Desert Springs Middle: The scores are below where anyone wants them. Here's what they don't tell you.
Desert Springs posts low test scores — and test scores are one lens among several. If this is your zoned school, the numbers below are where to start a conversation, not where to end one.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 18 | 4% | 15% | -3.2 | 41.3% | 8.8% |
| CA average · Middle School | 43 | 17% | 39% | +1.5 | 18.5% | 3.7% |
Desert Springs Middle scores 18 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 3rd 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.
Most rating sites would stop at “15% proficient” and call it done. Desert Springs deserves a closer read. The school sits in Desert Hot Springs, where nearly all students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
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
Has stayed near the 3rd percentile since 2019.
This school hasn't fully recovered from the pandemic: 15% meet the standard today, versus 26% in 2019 — a gap worth asking about on a visit.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 41% | 28% | 18% | 20% | 17% |
| Grade 7 | 30% | 30% | 24% | 24% | 24% |
| Grade 8 | 29% | 29% | 17% | 21% | 19% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 19% | 15% | 16% | 16% | 13% |
| Grade 7 | 20% | 12% | 14% | 12% | 15% |
| Grade 8 | 15% | 15% | 8% | 10% | 5% |
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 6 things our score weighs
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 what changes between grade 6 and grade 8 here, and who teaches the older kids.
- 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.
How every group of students does here
At Desert Springs Middle in Desert Hot Springs, 19.7% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 35.8% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Desert Springs Middle trails its district average for low-income students by 16.1 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (11.2% Math proficient); Hispanic students (19.7% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 17.1 percentage points for disabilities students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 661 students tested.
6 of 16 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 1.0pp from grade 6 to grade 8 at this school. District average: +3.5pp.
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
$471 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), 13% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Desert Springs Middle a good middle school?
What are Desert Springs Middle's CAASPP test scores?
How does Desert Springs Middle rank in California?
Is Desert Springs Middle getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Desert Springs Middle?
How does Desert Springs Middle compare to other schools in Desert Hot Springs?
How does Desert Springs Middle serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 32
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
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 | 251 | 6% | 11% | 22% | 61% | 17% | −30 |
| Grade 7 | 213 | 6% | 18% | 26% | 50% | 24% | −24 |
| Grade 8 | 226 | 2% | 17% | 23% | 59% | 19% | −28 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 244 | 5% | 8% | 17% | 70% | 13% | −22 |
| Grade 7 | 212 | 2% | 13% | 25% | 60% | 15% | −19 |
| Grade 8 | 227 | 2% | 3% | 21% | 74% | 5% | −27 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 229 | 1% | 12% | 62% | 25% |
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 | 661 | 19.7% | −16 | −19 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 604 | 19.7% | −14 | −19 |
| English Learners | 234 | 2.6% | −7 | −8 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Desert Springs Middle ← | — | 18 | 3.9% | 15.4% | −3.2 | 8.8% |
| Painted Hills Middle | 2.7 mi | 22 | 4.5% | 18.9% | +1.3 | 11.5% |
| California average | — | 43 | 16.8% | 39.3% | +1.5 | 3.7% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 18 | 5 | #1907 | 7.7% | 25.6% | 26.3% | 18.3% | -7.6pp |
| 2022 | 22 | 12 | #1915 | 5.2% | 21.3% | 38.2% | 8.9% | +0.5pp |
| 2023 | 20 | 4 | #2099 | 4.2% | 16.1% | 46.9% | 18.1% | -4.9pp |
| 2024 | 13 | 2 | #2163 | 3.1% | 17.0% | 42.1% | 10.1% | -2.3pp |
| 2025 | 18 | 3 | #2161 | 3.9% | 15.4% | 41.3% | 8.8% | -3.2pp |
- — Low-income students here trail the state average for their group by 19 points in ELA — worth asking how the school is closing that gap.
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 24.0% | 42.0% | +18.0pp |
| Male | 28.7% | 41.6% | +12.9pp |
| Black/African American | 42.5% | 51.3% | +8.8pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 24.9% | 40.9% | +16.0pp |
| Two or More Races | 34.8% | 50.0% | +15.2pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 35.9% | 44.3% | +8.4pp |
| English Learners | 24.6% | 40.3% | +15.7pp |
| Foster Youth | 52.9% | 42.3% | -10.6pp |
| Homeless | 39.7% | 57.8% | +18.1pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 26.7% | 41.8% | +15.1pp |
| All Students | 26.4% | 41.8% | +15.4pp |
| Military-Connected | — | 16.7% | — |
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