How does Challenger Middle compare to other middle schools in San Diego?

Challenger Middle has a SchoolScope composite score of 62.0/100, placing it at the 90th percentile statewide. 39% of students exceed standard, with a total of 1,831 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at Challenger Middle?

39.0% of students at Challenger Middle exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 68.0% meet or exceed it. The gap between these two numbers reveals whether the school pushes students beyond basic proficiency.

Is Challenger Middle improving or declining?

Based on CAASPP data, Challenger Middle's proficiency rate increases by 2.0 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 Challenger Middle?

10.6% of students at Challenger 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.

Challenger Middle

Middle School

San Diego Unified San DiegoSan Diego County92126

📍 10810 Parkdale Avenue

Composite Score

out of 100

State Percentile

of middle schools

State Rank

of 1,714 California middle schools

🤝

Culture First

Strong school culture with high family engagement, even if test scores are still developing.

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

918 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

24:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

47%

Teachers

38 full-time

Dashboard indicators

ELA Year-over-Year

Maintained

+2.5 pts DFS change

Math Year-over-Year

Maintained

+1.8 pts DFS change

EL Proficiency (ELPAC)

38.1%

English learners at Level 4 (Well Developed) · 42 tested

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic19.7%

White14.4%

Asian27.8%

Black2.1%

Other36.1%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for Challenger Middle
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	39.0%
Met Standard	29.0%
Below Standard	32.0%

What other rankings don't show you

Most rating sites report "68% proficient" for Challenger Middle and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

39.0% of students exceeded standard while 29.0% met it. That exceeded rate is 21.7 points above the state average of 17.3%. That's 14.6 points above the San Diego Unified district average of 24.4%. Compared to the 1 nearby schools within ~3 miles, this exceeded rate is 19.6 points higher (vs 19.4% average). The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

Students here improve by 2.0 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. 38.1% of English learners reached Level 4 (Well Developed) on ELPAC.

Chronic absenteeism is 10.6%, better than the state average of 19.3%.

Why the exceeded vs. met split matters →

Key metrics

% Exceeded Standard

39.0%

Students scoring above proficient

% Met or Above

68.0%

Students meeting standard

Growth (G6→G8)

+2.0pp

Change in proficiency rate

Chronic Absenteeism

10.6%

Students missing 10%+ of days

Suspension Rate

1.5%

Students suspended at least once

Total Tested

1,831

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	319	42.0%	30.4%	16.3%	11.3%	72.4%
7th	305	34.1%	41.3%	14.1%	10.5%	75.4%
8th	290	29.3%	41.0%	15.5%	14.1%	70.3%

Math scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
6th	320	41.6%	18.8%	22.8%	16.9%	60.3%
7th	306	39.9%	23.2%	24.2%	12.8%	63.1%
8th	291	47.1%	19.2%	15.1%	18.6%	66.3%

K-12 Feeder PathBoundary data

Elementary

Jonas Salk Elementary

▼

Middle

Challenger Middle

62.090th pctile

This school

▼

High School

Mira Mesa High

66.587th pctile

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