Nestled in the Los Feliz–Glassell Park area of Los Angeles, Thomas Starr King Middle School has grown from a neighborhood junior high into one of the most recognized magnet campuses in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). Known officially as Thomas Starr King Middle School Film and Media Magnet, the school blends a rigorous academic core with a distinctive creative-arts identity that few public middle schools in California can match. This article covers everything a parent, student, or researcher would want to know about Thomas Starr King Middle School — its history, academics, magnet program, demographics, admissions, extracurricular life, and what makes it stand out in a crowded LAUSD landscape of 261 middle schools.
Quick Facts About Thomas Starr King Middle School
- Full name: Thomas Starr King Middle School Film and Media Magnet
- Address: 4201 Fountain Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90029
- Phone: (323) 644-6700
- District: Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD)
- Grades served: 6–8
- School type: Public magnet school
- Date opened: July 1, 1926
- Mascot: The Lions
- Enrollment: Roughly 1,400–1,600 students, depending on the year
- Principal: Ruzanna Danielyan
- Board District: 2 (Board Member Rocio Rivas)
- Community of Schools: Glassell Park / Los Feliz
- Title I status: Yes, schoolwide
- Website: kingms.lausd.org
The History Behind Thomas Starr King Middle School
Thomas Starr King Middle School opened its doors in 1926, making it nearly a century old — a milestone that places it among the more historically established middle schools in the LAUSD system. The school takes its name from Thomas Starr King, a 19th-century Unitarian minister and orator credited with helping keep California in the Union during the Civil War through his impassioned public speeches. Naming a school after a figure associated with civic engagement and rhetoric feels fitting, given how central communication, storytelling, and media production have since become to the campus’s modern identity.
Over the decades, the physical campus on Fountain Avenue has expanded and modernized, but the school has maintained its core mission: providing a challenging, well-rounded education to a highly diverse group of students drawn from the surrounding Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Atwater Village, East Hollywood, and Glassell Park neighborhoods, as well as students who apply from across the district through the magnet program.
Thomas Starr King Middle School’s Film and Media Magnet Program
What truly distinguishes Thomas Starr King Middle School from the majority of LAUSD middle schools is its Film and Media Magnet designation. Magnet schools within LAUSD are specialized programs designed around a particular theme or curricular focus, and King Middle School’s theme centers on filmmaking, digital design, animation, and media production — subjects that tie directly into Los Angeles’ identity as a global entertainment hub.
Students enrolled in the magnet track get hands-on exposure to skills such as:
- Digital design and 2D/3D animation
- Video production and editing
- Storytelling and screenwriting fundamentals
- Basic cinematography and camera work
- Multimedia and graphic design software
One of the clearest signs of the program’s success is the school’s long-running Animation & Film Festival, which has celebrated student-created animated and digital design projects for more than two decades. The festival highlights the top 2D and 3D animation projects produced by students during the school year, giving young filmmakers a real audience and a sense of professional accomplishment. The program’s reputation has even attracted attention from major studios; students in the digital design track have been recognized by industry names such as Walt Disney Studios and Lucasfilm, including invitations to advanced screenings of upcoming films.
This industry connection is a significant differentiator. Few public middle schools anywhere in the country can offer students a direct line of sight into the entertainment industry the way Thomas Starr King Middle School does, simply by virtue of its location and magnet focus.
Beyond film and media, the school also offers a Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program, giving high-achieving students additional academic challenge and enrichment opportunities alongside the standard curriculum.
Academic Performance and Student Outcomes
Academic performance at Thomas Starr King Middle School is generally in line with, or slightly above, district averages on standardized assessments. Recent data indicates that around 40–46% of students test proficient or above in math, while approximately 54–57% test proficient or above in reading and English language arts. For context, LAUSD as a whole reports proficiency rates closer to 33% in math and 40% in reading, meaning King Middle School consistently outperforms the district average in both subjects.
The student-teacher ratio at the school sits at roughly 19:1, matching the broader LAUSD average, and the school employs approximately 85 full-time equivalent teachers along with five full-time school counselors — a relatively strong counselor-to-student ratio that supports both academic advising and social-emotional needs.
Independent school-rating platforms tend to classify Thomas Starr King Middle School as an “above average” public school within California, while cautioning — as most rating sites do — that test scores are only one piece of the picture and don’t capture the full value of programs like the film and media magnet, GATE offerings, or the school’s broader culture.
Student Demographics
Thomas Starr King Middle School serves a highly diverse student body, reflective of the many communities surrounding the Los Feliz and East Hollywood area. Enrollment figures place the student body at roughly 1,400 to 1,600 students across grades 6 through 8, with a near-even gender split (approximately 49% female, 51% male). The school also has a significant population of English language learners, and around 71% of students are classified as economically disadvantaged, which qualifies the campus for Title I schoolwide funding — additional federal resources aimed at supporting academic achievement in schools with high concentrations of low-income students.
This diversity is part of what shapes the school’s community-oriented culture, blending students from long-established neighborhood families with those who commute in specifically for the magnet program.
Athletics and Extracurricular Activities
Beyond academics and the film program, Thomas Starr King Middle School fields teams across roughly six different sports, giving students at the middle-school level a meaningful introduction to organized athletics. Combined with music offerings — the school’s Advanced Orchestra, along with its Strings and Band programs, regularly perform at school events, including pieces ranging from classical repertoire to popular film scores like those from Star Wars — the campus offers a fairly broad extracurricular menu for a school of its size.
Other notable programs and events throughout the school year include:
- Summer of Learning enrichment sessions
- Grade-level orientation days for incoming 6th, 7th (FAM), and 8th (GAT) graders
- Digital design showcases tied to the Animation & Film Festival
- Music performances and concerts through the orchestra, strings, and band programs
Enrollment and How to Apply
Because Thomas Starr King Middle School operates as a magnet school, admission works differently than a standard neighborhood school assignment. Families interested in the Film and Media Magnet track typically apply through LAUSD’s centralized magnet application system, known as the eChoices portal, during the district’s annual application window (generally in the fall for the following school year). Magnet seats are limited and often allocated based on factors such as application priority points, which can be earned for reasons including attending a school with a Predominantly Hispanic, Black, or Other Non-White (PHBAO) designation, having a sibling already enrolled, or other district-defined criteria.
Students who live within the school’s standard geographic attendance boundary may also be assigned to Thomas Starr King Middle School as their neighborhood school without going through the magnet lottery, though they would attend the general academic track rather than the magnet-specific coursework unless they separately apply and are accepted into the magnet program.
Because school boundaries and magnet policies can shift from year to year, families are strongly encouraged to confirm current attendance-area boundaries and magnet application deadlines directly with LAUSD’s Student Integration Services or the school office before assuming eligibility.
Location, Contact Information, and Campus Access
Thomas Starr King Middle School is located at 4201 Fountain Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90029, in the Los Feliz/Glassell Park community of schools within LAUSD’s West region. The school can be reached by phone at (323) 644-6700. For campus visits or scheduled appointments, families are typically asked to arrive at the appointed day and time, with street parking only available in the surrounding neighborhood; visitors generally enter through the Fountain Avenue side of the campus.
The school’s official communications and updates are posted on its LAUSD-hosted website, which also links to the school’s dedicated site for magnet program details, event flyers, and announcements.
Recognition and Reputation
In recent years, Thomas Starr King Middle School has continued to build on its reputation, being named a 2026 Magnet School of Excellence — a distinction that reflects strong performance and program quality within LAUSD’s broader magnet school network. This kind of recognition, paired with the ongoing success of its Animation & Film Festival and the industry attention it draws from major studios, reinforces the school’s standing as one of the more distinctive middle school options in Los Angeles.
Online reviews from parents and community members are generally positive, with families frequently highlighting the school’s frequent field trips, hands-on learning opportunities, and the range of experiences available to students, particularly through the magnet program.
Is Thomas Starr King Middle School a Good Fit for Your Child?
For families weighing options in the LAUSD system, Thomas Starr King Middle School is worth serious consideration under a few circumstances:
- Your child has an interest in film, animation, or digital media. Few public middle schools offer this level of specialized, industry-connected instruction at the 6th–8th grade level.
- You’re looking for a diverse, Title I-designated school with additional support resources and a strong counselor-to-student ratio.
- Your child would benefit from GATE-level coursework alongside the standard curriculum.
- You value extracurricular breadth — sports, orchestra, band, and creative showcases — in a middle school setting.
On the other hand, families primarily focused on maximizing raw standardized test scores above all else may want to compare King Middle School’s proficiency rates against other magnet or charter options in the area, since — while above the LAUSD district average — the school remains officially unranked in statewide middle school rankings based on state testing metrics alone.
Final Thoughts
Thomas Starr King Middle School occupies a unique niche within the Los Angeles Unified School District: a century-old neighborhood institution that has successfully reinvented itself as a magnet destination for aspiring young filmmakers, animators, and media creators, without losing its commitment to core academics, diversity, and community. Between its Film and Media Magnet program, GATE offerings, above-average test performance relative to the district, active extracurricular life, and its 2026 Magnet School of Excellence recognition, Thomas Starr King Middle School continues to stand out as one of the more compelling public middle school options for families in the Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Atwater Village, and East Hollywood areas of Los Angeles.
