 42.7% statewide.
math proficiency runs 57% in grade 3 against 26% in grade 5, while reading holds (43% to 46%). The state average rises by +4.5pp over the same span.
The school, grade by grade
ELA · CAASPP 2024–25Different students, same year — each bar is one grade's proficiency mix.
The honest read: the share exceeding falls 1.9pp across grades; the floor rises 3.1pp. The state average rises 4.5pp over the same span. The school's 5th graders aren't posting a wider lead than its 3rd graders. One question worth asking on a tour: are the strongest students being pushed, or coasting? A school visit and conversation with teachers will tell you more than this number.
Lake Balboa College Preparatory Magnet K-12's most underrated number
53.0% of low-income students met the ELA standard — versus 38.2% for the same group statewide. That's the strongest kind of signal a school can post: it holds across income lines.
The 6 things our score weighs
Ask the principal what changes between grade 3 and grade 5. Ask who teaches the older grades, and what the school does when a child starts falling behind.
- Ask what changes between grade 3 and grade 5 here, and who teaches the older kids.
- Ask whether extra support — tutoring, counseling, small groups — reaches kids across income lines, not just the students already ahead.
- Ask whether the tour can step into a working classroom — watch how the teacher handles a student who's stuck.
- Ask to tour while school's in session, and notice how hallways and transitions feel — culture shows up between classes, not just in them.
- Ask how the school communicates with families when a child starts to struggle.
- Ask what a typical day looks like for a new student in the first few weeks.
How every group of students does here
At Lake Balboa College Preparatory Magnet K-12 in Lake Balboa, 53.0% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 40.9% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Lake Balboa College Preparatory Magnet K-12 outperforms its district average for low-income students by 12.1 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (42.7% Math proficient); White students (55.9% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 3.8 percentage points for low-income students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 279 students tested.
7 of 13 student groups here are too small to report — a privacy protection, not a gap.
Change in proficiency from the lowest tested grade — which groups gain ground the longer they stay. Groups with fewer than 10 tested students per grade are not shown.
Low-income student ELA proficiency rises by 6.5pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +4.5pp.
Showing up, and staying in class
Grades 4–6 students miss school at roughly twice the rate of Grades 7–8 students (18.8% vs 10.4%). Chronic absence here concentrates in the upper grades.
Where the path goes
Lake Balboa College Preparatory Magnet K-12 serves grades K-12 — students can complete their entire K-12 education here, with no school-to-school transitions.
The people teaching here
Pay is set by the district, not the school.
What gets spent here
These measure different things: this figure is spending attributed to this campus, while district-wide figures also include central administration, districtwide programs, and the state's pension contributions made on the district's behalf — costs that never get assigned to a single school. The district number runs higher at nearly every school, not just this one.
$1,469 per student arrives as federal Title funding — a measure of concentrated need, not school quality.
The district's current expense of education per student, from CDE's annual SACS filing — the freshest district spending figure the state publishes.
District-level, from the district's own SACS general-ledger filing — school-by-school breakdowns aren't published by the state.
Source: NCES F-33 · Full district breakdown →
The neighborhood it serves
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2024) · ZIP-level
On the state's science test (CAST), 37% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Lake Balboa College Preparatory Magnet K-12 a good elementary school?
What are Lake Balboa College Preparatory Magnet K-12's CAASPP test scores?
How does Lake Balboa College Preparatory Magnet K-12 rank in California?
Is Lake Balboa College Preparatory Magnet K-12 getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Lake Balboa College Preparatory Magnet K-12?
How does Lake Balboa College Preparatory Magnet K-12 compare to other schools in Lake Balboa?
How does Lake Balboa College Preparatory Magnet K-12 serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 67
Private alternatives nearby
Private schools within ~10 miles. These schools do not participate in state testing and cannot be scored or ranked.
A low score doesn't tell the whole story. Read: Your School Scored Low — Here's What That Actually Means
Every number on this page
Score factors, grade-level breakdowns, subgroup proficiency, and peer comparisons.
| ELA | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 44 | 20% | 23% | 23% | 34% | 43% | −0 |
| Grade 4 | 51 | 22% | 20% | 22% | 37% | 41% | −4 |
| Grade 5 | 54 | 19% | 28% | 26% | 28% | 46% | −2 |
| Grade 6 | 50 | 16% | 44% | 22% | 18% | 60% | +13 |
| Grade 7 | 61 | 18% | 41% | 15% | 26% | 59% | +11 |
| Grade 8 | 64 | 28% | 36% | 22% | 14% | 64% | +18 |
| Grade 11 | 46 | 50% | 37% | 9% | 4% | 87% | +40 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 44 | 16% | 41% | 18% | 25% | 57% | +11 |
| Grade 4 | 51 | 33% | 20% | 25% | 22% | 53% | +11 |
| Grade 5 | 54 | 6% | 20% | 31% | 43% | 26% | −9 |
| Grade 6 | 50 | 30% | 16% | 30% | 24% | 46% | +11 |
| Grade 7 | 61 | 21% | 20% | 26% | 33% | 41% | +7 |
| Grade 8 | 64 | 31% | 16% | 19% | 34% | 47% | +15 |
| Grade 11 | 46 | 17% | 39% | 24% | 20% | 57% | +33 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 164 | 9% | 29% | 52% | 10% |
CAST is tested in grades 5, 8, and once in high school — not annually. Not part of the Scope Score.
| Subgroup · ELA | Tested | MET+ | vs district | vs CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 279 | 53.0% | +12 | +15 |
| White | 179 | 55.9% | −13 | −6 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 139 | 54.7% | +14 | +16 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Balboa College Preparatory Magnet K-12 ← | — | 40 | 19.2% | 44.4% | −13.9 | 0.6% |
| Academy for Enriched Sciences | 1.4 mi | 77 | 58.0% | 80.0% | −11.9 | 0.4% |
| Hesby Oaks Leadership Charter | 2.6 mi | 65 | 41.6% | 71.3% | +3.6 | 0.1% |
| Blythe Street Elementary | 2.7 mi | 58 | 15.9% | 39.7% | −8.3 | 0.1% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 44 | 54 | #2559 | 21.3% | 47.8% | 10.5% | 0.8% | -15.6pp |
| 2022 | 28 | 29 | #4100 | 17.6% | 47.3% | 23.0% | 0.3% | -21.3pp |
| 2023 | 35 | 39 | #3498 | 20.9% | 43.9% | 22.2% | 1.5% | -18.4pp |
| 2024 | 31 | 20 | #4609 | 15.5% | 36.2% | 18.1% | 0.9% | +0.1pp |
| 2025 | 40 | 43 | #3300 | 19.2% | 44.4% | 16.1% | 0.6% | -13.9pp |
- — Scored here as an elementary school — other grade spans appear in the data appendix.
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 12.2% | 16.9% | +4.7pp |
| Male | 8.7% | 14.9% | +6.2pp |
| Asian | 2.6% | 30.0% | +27.4pp |
| Black/African American | 7.1% | 0.0% | -7.1pp |
| White | 0.0% | 5.9% | +5.9pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 11.6% | 15.8% | +4.2pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 20.8% | 17.9% | -2.9pp |
| English Learners | 10.8% | 15.4% | +4.6pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 9.5% | 18.3% | +8.8pp |
| All Students | 10.5% | 15.9% | +5.4pp |
| Filipino | — | 16.7% | — |
| Two or More Races | — | 20.0% | — |
SchoolScope scores and verdicts are our interpretation of public California Department of Education data — independent analysis, not an official rating. How we analyze · Request a correction