The Accelerated School

What The Accelerated School does

The Accelerated Schools is a non-profit public charter school network operating three campuses in South Los Angeles, California, serving students from Transitional Kindergarten through 12th grade. Founded in 1994 by Johnathan Williams and Kevin Sved as the first charter school in South LA, the network now operates ACES (Accelerated Charter Elementary School, TK-6, with a 50/50 Spanish-English Gomez & Gomez dual language immersion model that is the oldest such program in Los Angeles), TAS (The Accelerated School, TK-8, the founding campus), and WAHS (Wallis Annenberg High School, 9-12). The organization enrolls families from the South Los Angeles community under the philosophy that "every child is treated as gifted," emphasizing college readiness, family engagement, and high academic expectations.

The organization's product is in-person K-12 education, with WAHS offering AP coursework and college-access pathways and the network supporting character development, arts education, and after-school programming. The technology stack is composed of commodity education platforms — PowerSchool for student information management, Illuminateed for assessment, and Google Calendar for communications — rather than proprietary systems. There are no public APIs, no proprietary AI or ML deployments, and no described data flywheel; core differentiation stems from curriculum design (notably the dual language immersion model), teaching practice, and partnership-driven enrichment rather than technology IP.

The business model is non-tuition public education, funded primarily through California's Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), Title I federal funding, and other state and federal education grants, with supplemental philanthropic donations (including a lead Annenberg Foundation gift that funded WAHS in 2003). The entity is non-profit, not publicly traded, has no PE/VC ownership, and is governed by a volunteer Board of Trustees. Distribution and enrollment is direct-to-consumer via the school's website and community outreach (no paid acquisition). Credentials and awards include TIME Magazine Elementary School of the Year (2001), U.S. News Top 500 High School (2013, 2016), WASC 6-year accreditation (2021), and the College Board AP School Honor Roll (2023).

Name

The Accelerated School

Legal name

The Accelerated Schools

Website

https://accelerated.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The Accelerated Schools is a non-profit public charter school network operating three South Los Angeles campuses (ACES, TAS, WAHS) serving TK-12 students through public per-pupil funding and donations, with a focus on college readiness and the oldest dual-language immersion program in Los Angeles.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Public Education Funding: As a public charter school network, The Accelerated Schools operates primarily through state and federal education funding including Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), Title I funding, and other educational grants. The schools receive public funding per student enrolled.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Accelerated Schools operates a public charter school network of three campuses in South Los Angeles: ACES (Accelerated Charter Elementary School, TK-6, dual language immersion), TAS (The Accelerated School, TK-8, the founding campus established in 1994), and WAHS (Wallis Annenberg High School, grades 9-12). The network delivers tuition-free K-12 education with a focus on college and career readiness, treating every student as gifted and combining high academic expectations with active family and community involvement.

Product overview

The Accelerated Schools is a public charter school network consisting of three distinct educational programs: ACES (Accelerated Charter Elementary School) offering dual language immersion for TK-6, TAS (The Accelerated School) serving TK-8, and WAHS (Wallis Annenberg High School) for grades 9-12. The network was founded in 1994 as the first charter school in South Los Angeles and operates on the philosophy that every child should be treated as gifted, with high expectations and active parent involvement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ACES (Accelerated Charter Elementary School) A dual language immersion elementary school (TK-6) offering 50% instruction in Spanish and 50% in English using the Gomez & Gomez Dual Language Enrichment model. It is the oldest dual language school in Los Angeles and serves students in South Los Angeles.
• TAS (The Accelerated School) K-8 A transitional kindergarten through 8th grade charter school serving as the founding school of the network, established in 1994 in South Los Angeles. It offers comprehensive academic programs with high expectations and active parent involvement.
• WAHS (Wallis Annenberg High School) A high school (grades 9-12) opened in 2003 with a lead gift from the Annenberg Foundation. WAHS received 6-year WASC Accreditation in 2021 and was named to the College Board's AP School Honor Roll in 2023, with a focus on college readiness.

Quantifiable outcome

• Wallis Annenberg High School named to College Board's AP School Honor Roll in 2023
• +3 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Colburn School of MusiccoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTAS partners with the Colburn School of Music for arts education. Colburn musicians showcase their artistry and talent at TAS events. Three TAS students were awarded prestigious Colburn Music School scholarships to study and hone their musical skills.
• USC Annenberg School of CommunicationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNinety of WAHS students attended USC Annenberg School of Communication's Residency Program to learn about the university and develop 21st century skills such as adaptability, innovation, empathy, and leadership.
• KPMG Women's LeadershipminorGTM or Marketing PartnerKPMG Women's Leadership volunteers shared art lessons on Cubism with TAS students, introducing young artists to unique artistic styles.
• ARC (After School Education and Safety)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerARC provides before and after school programs, Extended Learning Opportunities Program (ELOP), and Summer Bridge programs for TAS students through ongoing vendor agreements renewed annually.
• HeyTutorminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerHeyTutor provides tutoring services during school, before and after school, and classroom science support for ACES and TAS students.
• Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWAHS has a College and Career Access Pathways partnership with LACCD for college credit opportunities.
• The American Heart AssociationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerACES partners with The American Heart Association for health and wellness programming.
• Lorax Teaching GardensminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerACES partners with Lorax Teaching Gardens for sustainability education and real-world problem solving.
• USC Viterbi School of EngineeringminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerACES partners with USC Viterbi School of Engineering for STEM education and real-world problem solving opportunities.
• Inner City ArtsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerACES teachers attend specialized workshops at Inner City Arts to gain strategies for incorporating visual and performing arts into the classroom curriculum.
• USC Rossier School of EducationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for providing direct services to students and parents on college-going culture.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• BrightStar Schools: Non-profit charter organization operating TK-12 campuses in South and Central Los Angeles with a similar college-prep mission and small multi-site footprint.
• ICEF Public Schools: Inner City Education Foundation operates multiple charter schools in South Los Angeles with a college-preparatory focus, directly overlapping the Accelerated Schools' geographic and demographic footprint.
• Green Dot Public Schools California: One of the largest charter management organizations in Los Angeles, operating multiple public charter high schools and middle schools serving similar urban, college-prep student populations in the LA region.
• KIPP LA Public Schools: Non-profit charter network operating multiple college-preparatory TK-12 campuses across Los Angeles, with a comparable mission of preparing underserved students for college and career.
• Alliance College-Ready Public Schools: LA-based charter network operating more than two dozen middle and high schools with a college-readiness focus, directly competing for the same student demographics and feeder patterns.
• Aspire Public Schools: California charter network with TK-12 college-prep campuses serving predominantly low-income communities; operates several sites in the greater Los Angeles area and competes for similar families.
• Para Los Niños: LA-based non-profit operating charter schools and family support programs serving low-income, predominantly Latino communities with bilingual/biliterate educational programming similar to ACES.
• Magnolia Public Schools: California charter management organization operating multiple TK-12 college-prep campuses in the LA region, including bilingual and STEM-focused programs comparable to TAS's offerings.

Emerging players

• Citizens of the World Charter Schools: LA-based charter network with dual language immersion programming and a socio-economically diverse student body, partially overlapping TAS's dual language and college-prep value proposition.

Broad incumbents

• Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD): The traditional public school district serving the same South Los Angeles geography; offers competing public school options including magnets and dual language programs that anchor family choice in the area.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/watch?v=HChdq_fr6tU
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-accelerated-schools
• Instagraminstagram.com/theacceleratedschools

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Accelerated School