New Designs Charter School Watts

Los Angeles · Los Angeles County · Public

Public Los Angeles County ~37 seniors CDS 1964733…

Data Year

Compare with peers

Most similar nearby schools

Horace Mann UCLA Community School → Animo Compton Charter School → Vista High → John Hope Continuation → University Pathways Medical Magnet Academy → Compare all similar →

A parent's read

Almost all graduates leave eligible for UC and CSU. 100% finish the A-G courses California's universities require before a student can even apply — most California schools manage about 6 in 10.
One question for any counselor: who should still test? Plenty of strong students skip the SAT/ACT now — but merit scholarships at dozens of colleges still key off scores. Ask how the school decides who should still sit for one.

Composed from this page's data — every claim is backed by a number in the sections below.

California College-Going Rate

42.6% of the 2022-23 graduating class enrolled in college within a year.

The share of 2022-23 graduates who enrolled at a college anywhere in the U.S. within 12 months, per the National Student Clearinghouse match the California Department of Education publishes.

Within 12 months

42.6%

of 61 graduates

Give the same class four more months and 44.3% had enrolled — CDE publishes a 16-month window alongside the 12-month one, 27 students.

Up 4.9 points from the 2021-22 class (37.7%).

Where the 2022-23 class enrolled

In California — 24 students (39.3%)

University of California 0.0% 0

California State University 18.0% 11

California Community College 14.8% 9

California private college 6.6% 4

Out of state — 2 students (3.3%)

Out-of-state 4-year 3.3% 2

Out-of-state 2-year 0.0% 0

CDE puts each graduate in one bucket only — whichever kind of college they were enrolled in longest — so these add up to the rate above. That is a different count from the UC Reach Score on this page, which counts a student at every UC campus that admitted them.

Source: California Department of Education, College-Going Rate (DataQuest) ↗, cohort 2022-23, posted 17-Sep-2025. Data file: cgr12mo23.txt ↗ (and the 16-month file ↗). CDE builds the rate by matching California high school completers to National Student Clearinghouse enrollment records; we publish CDE’s aggregates and hold no student-level data.

You've seen New Designs Charter School Watts. What are your child's real college odds? Check any college in 10 seconds — no email needed — then get the free Family Decision Report: Reach / Competitive / Match / Likely + the real cost range for every college on their list. Check odds →

How New Designs Charter School Watts compares for families

What families should know about New Designs Charter School Watts.

▸ vs Similar SchoolsThe closest comparables nearby: Horace Mann UCLA Community School, Animo Compton Charter School, Vista High and 2 more. See the sidebar to compare side-by-side.

For Parents

Get alerts when New Designs Charter School Watts's numbers change

New admissions results, enrollment shifts, test scores — a few alerts a year, no spam. Your email also saves your list across devices.

Objective, government-grade data — no school pays us for placement.

SBAC academic outcomes — grade 11, 2025

Share of grade-11 students meeting or exceeding the California standard on Smarter Balanced ELA and Math. This is the academic-readiness signal that pairs with UC Reach (post-grad outcomes), stability (retention), and absenteeism (engagement). Note: statewide median Math is only ~20% — a school at 20% isn't an outlier; one at 45%+ genuinely is.

About half of students read and write at grade level — about the state norm.

About 1 in 3 students do math at grade level — above the state norm.

ELA — met or exceeded

n = 30

53.3%

incl. 23.3% exceeded

-5.8 pts vs. Los Angeles County median (59.1%) · CA median 54.5% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 79.4%

Math — met or exceeded

n = 30

30.0%

incl. 10.0% exceeded

+4.6 pts above Los Angeles County median (25.4%) · CA median 21.4% · Top 10% statewide ≥ 53.6%

Source: California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) Smarter Balanced research files. Benchmarks limited to non-virtual public & charter HS with ≥30 tested students.

Student composition — 2025-26

HS grades 9–12 racial/ethnic composition and program subgroups, from CDE Census Day Enrollment. Two-year shift shown when ≥1 pt — surfaces how the community served has changed since 2023-24.

Race / ethnicity

Black / African Am. 51% +4.8

Not reported 26% +19.1

Hispanic / Latino 19% -23.8

White 4% +1.2

Program subgroups

Socioeconomically disadv. 99% +4.5

Students w/ disabilities 15% +6.0

Source: California Department of Education, Census Day Enrollment 2025-26 (HS grades 9–12). Δ shown when shift is ≥1 pt since 2023-24. Categories below 0.5% omitted.

Chronic absenteeism — 2024-25

Share of students missing 10% or more of expected attendance — the leading indicator that often precedes the demand decline shown above. Families disengaging tend to raise absenteeism first, then formally leave. Basis: grades 9–12.

20% of students are chronically absent — near the state norm of about 23%.

Chronic absent

19.5%

26 of 133 students

Absenteeism is up 18.7 pp since 2016-17. A rising absenteeism trend often precedes formal departure — worth investigating which subgroups are driving it.

Los Angeles County median

25.1% · school is better than 67% of 407 HS

Statewide median

22.8%

Chronic absenteeism by year (raw %)

Source: California Department of Education, Chronic Absenteeism 2024-25. Benchmarks limited to non-virtual public & charter HS with ≥100 eligible students. CDE didn't publish a usable 2019-20 file (COVID).

Enrollment trend & projection

Total enrollment (9–12)

490 (2018) → 145 (2026)

-70.4%

Grade 12 (graduating class)

38 (2018) → 33 (2026)

-13.2%

If this trend holds (-13.2%/yr, Total enrollment)

At per-pupil funding of $ / student:

Horizon	Projected Total enrollment	Change	Funding impact / yr
1 yr (2027)	~126	-19	$0
3 yr (2029)	~95	-50	$0
5 yr (2031)	~71	-74	$0

Straight-line extrapolation of the recent annual rate — a what-if, not a forecast of intent. Default = California's LCFF base grant for grades 9–12 ($12,423/ADA). Edit the figure to match your school.

How does New Designs Charter School Watts really compare on getting kids to college?

Unlock a head-to-head snapshot of New Designs Charter School Watts against its 10 most similar nearby schools — matched on size, location, type. See exactly where it stands on the college pipeline.

The full head-to-head table — every peer school's UC Reach, side by side.

Enrollment trend + 3-year projection — is this school growing or quietly shrinking?

The plain-English read on what it all means for your family.

Your similar-school group includes

Horace Mann UCLA Community School · Animo Compton Charter School · Vista High · John Hope Continuation · University Pathways Medical Magnet Academy · University Pathways Public Service Academy · +4 more

Enrollment stability & demand — 2024-25

Two complementary signals: retention (do students stay once enrolled?) and demand (are families choosing the school?). Read against the Los Angeles County baseline — the demographic tide is moving every CA HS, so a school's gap vs. county is the actionable signal.

78% of students who start the year here finish it here.

Critical

Bleeding from both ends.

Enrollment down 13.2% vs. county -5.3%, AND stability (77.7%) below the county median. Fewer families are choosing the school, and the ones who do aren't staying through year-end.

-13.2% senior class, grade 12 (2018–2026)

-5.3% Los Angeles County baseline

-7.9pp gap vs. county

77.7% retention (county median 87.7%)

Senior class (grade 12) — indexed to 100 at 2018

Stability rate by year (raw %)

Stability rate

77.7%

108 of 139 students

31 of 139 students who enrolled at New Designs Charter School Watts this year didn't maintain continuous enrollment (22.3% non-stability). Mid-year transfers, dropouts, and other exits are all counted.

Los Angeles County median

87.7% · school is in the 21st percentile of 413 HS

Statewide median

87.3% · in the 26th percentile of 1,734 HS

Stability by student group

Socio. disadvantaged (212) 74.5%

Black / African Am. (104) 75.0%

Students w/ disabilities (50) 74.0%

Hispanic / Latino (49) 87.8%

Nearest peer high schools

Horace Mann UCLA Community School 81.7% Animo Compton Charter School 71.8% Vista High 56.7% John Hope Continuation 3.6% University Pathways Medical Magnet Academy 85.5%

Source: California Department of Education, Stability Rate 2024-25. Benchmarks limited to non-virtual public & charter HS with ≥100 cumulative enrollees so by-design-high-churn continuation schools don't dominate the bottom of the distribution. Cumulative enrollment counts every student on the rolls during the year, so it can exceed peak-day enrollment.

UC Reach Score ⓘ methodology

UC Application Reach Score ⓘ

10 applications

In context: CA median 81 · Top 10% statewide ≥ 240 · Los Angeles Co. Top 10% ≥ 238 · higher than 6% of CA HS.

UC Admit Rate ⓘ

N/A

— / 10 applications

UC Yield Rate ⓘ

N/A

— enrolled of — admitted

Yield vs. Enrollment Reach: Yield answers "of UC admits, what % chose UC?" — denominator is just the admits. A small admitted cohort can post a low yield even when the school sends a healthy share of its class to UC.

UC Enrollment Reach Score ⓘ

N/A

— enrollees / 37 seniors

Enrollment Reach vs. Yield: Reach answers "of the whole senior class, what share ended up at UC?" — denominator is everyone. High Yield with low Enrollment Reach is common at elite privates: most admits matriculate, but the school sends most of its class to non-UC selective colleges.

A-G Completion ⓘ

Most graduates leave here ready to apply to UC and CSU — almost all finish the required courses, versus about 6 in 10 statewide.

100%

38 of 38 graduates · 2024-25 cohort

In context: CA median 55.9% · +44.1 pp above · Los Angeles Co. 69.7%.

Selective UC Reach (UCB, UCLA, UCSD, UCSB, UCI — incl. the Elite two) ⓘ

N/A

Elite UC Reach (UCB + UCLA) ⓘ

N/A

Senior Class Size ⓘ

CDE grade 12 (exact)

Total School Enrollment ⓘ

194

All grades · CDE Census Day

Avg. Applicant GPA · top-6 UCs ⓘ

3.55

UC Outcomes Trend — 2018–2025

UC Admit Rate %

UC Reach Score (where available)

UC Admits (count, right axis)

Class size from CDE grade 12 enrollment. Campus-level data: applicant and admit totals count a student once at EACH campus. A senior admitted to UCLA and UC San Diego adds 2 to the admit total, so the total can exceed the senior class — that is the metric working as defined, not an error. The admit RATE is unaffected: both its numerator and denominator are campus-level.

Campus Breakdown — 2025

Campus	Applicants	Admits	Enrollees	Admit Rate	UC Reach Score	Yield	Avg GPA (App)	Avg GPA (Adm)
UCLA → Elite	5	—^†	—^†	—^†	—^†	—	3.59	—^†
UC Irvine → Selective	5	—^†	—^†	—^†	—^†	—	3.50	—^†

† = UCOP-suppressed (count below 3 students, hidden for privacy — actual value is 0, 1, or 2, not necessarily zero). Campus-level totals may count one student admitted to multiple UC campuses more than once; Admit Volume metrics are not the same as UC Reach, which is measured against the whole senior class. See methodology →

What This Means

Note: the UC Reach Score sums campus-level admits across the top-six UC campuses, so a student admitted to both UCLA and UCSD is counted at each. It reflects competitive admit volume relative to class size — admit-events, not distinct students — which is why a Score can exceed 100.

Compare with other schools → See Los Angeles County rankings →

For School Admins

The full Reach Report for New Designs Charter School Watts

A board- and LCAP-ready intelligence brief: your enrollment retention and college outcomes, benchmarked against your closest competitors, with a 5-year forecast, concrete steps to act on, and the rigor + outcomes story you can share with your families. Built from primary public data — prepared for you, not auto-generated.

✓Your 5-year enrollment forecast (currently -13.2%/yr) with the revenue at stake
✓Student-retention benchmarking vs your county median — and the LCAP evidence to back your goals

See a sample report →