How does Bernardo Heights Middle compare to other middle schools in San Diego?

Bernardo Heights Middle has a SchoolScope composite score of 58.4/100, placing it at the 86th percentile statewide. 35% of students exceed standard, with a total of 2,839 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at Bernardo Heights Middle?

35.1% of students at Bernardo Heights Middle exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 66.1% meet or exceed it. The gap between these two numbers reveals whether the school pushes students beyond basic proficiency.

Is Bernardo Heights Middle improving or declining?

Based on CAASPP data, Bernardo Heights Middle's proficiency rate decreases by 1.4 percentage points from Grade 6 to grade 8 growth. This pattern in test scores may reflect a variety of factors beyond the school itself.

What is the chronic absenteeism rate at Bernardo Heights Middle?

11.7% of students at Bernardo Heights Middle are chronically absent (missing 10% or more of school days). This metric reflects school culture and family engagement, and is weighted at 15% in our composite score.

Bernardo Heights Middle

Middle School

Poway Unified San DiegoSan Diego County92128

📍 12990 Paseo Lucido

Composite Score

out of 100

State Percentile

of middle schools

State Rank

of 1,714 California middle schools

🌱

Building Momentum

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Composite scores are SchoolScope's analysis of public data from the California Dept. of Education (CAASPP, chronic absenteeism, suspension rates). They are not official CDE ratings and should not be the sole basis for school decisions. See methodology.

School overview

Enrollment

1,501 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

24:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

15%

Teachers

63 full-time

Dashboard indicators

ELA Year-over-Year

Increased

+9.6 pts DFS change

Math Year-over-Year

Increased

+12.5 pts DFS change

EL Proficiency (ELPAC)

27.3%

English learners at Level 4 (Well Developed) · 55 tested

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic16.9%

White42.8%

Asian19.6%

Black2.7%

Other18.1%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for Bernardo Heights Middle
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	35.1%
Met Standard	31.0%
Below Standard	33.9%

What other rankings don't show you

Most rating sites report "66% proficient" for Bernardo Heights Middle and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

35.1% of students exceeded standard while 31.0% met it. That exceeded rate is 17.8 points above the state average of 17.3%. That's 8.7 points below the Poway Unified district average of 43.7%. Compared to the 1 nearby schools within ~3 miles, this exceeded rate is 9.4 points higher (vs 25.7% average). The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

Proficiency drops by 1.4 percentage points from Grade 6 to grade 8 growth — a signal that the school may not be sustaining early gains.

California's Dashboard shows ELA performance increased and Math increased year-over-year. 27.3% of English learners reached Level 4 (Well Developed) on ELPAC.

Chronic absenteeism is 11.7%, better than the state average of 19.3%.

Why the exceeded vs. met split matters →

Key metrics

% Exceeded Standard

35.1%

Students scoring above proficient

% Met or Above

66.1%

Students meeting standard

Growth (G6→G8)

-1.4pp

Change in proficiency rate

Chronic Absenteeism

11.7%

Students missing 10%+ of days

Suspension Rate

2.9%

Students suspended at least once

Total Tested

2,839

Across all grades & subjects

Grade trajectory

ELA Trajectory

G6 → G7 → G8

Math Trajectory

G6 → G7 → G8

ELA scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
6th	472	37.9%	35.2%	17.8%	9.1%	73.1%
7th	478	33.3%	41.2%	17.1%	8.4%	74.5%
8th	470	34.3%	39.8%	16.8%	9.2%	74.0%

Math scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
6th	476	36.5%	23.3%	24.2%	16.0%	59.9%
7th	474	32.1%	27.2%	24.9%	15.8%	59.3%
8th	469	36.5%	19.6%	23.0%	20.9%	56.1%

K-12 Feeder PathBoundary data

Elementary

Westwood Elementary

66.891st pctile

Highland Ranch Elementary

65.089th pctile

Chaparral Elementary

62.185th pctile

Also serves area

Turtleback Elementary

56.578th pctile

Pomerado Elementary

54.274th pctile

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Middle

Bernardo Heights Middle

58.486th pctile

This school

▼

High School

Rancho Bernardo High

66.987th pctile

Feeder patterns derived from 2015-16 NCES attendance boundary data. Boundaries may have changed. Contact your school district for current information.