How does Bret Harte Middle compare to other middle schools in San Jose?

Bret Harte Middle has a SchoolScope composite score of 66.8/100, placing it at the 95th percentile statewide. 51% of students exceed standard, with a total of 1,669 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at Bret Harte Middle?

51.0% of students at Bret Harte Middle exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 77.7% meet or exceed it. The gap between these two numbers reveals whether the school pushes students beyond basic proficiency.

Is Bret Harte Middle improving or declining?

Based on CAASPP data, Bret Harte Middle's proficiency rate decreases by 2.4 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 Bret Harte Middle?

8.7% of students at Bret Harte 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.

Bret Harte Middle

Middle School

San Jose Unified San JoseSanta Clara County95120

📍 7050 Bret Harte Drive

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

910 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

21:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

12%

Teachers

43 full-time

Dashboard indicators

ELA Year-over-Year

Maintained

+2.6 pts DFS change

Math Year-over-Year

Increased

+7.5 pts DFS change

EL Proficiency (ELPAC)

23.4%

English learners at Level 4 (Well Developed) · 47 tested

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic13.6%

White24.3%

Asian51.2%

Black1.5%

Other9.3%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for Bret Harte Middle
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	51.0%
Met Standard	26.7%
Below Standard	22.3%

What other rankings don't show you

Most rating sites report "78% proficient" for Bret Harte Middle and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

51.0% of students exceeded standard while 26.7% met it. That exceeded rate is 33.7 points above the state average of 17.3%. That's 29.4 points above the San Jose Unified district average of 21.7%. Compared to the 1 nearby schools within ~3 miles, this exceeded rate is 12.1 points higher (vs 38.9% average). The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

Proficiency drops by 2.4 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 maintained and Math increased year-over-year. 23.4% of English learners reached Level 4 (Well Developed) on ELPAC.

Chronic absenteeism is 8.7%, better than the state average of 19.3%.

Why the exceeded vs. met split matters →

Key metrics

% Exceeded Standard

51.0%

Students scoring above proficient

% Met or Above

77.7%

Students meeting standard

Growth (G6→G8)

-2.4pp

Change in proficiency rate

Chronic Absenteeism

8.7%

Students missing 10%+ of days

Suspension Rate

3.6%

Students suspended at least once

Total Tested

1,669

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	263	40.3%	36.9%	15.6%	7.2%	77.2%
7th	273	42.5%	35.5%	11.0%	11.0%	78.0%
8th	296	29.4%	41.5%	18.6%	10.5%	71.0%

Math scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
6th	268	61.9%	16.4%	13.1%	8.6%	78.4%
7th	273	66.3%	15.8%	8.8%	9.2%	82.0%
8th	296	65.9%	13.8%	11.2%	9.1%	79.7%

K-12 Feeder PathBoundary data

Elementary

Also serves area

▼

Middle

Bret Harte Middle

66.895th pctile

This school

▼

High School

Leland High

81.298th pctile

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