How does Cajon Valley Middle compare to other middle schools in El Cajon?

Cajon Valley Middle has a Scope Score of 18.8/100, ranked #1565 among California middle schools. 3% of students exceed standard, with a total of 1,885 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at Cajon Valley Middle?

3.3% of students at Cajon Valley Middle exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 14.8% meet or exceed it. The gap between these two numbers reveals whether the school pushes students beyond basic proficiency.

Is Cajon Valley Middle improving or declining?

Based on CAASPP data, Cajon Valley Middle's proficiency rate increases by 3.7 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 Cajon Valley Middle?

30.5% of students at Cajon Valley 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.

Cajon Valley Middle

Middle School

Cajon Valley Union El CajonSan Diego County92020

📍 550 Park Avenue

Scope Score

out of 100

State Rank

of 1,714 California middle schools

📈

On the Rise

On an upward trajectory — scores are improving faster than average. Worth a closer look.

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

930 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

21:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

92%

Teachers

44 full-time

Dashboard indicators

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

ELA Year-over-Year

Declined

-7.0 pts DFS change

Math Year-over-Year

Declined

-12.1 pts DFS change

EL Proficiency (ELPAC)

15.6%

English learners at Level 4 (Well Developed) · 430 tested

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic39.3%

White36.5%

Asian6.6%

Black10.3%

Other7.4%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for Cajon Valley Middle
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	3.3%
Met Standard	11.5%
Below Standard	85.2%

Score Factors

Helping

✓Growth (G6→G8): +3.7pp

Scores improve across grades (state avg +0.8pp)

15% weight

Holding Back

▼Exceeded standard: 3.3%

14.0pp below state avg (state avg 17.3%)

30% weight

▼Met or exceeded: 14.8%

24.7pp below state avg (state avg 39.5%)

20% weight

▼Chronic absenteeism: 30.5%

11.2pp above state avg (state avg 19.3%)

15% weight

▼Baseline proficiency: 14.8%

Below state baseline (state avg 39.5%)

10% weight

▼Suspension rate: 7.2%

3.1pp 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 "15% proficient" for Cajon Valley Middle and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

3.3% of students exceeded standard while 11.5% met it. That exceeded rate is 14.0 points below the state average of 17.3%. That's 7.7 points below the Cajon Valley Union district average of 11.0%. Nearby schools (within ~3 miles) average 4.5% exceeded — about the same. The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

Students here improve by 3.7 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 declined year-over-year. 15.6% of English learners reached Level 4 (Well Developed) on ELPAC.

Chronic absenteeism is 30.5%, above the state average of 19.3%.

Why the exceeded vs. met split matters →

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

Key metrics

% Exceeded Standard

3.3%

Students scoring above proficient

% Met or Above

14.8%

Students meeting standard

Growth (G6→G8)

+3.7pp

Change in proficiency rate

Chronic Absenteeism

30.5%

Students missing 10%+ of days

Suspension Rate

7.2%

Students suspended at least once

Total Tested

1,885

Across all grades & subjects

Grade trajectory

How proficiency compares across grade levels this year (different students, same test year)

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	184	3.8%	12.5%	23.4%	60.3%	16.3%
7th	368	3.0%	14.7%	23.9%	58.4%	17.7%
8th	397	2.8%	15.1%	25.7%	56.4%	17.9%

Math scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
6th	183	2.7%	7.1%	20.8%	69.4%	9.8%
7th	363	2.5%	9.1%	15.7%	72.7%	11.6%
8th	390	5.1%	10.5%	21.3%	63.1%	15.6%

K-12 Feeder PathBoundary data

Elementary

Also serves area

▼

Middle

Cajon Valley Middle

18.8# in state

This school

▼

High School

No feeder data available for this level

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