Palo Alto Middle College High
A high-ceiling school — students here are pushed to exceed, not just meet, the standard. Strong outcomes backed by above-average district investment
What the numbers actually mean
Most rating sites report "78% proficient" and stop there. We think that number deserves more context — here's what we found when we looked deeper:
53.1% 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 25.0% met it. That exceeded rate is 37.6 points above the state average of 15.5%. That's 6.1 points below the Palo Alto Unified district average of 59.3%. The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.
Data you won't find on other sites: 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.
✓Exceeded standard: 53.1%37.6pp above state avg (state avg 15.5%)22% 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: 78.1%43.5pp above state avg (state avg 34.6%)18% 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✓Suspension rate: 1.3%2.7pp below state avg (state avg 4.0%)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 2025The 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.
- –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
Weighted average across tested grades. Subgroups with fewer than 15 students excluded. Data: CDE CAASPP 2024-25.
Funding Breakdown
Neighborhood Context
Whole Child
Source: CDE SARC, 2024-25
College & career readiness
Data source: California Department of Education — ACGR, CCI, CGR reports
How Palo Alto Middle College High compares
| Metric | This school | CA avg |
|---|---|---|
| Exceeded Standard | 53.1% | 15.5% |
| Met or Exceeded | 78.1% | 34.6% |
| Suspension Rate | 1.3% | 4.0% |
Source: California Department of Education CAASPP 2025 · Analyzed by SchoolScope
Test scores — 11th
| Subject | Tested | Exceeded | Met | Met+Above |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ELA | 32 | 56.3% | 31.3% | 87.5% |
| Math | 32 | 50.0% | 18.8% | 68.8% |
Frequently asked questions
Is Palo Alto Middle College High a good high school?
What are Palo Alto Middle College High's CAASPP test scores?
How does Palo Alto Middle College High rank in California?
How does Palo Alto Middle College High compare to other schools in Los Altos Hills?
How does Palo Alto Middle College High serve low-income and underrepresented students?
See something that doesn’t look right?
Report a data issueData source: California Department of Education (2025 test year) · How we score · Explore all schools · Blog