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Cactus Medical, Health and Technology Magnet Acade · PalmdaleMagnet

Cactus Medical, Health and Technology Magnet Acade: The scores are below where anyone wants them. Here's what they don't tell you.

Cactus Medical, Health and Technology Magnet Acade posts low test scores — and grade 8 tests above grade 6 here this year, by 1.8pp. If this is your zoned school, the numbers below are where to start a conversation, not where to end one.

3243 East Avenue R-8, 93550 (opens in new tab)·Palmdale Elementary·Palmdale·Grades 6-8·Magnet·2024–25 CAASPP·(661) 273-0847·Website
Magnet program — specialized public school with themed curriculum. Enrollment via district lottery, not neighborhood-based.
2019–2025 trend · CDE CAASPP
This schoolCA avg
Scope1638
% Exceeded5%17%
% Met+19%39%
Growth (2023 G6 → 2025 G8)Weak · p33Average · p50
Absence34.4%18.5%
Suspension14.9%3.7%
Scope Score
16
🌱 Building Momentum · Needs Support
ranked #2,110 statewide · #10 of 13 in Palmdale Elementary

Cactus Medical, Health and Technology Magnet Acade scores 16 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 6th percentile of 2,238 California middle schools (CDE CAASPP 2025).

Measures test performance, attendance, and climate — not arts, community, or your kid. How we score →

🌱 Building Momentum — This label means the data doesn't clearly sort the school one way or the other — ask what the school is proud of, and what it's working on.

CDE CAASPP 2025

Most rating sites would stop at “19% proficient” and call it done. Cactus Medical, Health and Technology Magnet Acade deserves a closer read. It sits at the 6th percentile of 2,238 California middle schools — but the ranking is the least interesting thing on this page.

Test scores are one lens, and at this school they're a rough one right now. The sections below show the fuller picture — including the parts that are working.

The seven-year arc

Percentile among 2,238 middle schools statewide

Has stayed near the 6th percentile since 2019.

CA Dashboard
ELAYellow(Increased)MathRed(Maintained)

The pandemic drop is behind this school: 19% of students meet the standard today, above the 14% who did in 2019.

ELA — % met or exceeded, by grade
Grade20192022202320242025
Grade 617%28%20%24%23%
Grade 717%35%28%27%35%
Grade 825%25%26%23%25%
Math — % met or exceeded, by grade
Grade20192022202320242025
Grade 66%6%7%12%8%
Grade 79%8%9%8%14%
Grade 89%8%12%6%9%

The story this school is actually telling

The school, grade by grade

ELA · CAASPP 2024–25

Different students, same year — each bar is one grade's proficiency mix.

15%
78%
Grade 6 · 22% proficient
8%
26%
66%
Grade 7 · 34% proficient
21%
75%
Grade 8 · 25% proficient

The 6 things our score weighs

Exceeded standard
5.4%
State 16.8%
11.5pp below state avg
Met or exceeded
18.8%
State 39.3%
20.5pp below state avg
Growth (2023 G6 → 2025 G8)
Weak
State average
The same students gained 32 scale-score points across the span. Almost every school gains points, so we rank the gain against every other California school in this level.
Chronic absenteeism
34.4%
State 18.5%
15.9pp above state avg
Suspension rate
14.9%
State 3.7%
11.2pp above state avg
EL proficiency (ELPAC)
19.3%
State 18.0%
1.3pp above state avg

California's own answer to the same question

Context — never part of the Scope Score

California runs its own growth model, following individual children in grades 4 through 8 rather than comparing school-wide averages the way we do — and its two subjects part company here. It puts this school around the 57th percentile of California middle schools in reading and the 6th in math; ours, which blends the subjects, lands around the 33rd. A gap that size between reading and math in one building is worth asking about directly — one year of data can't tell you whether it is the teaching, the cohort, or noise.

Both measures, ranked against every California school
Our growth measuresame cohort, G6→G8SchoolScope growth measure: 33rd percentile among California middle schools.33rd pctile
State model · readingmatched students, grades 4-8California growth model, reading: +3 scale-score points versus the state's expectation, 57th percentile of 7,519 reported schools.57th pctile · +3 pts
State model · mathmatched students, grades 4-8California growth model, math: −19 scale-score points versus the state's expectation, 6th percentile of 7,518 reported schools.6th pctile · −19 pts
this school| the tick is the middle of the California field

— pts vs expected is scale-score points above or below what California's model predicted for these same children from their own prior-year scores. It is not a percentage and not a percent of anything. A typical California middle school lands at −1 in reading, and the middle half of them fall between −8 and +6 — the spread is wide, so read the rank, not the sign. CDE blends two consecutive years into each published figure, so adjacent years share input data and no year-over-year trend can honestly be drawn from them. It covers grades 4-8 only, and it is not part of the Scope Score — we assessed it and left it out: it tracks school demographics roughly three times as strongly as our own growth measure does, and one published year is not enough to test how stable it is.

Worth a school visit

Ask what changed in the last two years, and what the school is asking families for. Growth shows up in these numbers a year or two after it shows up in classrooms.

  • Ask how the school follows up when a student starts missing days — chronic absence often starts outside the classroom, not inside it.
  • Ask what typically leads to a suspension, and what happens before it gets there.
  • Ask whether the tour can step into a working classroom — watch how the teacher handles a student who's stuck.
  • Ask to tour while school's in session, and notice how hallways and transitions feel — culture shows up between classes, not just in them.
  • Ask how the school communicates with families when a child starts to struggle.
  • Ask what a typical day looks like for a new student in the first few weeks.

How every group of students does here

At Cactus Medical, Health and Technology Magnet Acade in Palmdale, 25.9% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 27.8% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Cactus Medical, Health and Technology Magnet Acade trails its district average for low-income students by 1.9 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (9.2% Math proficient); Hispanic students (29.0% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 23.6 percentage points for english learner students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 706 students tested.

All students at this school: 19% met or exceeded
All StudentsAll Students: this school 19%, district —, state 39%19%
Socioeconomically DisadvantagedSocioeconomically Disadvantaged: this school 18%, district 22%, state 32%18% · −1 vs school
Hispanic/LatinoHispanic/Latino: this school 20%, district 26%, state 32%20% · +1 vs school
MaleMale: this school 18%, district 24%, state 42%18% · −1 vs school
FemaleFemale: this school 20%, district 25%, state 44%20% · +1 vs school
Students with DisabilitiesStudents with Disabilities: this school 3%, district 6%, state 15%3% · −16 vs school
English LearnersEnglish Learners: this school 2%, district 5%, state 11%2% · −17 vs school
Black/African AmericanBlack/African American: this school 14%, district 13%, state 26%14% · −5 vs school
WhiteWhite: this school 12%, district 34%, state 56%12% · −7 vs school

8 of 17 student groups here are too small to report — a privacy protection, not a gap.

this school district, same group California, same group
Subgroup growth by grade

Change in proficiency from the lowest tested grade — which groups gain ground the longer they stay. Groups with fewer than 10 tested students per grade are not shown.

Low-income student ELA proficiency rises by 1.8pp from grade 6 to grade 8 at this school. District average: +5.0pp.

The state's growth model, by student group

California follows these children individually and predicts each one's score from their own prior year. Each row is read against the same group at a typical California middle school — not against zero, and not against this school's all-students figure, because the state's expectation already differs by group.

Reading
Low-income students630 studentsLow-income students, reading: +2 scale-score points versus expectation, against −3 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 630 students.+2 pts · +5 vs typical
Hispanic or Latino students550 studentsHispanic or Latino students, reading: +2 scale-score points versus expectation, against −2 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 550 students.+2 pts · +4 vs typical
English Only430 studentsEnglish Only, reading: +3 scale-score points versus expectation, against 0 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 430 students.+3 pts · +3 vs typical
English Learner199 studentsEnglish Learner, reading: +4 scale-score points versus expectation, against −5 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 199 students.+4 pts · +9 vs typical
Students with disabilities117 studentsStudents with disabilities, reading: −15 scale-score points versus expectation, against −13 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 117 students.−15 pts · −2 vs typical
Math
Low-income students626 studentsLow-income students, math: −20 scale-score points versus expectation, against −5 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 626 students.−20 pts · −15 vs typical
Hispanic or Latino students547 studentsHispanic or Latino students, math: −21 scale-score points versus expectation, against −6 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 547 students.−21 pts · −15 vs typical
English Only428 studentsEnglish Only, math: −18 scale-score points versus expectation, against −3 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 428 students.−18 pts · −15 vs typical
English Learner198 studentsEnglish Learner, math: −21 scale-score points versus expectation, against −3 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 198 students.−21 pts · −18 vs typical
Students with disabilities117 studentsStudents with disabilities, math: −26 scale-score points versus expectation, against −8 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 117 students.−26 pts · −18 vs typical
this school typical California middle school, same group| the centre tick is 0 = as predicted

— 3 more groups are reported here with between 11 and 29 students. We hold those back on purpose: at that size the figure swings about 17 points on its own, and a quarter of such groups land past the state's top or bottom cut point by chance alone. They are listed with their student counts in the data appendix. — A group not listed at all had fewer than 11 students with a growth score, so California published nothing for it here. That is a privacy protection, not a judgment about those students. — Context only. None of this enters the Scope Score.

Showing up, and staying in class

Chronic absenteeismChronic absenteeism: this school 34.4%, district 29.9%, state 18.5%34.4% · +15.9pp vs state
Suspension rateSuspension rate: this school 14.9%, district —, state 3.7%14.9% · +11.2pp vs state
Chronic absenteeism by grade band
Grades 4–630.1%
Grades 7–837.0%

Where the path goes

The path below follows attendance boundaries — scores shown for each next step.

K-12 Feeder Path
▼
Middle
Cactus Medical, Health and Tec…Magnet
16/100
This school

Estimated path based on proximity within the same district. Contact your school district for official feeder information.

Palmdale Academy CharterScope 49estimated path

The road from this school ends at Palmdale Academy Charter, which sent 6 graduates to UC campuses last fall and teaches 13 AP subjects. Those numbers describe past cohorts — a child starting here today would reach Palmdale Academy Charter around 2031, and 6 years is a long time for a school to hold still.

6 UC ENROLLEES (FALL 2025) · 13 AP SUBJECTS TAUGHT → full record on Palmdale Academy Charter's page
Source: UC & College Board

The people teaching here

Context — never part of the Scope Score
Teaching staff44 teachers
Avg. experience11.2 years
Fully credentialed89%
First-year teachers11%
Intern / emergency permit2.5%
Salary Schedule
Teacher salary schedule$58,752 – $131,333
Principal salary$148,872 – $157,080
Superintendent salary$334,851

Pay is set by the district, not the school.

What gets spent here

Context — never part of the Scope Score
Per-pupil spendingPer-pupil spending: $21,877, CA average $14,491$21,877 · spent at this school
Federal share$607 per student

$607 per student arrives as federal Title funding — a measure of concentrated need, not school quality.

District current expense · FY 2024–25$22,456 per student

The district's current expense of education per student, from CDE's annual SACS filing — the freshest district spending figure the state publishes.

Where the district's dollars go · FY 2024–25 · CDE SACS
Instruction59%
Instruction support11%
Student services12%
Administration7%
Buildings & maintenance10%

District-level, from the district's own SACS general-ledger filing — school-by-school breakdowns aren't published by the state.

district detail, 2016–2020 — the newest published
2020$15,361 per pupil
2019$14,286 per pupil
2018$13,697 per pupil
2017$12,106 per pupil
2016$11,281 per pupil

Source: NCES F-33 · Full district breakdown →

The neighborhood it serves

Context — never part of the Scope Score
Hispanic79.4%
District 78.6% · CA 56.1%
Black12.9%
District 12.5% · CA 4.8%
White3.7%
District 4.0% · CA 19.9%
Other3.7%
District 4.3% · CA 9.0%
Asian0.4%
District 0.6% · CA 10.2%
Neighborhood — American Community Survey
Median income$62K · CA $85K
Median home value$421K · CA $659K
Bachelor's degree+10% · CA 35%
ZIP population80,645
Median age31 years

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2024) · ZIP-level

Worth Knowing

On the state's science test (CAST), 8% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 and once in high school, and it never enters the Scope Score.

Frequently asked questions

Is Cactus Medical, Health and Technology Magnet Acade a good middle school?

Cactus Medical, Health and Technology Magnet Acade has a Scope Score of 16 out of 100, placing it in the 6th percentile of California middle schools and ranked #2,110 statewide. 5.4% of students exceeded the state standard on the 2025 CAASPP assessment, which is 11.5 percentage points below the California average of 16.8%. The Scope Score weights 6 dimensions for middle schools: exceeded standard (42%), met or exceeded (proficient) (23%), grade 6-to-8 growth (20%), chronic absenteeism (5%), suspension rate (5%), and ELPAC English Learner proficiency (5%). Data source: California Department of Education CAASPP 2025, analyzed by SchoolScope.

What are Cactus Medical, Health and Technology Magnet Acade's CAASPP test scores?

On the 2025 CAASPP Smarter Balanced Assessment, 18.8% of students at Cactus Medical, Health and Technology Magnet Acade met or exceeded the state standard in ELA and Math combined, and 5.4% exceeded it. The gap between those numbers matters: 13.5% of students are at the proficiency floor, while 5.4% 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. 1,595 student-subject combinations were assessed.

How does Cactus Medical, Health and Technology Magnet Acade rank in California?

Cactus Medical, Health and Technology Magnet Acade ranks #2,110 among California middle schools by Scope Score, placing it in the 6th percentile. This ranking is based on a weighted composite of 2025 CAASPP test performance (exceeded and met rates), same-cohort growth (2023 G6 → 2025 G8), 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 Cactus Medical, Health and Technology Magnet Acade getting better or worse?

SchoolScope follows the same cohort of students across grades rather than comparing two different grades in the same year. At Cactus Medical, Health and Technology Magnet Acade that cohort is 2023 G6 → 2025 G8, measured in SBAC scale-score points. Its gain ranks weak among California middle schools — roughly the 33rd percentile, behind the typical school at this level. Read the ranking, not the raw point gain: scale scores rise with age, so nearly every school posts a positive number and only the relative position tells you anything. Growth is weighted at 20% in the middle Scope Score because it is the least demographically confounded signal available — it tracks change over time rather than the level students arrived at. See full methodology.

What is the attendance and school culture like at Cactus Medical, Health and Technology Magnet Acade?

34.4% of students at Cactus Medical, Health and Technology Magnet Acade are chronically absent (missing 10% or more of school days), compared to the California average of 18.5%. The suspension rate is 14.9%. 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 Cactus Medical, Health and Technology Magnet Acade compare to other schools in Palmdale?

Cactus Medical, Health and Technology Magnet Acade scores 16/100 (6th 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. Use the schools in Palmdale page or the map view to compare all middle schools nearby.

How does Cactus Medical, Health and Technology Magnet Acade serve low-income and underrepresented students?

At Cactus Medical, Health and Technology Magnet Acade in Palmdale, 25.9% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 27.8% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Cactus Medical, Health and Technology Magnet Acade trails its district average for low-income students by 1.9 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (9.2% Math proficient); Hispanic students (29.0% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 23.6 percentage points for english learner students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 706 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.

Your other options

All schools in Palmdale →

Private alternatives nearby

Private schools within ~10 miles. These schools do not participate in state testing and cannot be scored or ranked.

A low score doesn't tell the whole story. Read: Your School Scored Low — Here's What That Actually Means

For the data nerds

Every number on this page

Score factors, grade-level breakdowns, subgroup proficiency, and nearest schools.

01Score factorsWeighted composite · 2024–25
Exceeded standard · 42%
5.4%
↓ vs CA 16.8% · 37th pctile
Met or exceeded · 23%
18.8%
↓ vs CA 39.3% · 33th pctile
Growth (2023 G6 → 2025 G8) · 20%
Weak
↓ vs CA average · 33th pctile
Chronic absenteeism · 5%
34.4%
↓ vs CA 18.5% · 28th pctile
▲ 1.6pp higher vs 2024
Suspension rate · 5%
14.9%
↓ vs CA 3.7% · 5th pctile
▲ 2.7pp higher vs 2024
EL proficiency (ELPAC) · 5%
19.3%
↑ vs CA 18.0% · 47th pctile
02By grade & subgroupCAASPP 2024–25 · % of tested students
ELATestedEXCMETNEARNOTMET++/CA
Grade 62607%15%28%49%23%−23
Grade 72888%26%25%40%35%−13
Grade 82514%21%30%45%25%−21
MathTestedEXCMETNEARNOTMET++/CA
Grade 62593%5%21%71%8%−27
Grade 72876%8%21%65%14%−20
Grade 82503%6%15%76%9%−23

We show the grade rows CDE publishes for this school. A missing grade or dash can mean the school does not serve that grade, no valid result was published, or the tested group was too small to report. It does not mean zero.

Science (CAST)TestedEXCMETNEARNOT
Schoolwide2521%7%53%39%

CAST is tested in grades 5 and 8, then once in grade 10, 11, or 12. This row is the school's all-student aggregate. Not part of the Scope Score.

Subgroup · ELATestedMET+vs districtvs CA
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged70625.9%−2−12
Hispanic/Latino62029.0%−3−10
Students with Disabilities1334.5%−3−12
03Nearest middle schoolssorted by Scope Score · Grade gap = grade 3 vs grade 5, this year, different students; Cohort growth = the same students tracked across grades, in scale-score points — that's the measurement the Scope Score weights
SchoolDistScopeEXCMET+Grade gapCohort growthSusp
Cactus Medical, Health and Technology Magnet Acade ←—165.4%18.8%+1.8pp+32 pts14.9%
Space Aeronautics Gateway to Exploration Magnet Ac1.5 mi244.5%19.3%+2.6pp—9.4%
Desert Willow Fine Arts, Science and Technology Ma1.5 mi195.0%19.9%+5.6pp—10.7%
California average—3816.8%39.3%+1.5pp—3.7%
04More measurescontext · not all part of the Scope Score
YearScopePctileRankExcMet+AbsentSuspGrade gap
2019112#19682.7%14.0%20.4%22.8%+5.2pp
20221711#19183.6%18.5%23.2%11.8%-0.3pp
20231612#19203.9%17.3%18.2%13.1%+5.6pp
2024189#20203.2%16.8%32.8%12.2%-3.5pp
2025166#21105.4%18.8%34.4%14.9%+1.8pp
Grade gap = this year's grade 3 vs grade 5 result, two different sets of students, not a trend for any one child — it is not the measurement the Scope Score's growth dimension uses. See §01 above and /methodology#verdicts for the school's actual scored (cohort) growth.
NO STATEWIDE TESTING 2020–21 (COVID) · SCORE AND PERCENTILE ARE RELATIVE TO EACH YEAR'S FIELD
What we can't show
  • — Low-income students here trail the state average for their group by 12 points in ELA — worth asking how the school is closing that gap.
05Climate by student groupchronic absenteeism · 2019 vs 2025 — the two years CDE publishes at subgroup level
Group20192025Δ
Female21.2%36.6%+15.4pp
Male19.9%32.7%+12.8pp
Black/African American36.1%41.4%+5.3pp
Hispanic/Latino17.2%33.3%+16.1pp
Students with Disabilities31.6%37.4%+5.8pp
English Learners17.9%27.6%+9.7pp
Foster Youth39.0%45.8%+6.8pp
Homeless56.3%57.6%+1.3pp
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged21.1%36.0%+14.9pp
All Students20.5%34.7%+14.2pp
Two or More Races—43.8%—
11California growth model, by student group2025 · scale-score points vs the state's prediction · shown, never scored
GroupReadingnCDE bandMathnCDE band
All Students+3697Average−19693Moderate
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged+2630Average−20626Moderate
Hispanic or Latino+2550Average−21547Minimal
English Only+3430not categorised−18428not categorised
English Learner+4199Average−21198Minimal
Students with Disabilities−15117Moderate−26117Minimal
Recently Reclassified Fluent-English Proficient Only+13101not categorised−15100not categorised
English Learners Only−498not categorised−2798not categorised
Long-Term English Learner (grades 6-8 only)−397Average−2997Minimal
Black or African American+993Accelerated−793Moderate
White−730Moderate−1130Moderate
Homeless Youth+317Average−317Average
Two or More Races+2213Exceptional−1912Moderate
Foster Youth−2211Minimal−2011Moderate

Whole scale-score points above or below what CDE's model predicted for these same children from their own prior-year scores — not a percentage, not a percentile. Statewide a typical school lands near +1 with a spread of about 13 points either side, so read a figure against its group's own typical value, not against zero. Muted rows have fewer than 30 students with a growth score — published by CDE, held back from the narrative sections above because at that size the figure swings about 17 points on its own. “Not categorised” is CDE assigning no band — English Only, Recently Reclassified, and English Learners Only receive a value and no band, for every school in the state. It is not a missing number. Long-Term English Learner counts cover grades 6-8 only (CDE), so that row is not comparable to the All Students row. Most figures blend two consecutive years, so adjacent published years share input data and no trend line can honestly be drawn across them. A group absent from this table had fewer than 11 students with a growth score and was never published. Grades 4-8 only. None of this enters the Scope Score — it is more strongly correlated with school demographics than our own growth measure, and one published year is not enough to test its reliability.

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EXC = exceeded standard · MET+ = met or exceeded ("proficient") · Source: CA Dept. of Education · CAASPP 2024–25 · n=2,238 middle schools · Vintages: climate subgroups 2019+2025 · district finance per its label · ACS 2022 · Data updated 2026-07-03methodology · data updates · CSV · report issue

SchoolScope scores and verdicts are our interpretation of public California Department of Education data — independent analysis, not an official rating. How we analyze · Request a correction

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