Daniel Pearl Journalism & Communications Magnet

Daniel Pearl Journalism & Communications Magnet is one of the tiny high schools in Lake Balboa, California, operated by Los Angeles Unified, with 183 students on its rolls from grades 9 through 12. Enrollment runs roughly 78% below the state mean of about 838.

Within Los Angeles Unified, which oversees 784 schools and 406,887 students, Daniel Pearl Journalism & Communications Magnet is one campus in the system.

On the student-mix side, Daniel Pearl Journalism & Communications Magnet records that 60% of the student body identifies as Hispanic; the rest consists of 27% White, 5% Asian, 4% Black, 3% multiracial. That is considerably more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 48%.

Looking at the economic backdrop, Staff filings list 14 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 13.6:1 students per teacher. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 18.2:1, putting Daniel Pearl Journalism & Communications Magnet tighter than the state norm the norm. Around 79% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. Set against Los Angeles County (around 70%), the school's rate is north of typical.

In the area at large, ACS estimates for Los Angeles County put median household income runs about $90,112, roughly 36% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 10%. Daniel Pearl Journalism & Communications Magnet is one of 2244 public schools in Los Angeles County (combined enrollment of about 1,265,907 students).

Nearest neighbor: Independence Continuation, around 0.1 miles off. Counting just inside five miles, 8 other public schools cluster around Daniel Pearl Journalism & Communications Magnet.

Geographically, the school is in an urban area.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count contracted 48%: 355 students in 2018 compared to 183 in 2025. The Asian share of enrollment edged down from 10% to 5% over that span. The student-to-teacher ratio tightened from 20.3:1 in 2018 to 13.6:1 today.

On this page, members of the Daniel Pearl Journalism & Communications Magnet community share and discuss pickup logistics, teacher feedback, and after-school programs. The community welcomes input from current and former families.