How does Bowditch Middle compare to other middle schools in Foster City?

Bowditch Middle has a SchoolScope composite score of 66.2/100, placing it at the 94th percentile statewide. 47% of students exceed standard, with a total of 1,776 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at Bowditch Middle?

47.4% of students at Bowditch Middle exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 74.1% meet or exceed it. The gap between these two numbers reveals whether the school pushes students beyond basic proficiency.

Is Bowditch Middle improving or declining?

Based on CAASPP data, Bowditch Middle's proficiency rate increases by 2.3 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 Bowditch Middle?

9.1% of students at Bowditch 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.

Bowditch Middle

Middle School

San Mateo-Foster City Foster CitySan Mateo County94404

📍 1450 Tarpon Street

Composite Score

out of 100

State Percentile

of middle schools

State Rank

of 1,714 California middle schools

💪

Strong All-Around

Strong across every dimension we measure — academics, growth, culture, and engagement.

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

893 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

21:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

18%

Teachers

43 full-time

Dashboard indicators

ELA Year-over-Year

Declined

-5.6 pts DFS change

Math Year-over-Year

Maintained

+1.2 pts DFS change

EL Proficiency (ELPAC)

20.8%

English learners at Level 4 (Well Developed) · 72 tested

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic15.1%

White16.8%

Asian51.5%

Black1.2%

Other15.3%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for Bowditch Middle
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	47.4%
Met Standard	26.7%
Below Standard	25.9%

What other rankings don't show you

Most rating sites report "74% proficient" for Bowditch Middle and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

47.4% of students exceeded standard while 26.7% met it. That exceeded rate is 30.1 points above the state average of 17.3%. That's 18.3 points above the San Mateo-Foster City district average of 29.1%. The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

Students here improve by 2.3 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 declined and Math maintained year-over-year. 20.8% of English learners reached Level 4 (Well Developed) on ELPAC.

Chronic absenteeism is 9.1%, better than the state average of 19.3%.

Why the exceeded vs. met split matters →