How does Dorothy McElhinney Middle compare to other middle schools in Murrieta?

Dorothy McElhinney Middle has a SchoolScope composite score of 57.1/100, placing it at the 85th percentile statewide. 30% of students exceed standard, with a total of 2,843 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at Dorothy McElhinney Middle?

29.6% of students at Dorothy McElhinney Middle exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 62.6% meet or exceed it. The gap between these two numbers reveals whether the school pushes students beyond basic proficiency.

Is Dorothy McElhinney Middle improving or declining?

Based on CAASPP data, Dorothy McElhinney 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 Dorothy McElhinney Middle?

11.5% of students at Dorothy McElhinney 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.

Dorothy McElhinney Middle

Middle School

Murrieta Valley Unified MurrietaRiverside County92563

📍 35125 Briggs Road

Composite Score

out of 100

State Percentile

of middle schools

State Rank

of 1,714 California middle schools

🌱

Building Momentum

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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

1,442 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

27:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

47%

Teachers

54 full-time

Dashboard indicators

ELA Year-over-Year

Increased

+5.9 pts DFS change

Math Year-over-Year

Increased

+11.2 pts DFS change

EL Proficiency (ELPAC)

41.7%

English learners at Level 4 (Well Developed) · 36 tested

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic37.9%

White34.6%

Asian3.8%

Black7.0%

Other16.6%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for Dorothy McElhinney Middle
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	29.6%
Met Standard	33.0%
Below Standard	37.4%

What other rankings don't show you

Most rating sites report "63% proficient" for Dorothy McElhinney Middle and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

29.6% of students exceeded standard while 33.0% met it. That exceeded rate is 12.2 points above the state average of 17.3%. That's 2.8 points above the Murrieta Valley Unified district average of 26.7%. 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 increased and Math increased year-over-year. 41.7% of English learners reached Level 4 (Well Developed) on ELPAC.

Chronic absenteeism is 11.5%, better than the state average of 19.3%.

Why the exceeded vs. met split matters →

Key metrics

% Exceeded Standard

29.6%

Students scoring above proficient

% Met or Above

62.6%

Students meeting standard

Growth (G6→G8)

+2.0pp

Change in proficiency rate

Chronic Absenteeism

11.5%

Students missing 10%+ of days

Suspension Rate

1.8%

Students suspended at least once

Total Tested

2,843

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	436	31.2%	37.4%	19.9%	11.5%	68.6%
7th	483	30.6%	46.0%	15.7%	7.7%	76.6%
8th	505	28.7%	44.0%	21.0%	6.3%	72.7%

Math scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
6th	435	30.8%	22.8%	25.1%	21.4%	53.6%
7th	482	25.3%	25.5%	27.6%	21.6%	50.8%
8th	502	30.7%	22.7%	26.9%	19.7%	53.4%

K-12 Feeder PathBoundary data

Elementary

Lisa J. Mails Elementary

52.671st pctile

Monte Vista Elementary

47.760th pctile

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Middle

Dorothy McElhinney Middle

57.185th pctile

This school

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High School

Vista Murrieta High

64.383rd pctile

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