How does Borel Middle compare to other middle schools in San Mateo?

Borel Middle has a Scope Score of 64.4/100, ranked #511 among California middle schools. 23% of students exceed standard, with a total of 1,749 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at Borel Middle?

23.3% of students at Borel Middle exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 43.1% meet or exceed it. The gap between these two numbers reveals whether the school pushes students beyond basic proficiency.

Is Borel Middle improving or declining?

Based on CAASPP data, Borel Middle's proficiency rate increases by 11.3 percentage points from Grade 6 to grade 8 growth. This suggests the school may be adding value over time.

What is the chronic absenteeism rate at Borel Middle?

19.0% of students at Borel 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 the Scope Score.

Borel Middle

Middle School

San Mateo-Foster City San MateoSan Mateo County94402

📍 425 Barneson Avenue

Scope Score

out of 100

State Rank

of 1,714 California middle schools

🚀

Growth Engine

A growth engine — students gain measurably more here than at peer schools.

Scope 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

934 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

19:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

40%

Teachers

49 full-time

Dashboard indicators

How this school's scores changed from last year to this year

ELA Year-over-Year

Maintained

+1.0 pts DFS change

Math Year-over-Year

Maintained

-2.2 pts DFS change

EL Proficiency (ELPAC)

14.2%

English learners at Level 4 (Well Developed) · 226 tested

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic49.9%

White20.2%

Asian13.1%

Black0.9%

Other15.9%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for Borel Middle
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	23.3%
Met Standard	19.8%
Below Standard	56.9%

Score Factors

Helping

✓Exceeded standard: 23.3%

6.0pp above state avg (state avg 17.3%)

30% weight

✓Met or exceeded: 43.1%

3.6pp above state avg (state avg 39.5%)

20% weight

✓Growth (G6→G8): +11.3pp

Scores improve across grades (state avg +0.8pp)

15% weight

✓Chronic absenteeism: 19.0%

0.3pp below state avg (state avg 19.3%)

15% weight

✓Baseline proficiency: 43.1%

Above state baseline (state avg 39.5%)

10% weight

Holding Back

▼Suspension rate: 4.2%

0.1pp above state avg (state avg 4.1%)

10% weight

Unlike traditional school ratings, we show our work. Every factor, its weight, and how this school compares to the state average — so you can decide what matters most to your family. The middle school Scope Score is weighted across 6 dimensions. See full methodology →

What other rankings don't show you

Most rating sites report "43% proficient" for Borel Middle and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

23.3% of students exceeded standard while 19.8% met it. That exceeded rate is 6.0 points above the state average of 17.3%. That's 5.7 points below the San Mateo-Foster City district average of 29.1%. The 3 nearby schools within ~3 miles average 45.3% exceeded — 22.0 points higher. The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

Students here improve by 11.3 percentage points from Grade 6 to grade 8 growth, suggesting the school is adding value beyond what students arrive with.

California's Dashboard shows ELA performance maintained and Math maintained year-over-year. 14.2% of English learners reached Level 4 (Well Developed) on ELPAC.

Chronic absenteeism is 19.0%, better than the state average of 19.3%.

Why the exceeded vs. met split matters →