Virtual Academy of the Arts & Entertainment: The scores are below where anyone wants them. Here's what they don't tell you.
Virtual Academy of the Arts & Entertainment posts low test scores — and suspensions run below the state rate (0.3% vs 1.6%). If this is your zoned school, the numbers below are where to start a conversation, not where to end one.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 23 | 13% | 28% | -4.7 | 54.9% | 0.3% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
Virtual Academy of the Arts & Entertainment scores 23 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 6th 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 “28% proficient” and call it done. Virtual Academy of the Arts & Entertainment deserves a closer read. The school sits in Carson, where four in five students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
Test scores are one lens, and at this school they're a rough one right now. The sections below show the fuller picture — including the parts that are working.
The seven-year arc
Has stayed near the 6th percentile since 2023.
| Grade | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 33% | 49% | 32% |
| Grade 4 | 39% | 25% | 33% |
| Grade 5 | 26% | 38% | 28% |
| Grade 6 | 22% | 23% | 34% |
| Grade 7 | 23% | 32% | 34% |
| Grade 8 | 29% | 24% | 36% |
| Grade 11 | 39% | 41% | 40% |
| Grade | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 30% | 29% | 25% |
| Grade 4 | 24% | 8% | 31% |
| Grade 5 | 19% | 19% | 20% |
| Grade 6 | 13% | 26% | 42% |
| Grade 7 | 9% | 27% | 39% |
| Grade 8 | 16% | 5% | 35% |
| Grade 11 | 12% | 20% | 37% |
The story this school is actually telling
The school, grade by grade
ELA · CAASPP 2024–25Different students, same year — each bar is one grade's proficiency mix.
The 6 things our score weighs
Ask what changed in the last two years, and what the school is asking families for. Growth shows up in these numbers a year or two after it shows up in classrooms.
- Ask how the school follows up when a student starts missing days — chronic absence often starts outside the classroom, not inside it.
- Ask what changes between grade 3 and grade 5 here, and who teaches the older kids.
- 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 Virtual Academy of the Arts & Entertainment in Carson, 35.0% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 40.9% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Virtual Academy of the Arts & Entertainment trails its district average for low-income students by 5.9 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (34.3% Math proficient); Hispanic students (34.2% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 22.3 percentage points for disabilities students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 394 students tested.
9 of 16 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 falls by 2.8pp from grade 3 to grade 5 at this school. District average: +4.5pp.
Showing up, and staying in class
Where the path goes
Virtual Academy of the Arts & Entertainment 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.
$1,177 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
At 878 students, this school is well above the typical California elementary school (≈480).
Transitional kindergarten is offered here — confirmed by actual Census Day enrollment, not just the listed grade span.
On the state's science test (CAST), 25% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Virtual Academy of the Arts & Entertainment a good elementary school?
What are Virtual Academy of the Arts & Entertainment's CAASPP test scores?
How does Virtual Academy of the Arts & Entertainment rank in California?
Is Virtual Academy of the Arts & Entertainment getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Virtual Academy of the Arts & Entertainment?
How does Virtual Academy of the Arts & Entertainment compare to other schools in Carson?
How does Virtual Academy of the Arts & Entertainment serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 59
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 | 31 | 16% | 16% | 23% | 45% | 32% | −11 |
| Grade 4 | 43 | 14% | 19% | 16% | 51% | 33% | −12 |
| Grade 5 | 43 | 14% | 14% | 16% | 56% | 28% | −20 |
| Grade 6 | 73 | 19% | 15% | 30% | 36% | 34% | −12 |
| Grade 7 | 83 | 12% | 22% | 23% | 43% | 34% | −14 |
| Grade 8 | 112 | 9% | 27% | 26% | 38% | 36% | −10 |
| Grade 11 | 78 | 15% | 24% | 31% | 29% | 40% | −7 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 32 | 9% | 16% | 25% | 50% | 25% | −21 |
| Grade 4 | 42 | 14% | 17% | 24% | 45% | 31% | −11 |
| Grade 5 | 45 | 11% | 9% | 11% | 69% | 20% | −15 |
| Grade 6 | 67 | 25% | 16% | 12% | 46% | 42% | +7 |
| Grade 7 | 83 | 25% | 13% | 16% | 46% | 39% | +5 |
| Grade 8 | 113 | 30% | 5% | 18% | 47% | 35% | +3 |
| Grade 11 | 76 | 18% | 18% | 17% | 46% | 37% | +13 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 243 | 9% | 16% | 60% | 14% |
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 | 394 | 35.0% | −6 | −3 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 329 | 34.2% | −7 | −5 |
| Students with Disabilities | 67 | 13.4% | −3 | −4 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Academy of the Arts & Entertainment ← | — | 23 | 13.1% | 28.1% | −4.7 | 0.3% |
| Van Deene Avenue Elementary | 2.4 mi | 61 | 31.7% | 56.7% | +10.0 | 0.2% |
| Carson Street Elementary | 2 mi | 58 | 28.7% | 55.0% | +2.0 | 0.1% |
| Two Hundred Thirty-Second Place | 3.1 mi | 58 | 37.2% | 64.0% | −18.3 | 0.1% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 22 | 8 | #5247 | 11.7% | 28.2% | 65.5% | 0.0% | -8.7pp |
| 2024 | 31 | 22 | #4499 | 12.8% | 28.0% | 54.8% | 0.2% | -9.9pp |
| 2025 | 23 | 6 | #5384 | 13.1% | 28.1% | 54.9% | 0.3% | -4.7pp |
- — Scored here as an elementary school — other grade spans appear in the data appendix.
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | — | 58.9% | — |
| Male | — | 60.4% | — |
| Asian | — | 42.9% | — |
| Black/African American | — | 62.7% | — |
| Filipino | — | 59.1% | — |
| Hispanic/Latino | — | 59.8% | — |
| Two or More Races | — | 54.3% | — |
| Students with Disabilities | — | 42.3% | — |
| English Learners | — | 67.1% | — |
| Homeless | — | 81.5% | — |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | — | 62.1% | — |
| All Students | — | 59.6% | — |
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