ExploreMapCompareBlogSign in

Mountain Valley Academy

Grades K-12Alternative School2024–25 data
Alternative school — serves students who benefit from a non-traditional educational setting. Scores are not directly comparable to comprehensive schools.
Developing
46/100
Developing — 68th percentile statewide
#548 of 1,714 CA middle schools
↓ 31.9 pts since 2019
🌱 Building Momentum

Every school has strengths the data doesn’t fully capture. Visit and see for yourself. Both outcomes and funding trail the state average

School Climate
77% of students attend consistently
Chronic absenteeism: 22.5% (state avg: 19.1%)
"Attend consistently" means missing ≤10% of school days (the chronic absenteeism threshold).
Minimal suspensions
1.4% 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 "56% proficient" and stop there. We think that number deserves more context — here's what we found when we looked deeper:

17.0% 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 38.6% met it. That exceeded rate is near the state average of 17.3%. That's 2.9 points above the Ramona City Unified district average of 14.1%. The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

Mountain Valley Academy
17%
39%
California average
17%
22%
ExceededMet onlyBelow

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

Chronic absenteeism? Missing 10%+ of enrolled school days. This is an official California Dashboard accountability indicator. is 22.5%, above 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
  • — Growth data unavailable for this school — the score overweights proficiency, which tends to correlate with household income

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
Who this school is great for
Families who value a smaller school community — 195 students
Families looking for a low-discipline-incident environment
Worth checking: Families wanting top-end academic rigor — more students meet the bar (39%) than exceed it (17%); Families sensitive to attendance culture — absenteeism is 3.4pp above state average
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
Met or exceeded: 55.5%
16.0pp 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
Exceeded standard: 17.0%
0.3pp below 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
School Climate
Suspension rate: 1.4%
2.8pp 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
Holding back
Chronic absenteeism: 22.5%
3.4pp above 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
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 4 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

Hispanic28.7%
White62.0%
Asian1.0%
Black0.5%
Other7.7%
GenderFemale 58.5%Male 41.5%
Resources & Access
Enrollment
195
1,005 below CA avg (~1,200)
Free/Reduced Lunch
45%
19pp below CA avg (64%)
Student-Teacher Ratio
22:1
1 more students per teacher than CA avg
Per-Pupil Spending
$8,902
District avg: $12,199 · CA avg: $14,815 · School-level · CDE ESSA
Teacher Salary Range
$53,495 – $120,959
District schedule · CA median ~$98K
At Mountain Valley Academy in Ramona, 78.6% of white students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 53.5% district-wide and 61.8% statewide. Mountain Valley Academy outperforms its district average for white students by 25.1 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: White students (42.9% Math proficient). Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 28 students tested.
Equity Gaps
Absenteeism · Low-Income+12.5pp
35.0% vs 22.5% overall · n=100

Subgroups with fewer than 15 students are excluded for privacy. Gaps of less than 3 percentage points are not shown.

Subgroup Proficiency
White28 tested
ELA 78.6%·Math 42.9%· +25.1pp 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 59%Support 38%Other 3%

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

Neighborhood Context
Median Income
$121K
$36K above CA median
Median Home Value
$679K
$20K above CA median
Bachelor's+
30%
5pp below CA avg
Whole Child
Teacher experience, college/career readiness, and more. Context only — never part of the Scope Score.
Teacher Experience
14.5 years avg experience
13 teachers
Teacher Credentials
81% 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

7846'19'22'23'24'25
↓ 31.9 points since 2019
Rank: #203 → #361 → #287 → #412 → #548Exceeded: 28% → 32% → 21% → 17% → 17%
2019 · 2022 · 2023 · 2024 · 2025 · No testing 2020–21 (COVID) · Scope Score based on CAASPP, absenteeism & suspension data

How Mountain Valley Academy compares

Mountain Valley Academy vs. California averages — 2025 CAASPP data
MetricThis schoolCA avg
Exceeded Standard17.0%17.3%
Met or Exceeded55.5%39.5%
Chronic Absenteeism22.5%19.1%
Suspension Rate1.4%4.2%

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
69.2%83.3%G7G8
Math Trajectory
30.8%38.9%G7G8

ELA scores by grade

GradeTestedExceededMetNearly MetNot MetMet+Above
3rd8
4th
5th9
6th8
7th2615.4%53.9%23.1%7.7%69.2%
8th1811.1%72.2%11.1%5.6%83.3%
11th1942.1%26.3%31.6%0.0%68.4%

Math scores by grade

GradeTestedExceededMetNearly MetNot MetMet+Above
3rd8
4th
5th9
6th8
7th2619.2%11.5%50.0%19.2%30.8%
8th1822.2%16.7%33.3%27.8%38.9%
11th1942.1%10.5%31.6%15.8%52.6%

Science scores by grade

GradeTestedExceededMetNearly MetNot MetMet+Above
8th4526.7%26.7%44.4%2.2%53.3%

45 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

Estimated K-12 Path
Middle
Mountain Valley Academy
46
This school

Estimated K-12 path based on district and proximity. Actual attendance zones may differ. 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.


Frequently asked questions

Is Mountain Valley Academy a good middle school?
Mountain Valley Academy has a Scope Score of 46 out of 100, placing it in the 68th percentile of California middle schools and ranked #548 statewide. 17.0% of students exceeded the state standard on the 2025 CAASPP assessment, which is near 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 Mountain Valley Academy's CAASPP test scores?
On the 2025 CAASPP Smarter Balanced Assessment, 55.5% of students at Mountain Valley Academy met or exceeded the state standard in ELA and Math combined, and 17.0% exceeded it. The gap between those numbers matters: 38.6% of students are at the proficiency floor, while 17.0% 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. 88 student-subject combinations were assessed.
How does Mountain Valley Academy rank in California?
Mountain Valley Academy ranks #548 among California middle schools by Scope Score, placing it in the 68th 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.
What is the attendance and school culture like at Mountain Valley Academy?
22.5% of students at Mountain Valley Academy are chronically absent (missing 10% or more of school days), compared to the California average of 19.1%. The suspension rate is 1.4%, 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 Mountain Valley Academy compare to other schools in Ramona?
Mountain Valley Academy scores 46/100 (68th 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 195 students. Use the schools in Ramona page or the map view to compare all middle schools nearby.
How does Mountain Valley Academy serve low-income and underrepresented students?
At Mountain Valley Academy in Ramona, 78.6% of white students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 53.5% district-wide and 61.8% statewide. Mountain Valley Academy outperforms its district average for white students by 25.1 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: White students (42.9% Math proficient). Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 28 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.

See something that doesn’t look right?

Report a data issue

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