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Capistrano Home/Virtual

Grades K-8Alternative School2024–25 data
Alternative school — serves students who benefit from a non-traditional educational setting. Scores are not directly comparable to comprehensive schools.
Solid
66/100
Solid — 90th percentile statewide
#179 of 1,714 CA middle schools
↓ 13.4 pts since 2019
🌱 Building Momentum

Every school has strengths the data doesn’t fully capture. Visit and see for yourself. Resources alone aren't driving results yet — deeper challenges may be at play

School Climate
91% of students attend consistently
Chronic absenteeism: 8.8% (state avg: 19.1%)
"Attend consistently" means missing ≤10% of school days (the chronic absenteeism threshold).
Minimal suspensions
0.6% suspension rate (state avg: 4.2%)
Share of students who received at least one suspension during the year.
Source: California Dept. of Education, 2024–25See breakdown by student group →

What the numbers actually mean

Most rating sites report "69% proficient" and stop there. We think that number deserves more context — here's what we found when we looked deeper:

38.0% of students exceeded standard? Level 4 on California's CAASPP Smarter Balanced Assessment — the state defines four levels: Not Met, Nearly Met, Met, and Exceeded. while 30.6% met it. That exceeded rate is 20.7 points above the state average of 17.3%. That's near the Capistrano Unified district average of 38.8%. The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

Capistrano Home/Virtual
38%
31%
California average
17%
22%
ExceededMet onlyBelow

We tracked the same cohort across years (2023 G6 → 2025 G8): students gained 44 scale score points? Pseudo-cohort tracking: we compare this school's G6 class from a prior year to the G8 class in the current year. Same school, same cohort aged forward. Uses SBAC scale scores designed for cross-year comparison., suggesting this school is adding measurable value over time.

SchoolScope cohort tracking · Same cohort tracked across years using SBAC scale scores — stronger than single-year cross-grade comparison

California's Dashboard shows ELA performance increased significantly and Math increased significantly year-over-year.

Chronic absenteeism? Missing 10%+ of enrolled school days. This is an official California Dashboard accountability indicator. is 8.8%, better than the state average of 19.1%.

Data you won't find on other sites: School-level per-pupil spending (not just district averages) · Current-year 2025 data direct from CDE · The exceeded vs. met split that most rating sites collapse into one number

Why the exceeded vs. met split matters → · Scope Score is SchoolScope's analysis of CDE data — not an official CDE rating. How we built this score (and what it misses) →

No single score captures a school. This is a starting point — visit, ask questions, trust your instincts.

What this score doesn't capture
  • — Teaching quality, classroom culture, and how teachers connect with students
  • — Arts, athletics, extracurriculars, and enrichment programs
  • — How well the school serves students with IEPs or gifted learners
  • — Parent community engagement and satisfaction
  • — Whether the curriculum aligns with your family's values

Most of our data is updated once per year and may reflect the prior school year.


Before you visit
Questions worth asking and signals worth checking
What to verify
Score is solid but proficiency rates dropped 14.2 points from G6 to G8. Strong overall, but fewer students hit the benchmark in later grades — could reflect harder standards, cohort differences, or a curriculum gap worth asking about.
Who this school is great for
Families where consistent attendance and school culture matter — absenteeism is well below state average
Families who value a smaller school community — 91 students
Families looking for a low-discipline-incident environment
Worth checking: Students needing sustained momentum — proficiency dips between grades
These reflect data patterns, not guarantees. Your child's experience will depend on their teacher, grade, and classroom — things no score captures.

Score Factors
Academic Performance
Exceeded standard: 38.0%
20.7pp above state avg (state avg 17.3%)
43% weight

Exceeded rate gets the highest weight because it separates schools that clear the bar from those that raise it.

Limitation: Reflects tested students only — opt-out rates are not published by CDE.

CDE CAASPP 2025
Met or exceeded: 68.6%
29.1pp above state avg (state avg 39.5%)
22% weight

Overall proficiency provides the broadest measure of academic achievement.

Limitation: Combines ‘met’ and ‘exceeded’ — the gap between them matters more than either alone.

CDE CAASPP 2025
Holding back
Growth (G6→G8): -14.2pp
Scores decline across grades (state avg +0.8pp)
15% weight

Growth measures what the school adds, not what families bring. When available, we track the same cohort across years for a stronger signal.

Limitation: Cohort tracking is school-level (not individual students) — transfers and demographic shifts can affect results. Falls back to cross-sectional comparison when historical data is unavailable.

SchoolScope derived
School Climate
Chronic absenteeism: 8.8%
10.3pp below state avg (state avg 19.1%)
10% weight

Absenteeism reflects school culture and family engagement — an official CA Dashboard accountability indicator.

Limitation: 10% threshold is the same for all schools regardless of demographics or geography.

CDE Attendance 2025
Suspension rate: 0.6%
3.6pp below state avg (state avg 4.2%)
5% weight

Low suspension rates correlate with positive school culture and restorative practices.

Limitation: Schools may differ in reporting practices — some underreport to improve metrics.

CDE Discipline 2025
We make judgment calls about what matters. We believe exceeded scores reveal more than proficiency alone, and that growth matters more than raw test results. Reasonable people could weight these differently — and that's fine. The factors above show exactly what we weighted and why, so you can decide where you agree and where you'd adjust. The middle school Scope Score uses 5 dimensions. How we built this score (and what it misses) →

The Scope Score emphasizes academic performance. It weights test proficiency, the exceeded-vs-met gap, and growth trajectory most heavily. If your family prioritizes arts, athletics, school culture, or teaching philosophy, this score captures some of that indirectly (through absenteeism and suspension) but not all of it. Different families should weight these dimensions differently — the score factors above let you see exactly what drives this number.

How to use this
  • Use for long-term academic patterns, not this week's classroom experience
  • Verify with a recent visit — scores can't capture a school mid-transformation
  • Combine with local context — talk to parents, attend a school board meeting, trust your gut

Community Profile
Context — not part of the Scope Score

Student demographics

Hispanic18.7%
White64.8%
Asian4.4%
Other12.1%
GenderFemale 57.1%Male 42.9%
Resources & Access
Enrollment
91
529 below CA avg (~620)
Free/Reduced Lunch
37%
26pp below CA avg (64%)
Student-Teacher Ratio
18:1
3 fewer students per teacher than CA avg
Per-Pupil Spending
$21,306
District avg: $12,431 · CA avg: $14,815 · School-level · CDE ESSA
Teacher Salary Range
$65,219 – $130,638
District schedule · CA median ~$98K
At Capistrano Home/Virtual in San Juan Capistrano, 69.1% of white students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 78.3% district-wide and 61.8% statewide. Capistrano Home/Virtual trails its district average for white students by 9.2 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: White students (50.9% Math proficient). Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 55 students tested.
Subgroup Proficiency
White55 tested
ELA 69.1%·Math 50.9%· -9.2pp vs district

Weighted average across tested grades. Subgroups with fewer than 15 students excluded. Data: CDE CAASPP 2024-25.

Subgroup Growth by Grade
Change in proficiency from lowest tested grade. Shows which groups are gaining ground.

Subgroups with fewer than 10 tested students per grade are not shown.

Funding Breakdown
Instruction 65%Support 34%Other 2%

Source: NCES F-33 (2019–2020) · Full district breakdown →

Neighborhood Context
Median Income
$123K
$38K above CA median
Median Home Value
$888K
$229K above CA median
Bachelor's+
41%
6pp above CA avg
Whole Child
Teacher experience, college/career readiness, and more. Context only — never part of the Scope Score.
Teacher Experience
23.7 years avg experience
6 teachers
Teacher Credentials
95% fully credentialed

Source: CDE SARC, 2024-25

Community Profile provides context about who attends this school and the resources available. These factors are never part of the Scope Score. Learn why →

5-year trend

7966'19'22'23'24'25
↓ 13.4 points since 2019
Rank: #177 → #189 → #3 → #300 → #179Exceeded: 43% → 36% → 35% → 17% → 38%
2019 · 2022 · 2023 · 2024 · 2025 · No testing 2020–21 (COVID) · Scope Score based on CAASPP, absenteeism & suspension data

How Capistrano Home/Virtual compares

Capistrano Home/Virtual vs. California averages — 2025 CAASPP data
MetricThis schoolCA avg
Exceeded Standard38.0%17.3%
Met or Exceeded68.6%39.5%
Chronic Absenteeism8.8%19.1%
Suspension Rate0.6%4.2%
Cohort GrowthAverageAverage

Source: California Department of Education CAASPP 2025 · Analyzed by SchoolScope

Grade trajectory

How proficiency compares across grade levels this year (different students, same test year)

ELA Trajectory
76.2%65.8%G6G7G8
Math Trajectory
61.9%43.9%G6G7G8

ELA scores by grade

GradeTestedExceededMetNearly MetNot MetMet+Above
3rd4
4th6
5th6
6th2138.1%38.1%14.3%9.5%76.2%
7th2240.9%50.0%4.5%4.5%90.9%
8th4126.8%39.0%19.5%14.6%65.8%

Math scores by grade

GradeTestedExceededMetNearly MetNot MetMet+Above
3rd4
4th6
5th6
6th2138.1%23.8%14.3%23.8%61.9%
7th2250.0%22.7%18.2%9.1%72.7%
8th4134.1%9.8%29.3%26.8%43.9%

Science scores by grade

GradeTestedExceededMetNearly MetNot MetMet+Above
8th4617.4%30.4%43.5%8.7%47.8%

46 students tested · CAST is tested in grades 5, 8, and once in high school — not annually like ELA/Math. Not included in the Scope Score. · Data source: CDE CAST 2025

K-12 Feeder Path
Elementary
Capistrano Home/Virtual
66/100
This school

Estimated path based on proximity within the same district. Contact your school district for official feeder information.

Schools nearby

Private alternatives nearby

Private schools within ~10 miles. These schools do not participate in state testing and cannot be scored or ranked.

Fairmont San Juan Capistrano
Oso Rd · Nonsectarian · Grades Pre-K-12 · 360 students
9:1Private2.3 mi
Fairmont Private School
Oso Rd · Nonsectarian · Grades Pre-K-12 · 338 students
8:1Private2.2 mi
Talega Preparatory Academy
W Ave Los Lobos Marianos · Nonsectarian · Grades Pre-K-12 · 96 students
96:1Private6 mi
Mcdowell School
Aloma Ave · Nonsectarian · Grades Pre-K-5 · 78 students
3:1Private4.1 mi
The Johnson Academy
Calle Arroyo Ste 1920 · Nonsectarian · Grades Pre-K-8 · 58 students
5:1Private1.4 mi

Frequently asked questions

Is Capistrano Home/Virtual a good middle school?
Capistrano Home/Virtual has a Scope Score of 66 out of 100, placing it in the 90th percentile of California middle schools and ranked #179 statewide. 38.0% of students exceeded the state standard on the 2025 CAASPP assessment, which is 20.7 percentage points above the California average of 17.3%. The Scope Score weights five dimensions: the exceeded-vs-met split (45%), proficiency (25%), grade-level growth (15%), chronic absenteeism (10%), and suspension rate (5%). Data source: California Department of Education CAASPP 2025, analyzed by SchoolScope.
What are Capistrano Home/Virtual's CAASPP test scores?
On the 2025 CAASPP Smarter Balanced Assessment, 68.6% of students at Capistrano Home/Virtual met or exceeded the state standard in ELA and Math combined, and 38.0% exceeded it. The gap between those numbers matters: 30.6% of students are at the proficiency floor, while 38.0% pushed past it. Most rating sites report only the combined "proficient" number. SchoolScope surfaces the exceeded-vs-met split because it reveals whether a school's curriculum challenges students beyond minimum proficiency or paces toward it. 168 student-subject combinations were assessed.
How does Capistrano Home/Virtual rank in California?
Capistrano Home/Virtual ranks #179 among California middle schools by Scope Score, placing it in the 90th percentile. This ranking is based on a weighted composite of 2025 CAASPP test performance (exceeded and met rates), grade-level growth (Grade 6 to grade 8 growth), chronic absenteeism, and suspension rate. Unlike single-number ratings, the Scope Score shows what drives the ranking so parents can decide what matters most to their family. See full methodology.
Is Capistrano Home/Virtual getting better or worse?
Based on 2025 CAASPP data, proficiency at Capistrano Home/Virtual decreases by 14.2 percentage points from Grade 6 to grade 8 growth. This downward pattern doesn't necessarily mean the school is failing — it can reflect cohort differences, demographic shifts, or curriculum changes. A campus visit and conversation with teachers can reveal what the numbers can't. Growth trajectory is weighted at 15% in the middle Scope Score because it measures what the school does, not just who walks in the door.
What is the attendance and school culture like at Capistrano Home/Virtual?
8.8% of students at Capistrano Home/Virtual are chronically absent (missing 10% or more of school days), which is better than the California average of 19.1%. The suspension rate is 0.6%, indicating a low-discipline-incident environment. SchoolScope includes these culture metrics in the Scope Score because they reflect day-to-day school experience in ways test scores alone cannot.
How does Capistrano Home/Virtual compare to other schools in San Juan Capistrano?
Capistrano Home/Virtual scores 66/100 (90th percentile) among California middle schools. To compare with nearby schools, SchoolScope shows the same metrics side by side: exceeded rate, proficiency, growth trajectory, and school culture indicators. The school serves 91 students. Use the schools in San Juan Capistrano page or the map view to compare all middle schools nearby.
How does Capistrano Home/Virtual serve low-income and underrepresented students?
At Capistrano Home/Virtual in San Juan Capistrano, 69.1% of white students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 78.3% district-wide and 61.8% statewide. Capistrano Home/Virtual trails its district average for white students by 9.2 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: White students (50.9% Math proficient). Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 55 students tested. SchoolScope shows disaggregated test scores by demographic subgroup so you can see how a school performs for your child's specific group — not just the school-wide average. Subgroup data is context, not part of the Scope Score: we don't penalize schools for who they serve. See our equity approach.

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Data source: California Department of Education (2025 test year) · How we score · Explore all schools · Blog