Top 4 Best Special Needs Schools in South Gate, California (2026)

South Gate High School has served the South Gate community within Los Angeles Unified for generations, and our Rams have a long championship history that goes back to the 1955 city football title. We serve grades 9 to 12 and run a magnet program on campus. Students choose from Advanced Placement courses, career technical education, JROTC, world languages and the arts. Our special education program and intervention center support students who need additional help, and teachers post office hours and tutoring for students. After school, the ARC Afterschool Program offers activities on campus, and our athletics program fields teams from flag football and esports to golf, tennis and track and field. Families can attend workshops offered in English and Spanish, and we connect students with LAUSD mental health support.

• Public high school
• Magnet program
• Advanced Placement courses
• Public school

South Gate Middle School, home of the Vikings, is a Los Angeles Unified campus on Firestone Boulevard whose programs include the South Gate STEM Magnet, a 6th grade STEAM Linked Learning program, a Dual Language program and Gifted and Talented Education (GATE). Families apply to the magnet and dual language programs through LAUSD's choices application. We hold a six-year WASC accreditation, and as a Verizon Innovative Learning School every student is issued an iPad. Our 65 teachers cover English, math, science, history, physical education and electives, and students can join 18 clubs as well as Leadership and Yearbook. Partners include Project Lead The Way, VEX Robotics and TreePeople. In science classes, all grades work through the Second Step social-emotional curriculum, covering empathy, bullying prevention, emotional management and problem solving. Students with IEPs are supported by resource specialist teachers and a special education coordinator, and IEP meetings are held in person or virtually. A psychiatric social worker staffs our school mental health office, counselors see students on request, and an English Learner program and a Family Center with parent workshops add support for families.

• Public middle school with STEM magnet
• STEM
• One-to-one iPads
• Accredited

Southeast DREAMS Magnet is a Los Angeles Unified middle school magnet in South Gate built around Design and Research, Engineering, Arts, Math and Science. Design thinking runs through every grade: sixth graders work on empathy and self-discovery projects, seventh graders take on challenges in the school community, and eighth graders build a capstone project from interviews and research in South Gate. Computer science is part of every grade through the CS Discoveries curriculum, and our elective includes PLTW CS Innovators and Makers, where students program microcontrollers for wearables and interactive art. We articulate into the CTE Engineering Design pathway at Southeast High School STEAM Magnet. Eighth graders who complete French II with strong results can earn the L.A. Unified Pathway to Biliteracy Award. Campus life includes art and theater classes, a school garden, a wellness center, a student newspaper and clubs. Seventh and eighth graders can train with Students Run LA for the Los Angeles Marathon. Students apply through the LAUSD magnet application.

• Public magnet middle school (6-8)
• Design thinking
• STEAM
• Project-based learning

In September 1941, eight Sisters of Notre Dame opened St. Helen School by teaching 368 students inside the original St. Helen Church in South Gate, because wartime shortages delayed the new building until that December. Since then more than 6,300 students have passed through our classrooms. Today we are a parish school of St. Helen Church under the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, enrolling children from preschool at age 3 through 8th grade. Our youngest Bruins start in a licensed, full-day Pre-K with a play-based curriculum, daily prayers and an afternoon nap, then move into a full-day transitional kindergarten focused on reading, writing and math readiness. Kindergarten has a full-time teacher with a half-day aide, follows Common Core and NGSS, and pairs each child with an 8th-grade buddy for weekly Mass. Students in kindergarten through 8th grade study religion, math, language arts, social studies, science, physical education, art, music and technology, in classes averaging 25 students with iPads and projectors in every room. Daily after-school tutoring and enrichment give extra help or extra challenge. Many families receive reduced tuition, and admission gives preference to St. Helen parishioners.

• Catholic school (PreK-8)
• Catholic education
• Full-day Pre-K and TK
• 8th-grade buddy program