Dartmouth Middle: High scores, healthy climate, strong attendance. We looked for a catch — we didn't find one.
Dartmouth posts 41.0% exceeding the standard — versus 16.8% statewide — with climate numbers better than most. That doesn't make it perfect. It makes it worth a visit to find what numbers can't measure.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 60 | 41% | 65% | -0.9 | 9.6% | 1.8% |
| CA average · Middle School | 43 | 17% | 39% | +1.5 | 18.5% | 3.7% |
Dartmouth Middle scores 60 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 87th 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 →
💪 Strong All-Around — Ask about what we don't score — class size, electives, the feel of a classroom — strong numbers everywhere on paper don't mean every classroom feels the same.
Most rating sites would stop at “65% proficient” and call it done. Dartmouth deserves a closer read. It sits at the 87th percentile of 2,238 California middle schools — but the ranking is the least interesting thing on this page.
The headline number: 41.0% of students scored in the top band on the state test. The California average is 16.8%.
The seven-year arc
Has held the 87th-percentile line every tested year since 2019.
This school hasn't fully recovered from the pandemic: 65% meet the standard today, versus 72% in 2019 — a gap worth asking about on a visit.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 75% | 65% | 64% | 66% | 62% |
| Grade 7 | 76% | 70% | 68% | 67% | 69% |
| Grade 8 | 74% | 68% | 58% | 61% | 67% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 69% | 62% | 66% | 66% | 65% |
| Grade 7 | 74% | 65% | 61% | 68% | 66% |
| Grade 8 | 61% | 62% | 55% | 56% | 59% |
The story this school is actually telling
The school, grade by grade
ELA · CAASPP 2024–25Different students, same year — each bar is one grade's proficiency mix.
The honest read: the share exceeding rises 1.9pp across grades; the floor rises 4.1pp. The state average falls 0.5pp over the same span. Kids here gain ground the longer they stay — the pattern you want to see. A school visit and conversation with teachers will tell you more than this number.
The 6 things our score weighs
Ask what the school is working on next. Strong numbers tell you where a school is, not where it's going.
- 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 Dartmouth Middle in San Jose, 35.1% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 41.2% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Dartmouth Middle trails its district average for low-income students by 6.1 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (24.4% Math proficient); Asian students (82.8% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 53.5 percentage points for english learner students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 169 students tested.
5 of 15 student groups here are too small to report — a privacy protection, not a gap.
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 0.0pp from grade 6 to grade 8 at this school. District average: +2.5pp.
Showing up, and staying in class
Where the path goes
The path below follows attendance boundaries — scores shown for each next step.
Feeder patterns derived from NCES attendance boundary data. Boundaries are approximate and may have changed — verify with your school district for current assignments.
The people teaching here
Pay is set by the district, not the school.
What gets spent here
$1,116 per student arrives as federal Title funding — a measure of concentrated need, not school quality.
The district's current expense of education per student, from CDE's annual SACS filing — the freshest district spending figure the state publishes.
District-level, from the district's own SACS general-ledger filing — school-by-school breakdowns aren't published by the state.
Source: NCES F-33 · Full district breakdown →
The neighborhood it serves
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2024) · ZIP-level
On the state's science test (CAST), 55% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Dartmouth Middle a good middle school?
What are Dartmouth Middle's CAASPP test scores?
How does Dartmouth Middle rank in California?
Is Dartmouth Middle getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Dartmouth Middle?
How does Dartmouth Middle compare to other schools in San Jose?
How does Dartmouth Middle serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Middle Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 67
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 76
Nearby High Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 68
Private alternatives nearby
Private schools within ~10 miles. These schools do not participate in state testing and cannot be scored or ranked.
Every number on this page
Score factors, grade-level breakdowns, subgroup proficiency, and peer comparisons.
| ELA | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 285 | 32% | 30% | 21% | 16% | 62% | +16 |
| Grade 7 | 304 | 35% | 34% | 15% | 16% | 69% | +21 |
| Grade 8 | 293 | 34% | 32% | 13% | 21% | 67% | +20 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 287 | 47% | 18% | 16% | 19% | 65% | +30 |
| Grade 7 | 307 | 50% | 16% | 18% | 16% | 66% | +32 |
| Grade 8 | 295 | 47% | 12% | 13% | 28% | 59% | +27 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 295 | 32% | 23% | 34% | 11% |
CAST is tested in grades 5, 8, and once in high school — not annually. Not part of the Scope Score.
| Subgroup · ELA | Tested | MET+ | vs district | vs CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 169 | 35.1% | −6 | −3 |
| Asian | 308 | 82.8% | −4 | +8 |
| White | 273 | 67.0% | −7 | +5 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dartmouth Middle ← | — | 60 | 41.0% | 64.7% | −0.9 | 1.8% |
| Union Middle | 2.1 mi | 85 | 61.2% | 83.2% | +0.4 | 1.4% |
| Price Charter Middle | 2.9 mi | 61 | 35.2% | 64.6% | −1.1 | 2.9% |
| Castillero Middle | 1.5 mi | 54 | 28.6% | 54.3% | −4.4 | 8.0% |
| California average | — | 43 | 16.8% | 39.3% | +1.5 | 3.7% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 64 | 90 | #193 | 44.3% | 71.6% | 6.3% | 3.5% | -4.5pp |
| 2022 | 67 | 92 | #165 | 39.0% | 65.5% | 12.2% | 3.4% | +1.1pp |
| 2023 | 63 | 89 | #249 | 38.6% | 62.2% | 11.0% | 1.2% | -8.2pp |
| 2024 | 59 | 86 | #302 | 39.1% | 64.0% | 8.3% | 1.5% | -6.9pp |
| 2025 | 60 | 87 | #302 | 41.0% | 64.7% | 9.6% | 1.8% | -0.9pp |
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 4.8% | 7.8% | +3.0pp |
| Male | 7.5% | 10.9% | +3.4pp |
| Asian | 0.8% | 2.5% | +1.7pp |
| Black/African American | 13.6% | 8.3% | -5.3pp |
| White | 0.0% | 18.2% | +18.2pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 14.3% | 22.5% | +8.2pp |
| Two or More Races | 5.4% | 3.8% | -1.6pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 15.1% | 24.8% | +9.7pp |
| English Learners | 9.9% | 13.0% | +3.1pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 17.6% | 25.7% | +8.1pp |
| All Students | 6.3% | 9.4% | +3.1pp |
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