How does Colonel Mitchell Paige Middle compare to other middle schools in La Quinta?

Colonel Mitchell Paige Middle has a Scope Score of 21.5/100, ranked #1515 among California middle schools. 5% of students exceed standard, with a total of 831 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at Colonel Mitchell Paige Middle?

5.4% of students at Colonel Mitchell Paige Middle exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 20.6% meet or exceed it. The gap between these two numbers reveals whether the school pushes students beyond basic proficiency.

Is Colonel Mitchell Paige Middle improving or declining?

Based on CAASPP data, Colonel Mitchell Paige 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 Colonel Mitchell Paige Middle?

32.5% of students at Colonel Mitchell Paige 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.

Colonel Mitchell Paige Middle

Middle School

Desert Sands Unified La QuintaRiverside County92253

📍 43-495 Palm Royale Drive

Scope Score

out of 100

State Rank

of 1,714 California middle schools

🌱

Building Momentum

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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

397 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

22:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

80%

Teachers

18 full-time

Dashboard indicators

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

ELA Year-over-Year

Increased

+7.7 pts DFS change

Math Year-over-Year

Maintained

+1.6 pts DFS change

EL Proficiency (ELPAC)

19.7%

English learners at Level 4 (Well Developed) · 66 tested

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic72.8%

White15.9%

Asian3.0%

Black1.5%

Other6.8%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for Colonel Mitchell Paige Middle
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	5.4%
Met Standard	15.1%
Below Standard	79.5%

Score Factors

Helping

✓Growth (G6→G8): +2.3pp

Scores improve across grades (state avg +0.8pp)

15% weight

Holding Back

▼Exceeded standard: 5.4%

11.9pp below state avg (state avg 17.3%)

30% weight

▼Met or exceeded: 20.6%

19.0pp below state avg (state avg 39.5%)

20% weight

▼Chronic absenteeism: 32.5%

13.2pp above state avg (state avg 19.3%)

15% weight

▼Baseline proficiency: 20.6%

Below state baseline (state avg 39.5%)

10% weight

▼Suspension rate: 12.1%

8.0pp 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 "21% proficient" for Colonel Mitchell Paige Middle and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

5.4% of students exceeded standard while 15.1% met it. That exceeded rate is 11.9 points below the state average of 17.3%. That's 7.8 points below the Desert Sands Unified district average of 13.3%. The 2 nearby schools within ~3 miles average 12.9% exceeded — 7.5 points higher. 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 increased and Math maintained year-over-year. 19.7% of English learners reached Level 4 (Well Developed) on ELPAC.

Chronic absenteeism is 32.5%, 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

5.4%

Students scoring above proficient

% Met or Above

20.6%

Students meeting standard

Growth (G6→G8)

+2.3pp

Change in proficiency rate

Chronic Absenteeism

32.5%

Students missing 10%+ of days

Suspension Rate

12.1%

Students suspended at least once

Total Tested

831

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	145	7.6%	24.1%	28.3%	40.0%	31.7%
7th	107	4.7%	18.7%	25.2%	51.4%	23.4%
8th	163	8.6%	23.9%	24.5%	42.9%	32.5%

Math scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
6th	144	3.5%	5.6%	24.3%	66.7%	9.0%
7th	108	4.6%	9.3%	16.7%	69.4%	13.9%
8th	164	3.7%	9.2%	17.1%	70.1%	12.8%

K-12 Feeder PathBoundary data

Elementary

James Monroe Elementary

69.5# in state

James Earl Carter Elementary

61.0# in state

Also serves area

Ronald Reagan Elementary

50.5# in state

Carrillo Ranch Elementary

40.5# in state

Abraham Lincoln Elementary

33.2# in state

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Middle

Colonel Mitchell Paige Middle

21.5# in state

This school

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High School

Palm Desert High

70.2# in state

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