How does Ellen Fletcher Middle compare to other middle schools in Palo Alto?

Ellen Fletcher Middle has a SchoolScope composite score of 70.0/100, placing it at the 96th percentile statewide. 58% of students exceed standard, with a total of 1,096 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at Ellen Fletcher Middle?

57.6% of students at Ellen Fletcher Middle exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 83.0% meet or exceed it. The gap between these two numbers reveals whether the school pushes students beyond basic proficiency.

Is Ellen Fletcher Middle improving or declining?

Based on CAASPP data, Ellen Fletcher Middle's proficiency rate decreases by 1.6 percentage points from Grade 6 to grade 8 growth. This pattern in test scores may reflect a variety of factors beyond the school itself.

What is the chronic absenteeism rate at Ellen Fletcher Middle?

8.8% of students at Ellen Fletcher 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.

Ellen Fletcher Middle

Middle School

Palo Alto Unified Palo AltoSanta Clara County94306

📍 655 Arastradero Road

Composite Score

out of 100

State Percentile

of middle schools

State Rank

of 1,714 California middle schools

⭐

High Ceiling

A high-ceiling school — students here are pushed to exceed, not just meet, the standard.

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

549 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

15:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

11%

Teachers

37 full-time

Dashboard indicators

ELA Year-over-Year

Declined

-4.0 pts DFS change

Math Year-over-Year

Maintained

-0.8 pts DFS change

EL Proficiency (ELPAC)

42.3%

English learners at Level 4 (Well Developed) · 26 tested

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic17.7%

White26.4%

Asian39.7%

Black1.5%

Other14.8%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for Ellen Fletcher Middle
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	57.6%
Met Standard	25.3%
Below Standard	17.0%

What other rankings don't show you

Most rating sites report "83% proficient" for Ellen Fletcher Middle and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

57.6% of students exceeded standard while 25.3% met it. That exceeded rate is 40.3 points above the state average of 17.3%. That's near the Palo Alto Unified district average of 59.3%. Nearby schools (within ~3 miles) average 57.0% exceeded — about the same. The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

Proficiency drops by 1.6 percentage points from Grade 6 to grade 8 growth — a signal that the school may not be sustaining early gains.

California's Dashboard shows ELA performance declined and Math maintained year-over-year. 42.3% of English learners reached Level 4 (Well Developed) on ELPAC.

Chronic absenteeism is 8.8%, better than the state average of 19.3%.

Why the exceeded vs. met split matters →

Key metrics

% Exceeded Standard

57.6%

Students scoring above proficient

% Met or Above

83.0%

Students meeting standard

Growth (G6→G8)

-1.6pp

Change in proficiency rate

Chronic Absenteeism

8.8%

Students missing 10%+ of days

Suspension Rate

4.5%

Students suspended at least once

Total Tested

1,096

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	167	52.1%	32.3%	10.2%	5.4%	84.4%
7th	186	54.3%	36.0%	5.9%	3.8%	90.3%
8th	195	49.7%	38.5%	6.7%	5.1%	88.2%

Math scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
6th	167	67.7%	12.6%	12.0%	7.8%	80.2%
7th	186	62.9%	18.3%	11.3%	7.5%	81.2%
8th	195	59.0%	14.4%	13.8%	12.8%	73.3%

K-12 Feeder PathBoundary data

Elementary

Lucille M. Nixon Elementary

79.299th pctile

Juana Briones Elementary

78.499th pctile

Barron Park Elementary

56.578th pctile

Also serves area

Herbert Hoover Elementary

82.999th pctile

Ohlone Elementary

78.299th pctile

▼

Middle

Ellen Fletcher Middle

70.096th pctile

This school

▼

High School

Henry M. Gunn High

83.699th pctile

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