ExploreMapCompareBlogSign in

Thurston Middle

Grades 6-82024–25 data
Laguna Beach UnifiedLaguna Beach, Orange County92651
📍 2100 Park Avenue📞 (949) 497-7785
Solid
69/100
Solid — 92nd percentile statewide
#141 of 1,714 CA middle schools
↓ 11.5 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
93% of students attend consistently
Chronic absenteeism: 6.7% (state avg: 19.1%)
"Attend consistently" means missing ≤10% of school days (the chronic absenteeism threshold).
Moderate suspension rate
4.4% 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 "76% proficient" and stop there. We think that number deserves more context — here's what we found when we looked deeper:

38.9% 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 36.7% met it. That exceeded rate is 21.6 points above the state average of 17.3%. That's 5.2 points below the Laguna Beach Unified district average of 44.1%. The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

CDE CAASPP 2025
Thurston Middle
39%
37%
California average
17%
22%
ExceededMet onlyBelow

We tracked the same cohort across years (2023 G6 → 2025 G8): students gained 55 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 maintained and Math increased year-over-year.

Chronic absenteeism? Missing 10%+ of enrolled school days. This is an official California Dashboard accountability indicator. is 6.7%, better than the state average of 19.1%.

CDE Attendance 2025

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
Who this school is great for
✓Families prioritizing upward trajectory — proficiency improves 5.0pp G6→G8
✓Families where consistent attendance and school culture matter — absenteeism is well below state average
△Worth checking: Limited data to generalize from — a school visit matters more here than the score
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: 38.9%
21.6pp 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: 75.7%
36.1pp 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
✓Growth (G6→G8): +5.0pp
Scores improve 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: 6.7%
12.4pp 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
Holding back
▼Suspension rate: 4.4%
0.2pp above 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

Hispanic11.0%
White65.3%
Asian3.7%
Black0.6%
Other19.5%
GenderFemale 45.3%Male 54.7%
Resources & Access
Enrollment
519
341 below CA avg (~860)
Free/Reduced Lunch
20%
44pp below CA avg (64%)
Student-Teacher Ratio
16:1
5 fewer students per teacher than CA avg
Per-Pupil Spending
$34,384
District avg: $24,293 · CA avg: $14,815 · School-level · CDE ESSA
Teacher Salary Range
$74,634 – $173,453
District schedule · CA median ~$98K
At Thurston Middle in Laguna Beach, 62.1% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 65.1% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Thurston Middle trails its district average for low-income students by 3.0 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (52.8% Math proficient); White students (76.3% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 33.8 percentage points for disabilities students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 95 students tested.
Equity Gaps
Absenteeism · Disabilities+10.3pp
17.0% vs 6.7% overall · n=53
Suspension · Low-Income+7.1pp
11.5% vs 4.4% overall · n=104
ELA · Disabilities−33.8pp
42.8% vs 76.7% overall · n=33
3 more gaps by subject
ELA Exceeded · Disabilities−24.5pp
6.1% vs 30.5% overall · n=33
Math · Disabilities−27.0pp
47.6% vs 74.7% overall · n=32
Math Exceeded · Low-Income−22.2pp
25.1% vs 47.3% overall · n=94

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

Subgroup Proficiency
Low-Income95 tested
ELA 62.1%·Math 52.8%· -3.0pp vs district
White367 tested
ELA 76.3%·Math 74.6%· -1.8pp vs district
Hispanic64 tested
ELA 65.6%·Math 56.3%· -1.3pp 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.

Low-income student ELA proficiency rises by 4.0pp from grade 6 to grade 8 at this school. District average: +2.1pp.

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

Funding Breakdown
Instruction 62%Support 37%Other 1%

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

Neighborhood Context
Median Income
$148K
$63K above CA median
Median Home Value
$2.00M
$1.34M above CA median
Bachelor's+
66%
31pp above CA avg
Whole Child
Teacher experience, college/career readiness, and more. Context only — never part of the Scope Score.
Teacher Experience
16.9 years avg experience
33 teachers · 3% first-year
Teacher Credentials
94% 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

8169'19'22'23'24'25
↓ 11.5 points since 2019
Rank: #150 → #124 → #82 → #218 → #141Exceeded: 49% → 39% → 41% → 39% → 39%
2019 · 2022 · 2023 · 2024 · 2025 · No testing 2020–21 (COVID) · Scope Score based on CAASPP, absenteeism & suspension data

How Thurston Middle compares

Thurston Middle vs. California averages — 2025 CAASPP data
MetricThis schoolCA avg
Exceeded Standard38.9%17.3%
Met or Exceeded75.7%39.5%
Chronic Absenteeism6.7%19.1%
Suspension Rate4.4%4.2%
Cohort GrowthAbove avgAverage

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
74.0%78.8%G6G7G8
Math Trajectory
72.0%77.1%G6G7G8

ELA scores by grade

GradeTestedExceededMetNearly MetNot MetMet+Above
6th16933.7%40.2%19.5%6.5%74.0%
7th18433.7%43.5%17.4%5.4%77.2%
8th17024.1%54.7%13.5%7.7%78.8%

Math scores by grade

GradeTestedExceededMetNearly MetNot MetMet+Above
6th16847.0%25.0%18.4%9.5%72.0%
7th18342.6%32.2%16.9%8.2%74.9%
8th17052.4%24.7%10.0%12.9%77.1%

Science scores by grade

GradeTestedExceededMetNearly MetNot MetMet+Above
8th17129.8%40.4%25.1%4.7%70.2%

171 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

Feeder patterns derived from NCES attendance boundary data. Boundaries are approximate and may have changed — verify with your school district for current assignments.

Schools nearby

Frequently asked questions

Is Thurston Middle a good middle school?
Thurston Middle has a Scope Score of 69 out of 100, placing it in the 92nd percentile of California middle schools and ranked #141 statewide. 38.9% of students exceeded the state standard on the 2025 CAASPP assessment, which is 21.6 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 Thurston Middle's CAASPP test scores?
On the 2025 CAASPP Smarter Balanced Assessment, 75.7% of students at Thurston Middle met or exceeded the state standard in ELA and Math combined, and 38.9% exceeded it. The gap between those numbers matters: 36.7% of students are at the proficiency floor, while 38.9% 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. 1,044 student-subject combinations were assessed.
How does Thurston Middle rank in California?
Thurston Middle ranks #141 among California middle schools by Scope Score, placing it in the 92nd 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 Thurston Middle getting better or worse?
Based on 2025 CAASPP data, proficiency at Thurston Middle increases by 5.0 percentage points from Grade 6 to grade 8 growth. This upward trajectory suggests the school is adding measurable value — students leave with higher proficiency rates than they entered with. 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 Thurston Middle?
6.7% of students at Thurston Middle are chronically absent (missing 10% or more of school days), which is better than the California average of 19.1%. The suspension rate is 4.4%. 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 Thurston Middle compare to other schools in Laguna Beach?
Thurston Middle scores 69/100 (92nd 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 519 students. Use the schools in Laguna Beach page or the map view to compare all middle schools nearby.
How does Thurston Middle serve low-income and underrepresented students?
At Thurston Middle in Laguna Beach, 62.1% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 65.1% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Thurston Middle trails its district average for low-income students by 3.0 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (52.8% Math proficient); White students (76.3% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 33.8 percentage points for disabilities students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 95 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.
← Browse all schoolsDownload CSV

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