Independence Charter Academy

As an one-room-style all-grades campus in Helendale, California, Independence Charter Academy enrolls 118 students from grades K through 12, one of the schools within Helendale Elementary. Enrollment runs roughly 80% below the state mean of about 602.

Within Helendale Elementary, which oversees 4 schools and 1,085 students, Independence Charter Academy is one campus in the system.

On the student-mix side, Independence Charter Academy reports that the most-represented group is Hispanic (53%), with the rest of the student body spread across multiple groups. The remainder is composed of 31% White, 8% Black, 3% multiracial, 3% Native American. That mix tracks the wider county fairly closely.

Looking at the economic backdrop, On paper, Independence Charter Academy has 5 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 26.0:1. Statewide, the average ratio sits near 18.6:1, putting Independence Charter Academy higher than the state norm the norm. An estimated 62% of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, which schools and policymakers use as a rough income-mix signal. That share is lower than San Bernardino County's rate of about 74%.

With demographic context factored in, On a poverty-adjusted basis, Independence Charter Academy sits in the bottom 10% statewide. Predicted proficiency from the FRL regression is roughly 42.6%; actual is 24.2%, a gap of -18.4 points.

Around the school, census data for San Bernardino County shows median household income runs about $85,478, roughly 23% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and the poverty rate sits near 11%. In all, San Bernardino County runs 583 public schools (combined enrollment of about 393,648 students), of which Independence Charter Academy is one.

The closest other public school is Helendale Elementary, roughly 0.6 miles away. Within five miles, there are 3 other public schools. Among the 6 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Independence Charter Academy ranks 4th on composite proficiency, beneath the local average of 26.4%.

Geographically, the school is in a low-density area. Independence Charter Academy operates as a public charter school, meaning it is publicly funded but governed independently of the surrounding district's traditional schools.

Trend over the last 7 years. Over the past 7-year window, the student count edged down 33%: 177 students in 2018 compared to 118 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share edged down from 39% to 31%. The student-to-teacher ratio widened from 20.1:1 in 2018 to 26.0:1 today.

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