How does Foothill Middle compare to other middle schools in Walnut Creek?

Foothill Middle has a SchoolScope composite score of 59.2/100, placing it at the 87th percentile statewide. 36% of students exceed standard, with a total of 1,966 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at Foothill Middle?

36.2% of students at Foothill Middle exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 68.6% meet or exceed it. The gap between these two numbers reveals whether the school pushes students beyond basic proficiency.

Is Foothill Middle improving or declining?

Based on CAASPP data, Foothill Middle's proficiency rate decreases by 10.7 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 Foothill Middle?

7.9% of students at Foothill 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.

Foothill Middle

Middle School

Mt. Diablo Unified Walnut CreekContra Costa County94598

📍 2775 Cedro Lane

Composite Score

out of 100

State Percentile

of middle schools

State Rank

of 1,714 California middle schools

🤝

Culture First

Strong school culture with high family engagement, even if test scores are still developing.

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

947 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

26:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

Teachers

36 full-time

Dashboard indicators

ELA Year-over-Year

Increased

+11.0 pts DFS change

Math Year-over-Year

Increased

+14.2 pts DFS change

EL Proficiency (ELPAC)

56.5%

English learners at Level 4 (Well Developed) · 23 tested

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic16.1%

White47.5%

Asian14.4%

Black0.5%

Other21.5%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for Foothill Middle
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	36.2%
Met Standard	32.4%
Below Standard	31.4%

What other rankings don't show you

Most rating sites report "69% proficient" for Foothill Middle and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

36.2% of students exceeded standard while 32.4% met it. That exceeded rate is 18.8 points above the state average of 17.3%. That's 17.6 points above the Mt. Diablo Unified district average of 18.5%. Compared to the 2 nearby schools within ~3 miles, this exceeded rate is 15.3 points higher (vs 20.8% average). The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

Proficiency drops by 10.7 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 increased and Math increased year-over-year. 56.5% of English learners reached Level 4 (Well Developed) on ELPAC.

Chronic absenteeism is 7.9%, better than the state average of 19.3%.

Why the exceeded vs. met split matters →

Key metrics

% Exceeded Standard

36.2%

Students scoring above proficient

% Met or Above

68.6%

Students meeting standard

Growth (G6→G8)

-10.7pp

Change in proficiency rate

Chronic Absenteeism

7.9%

Students missing 10%+ of days

Suspension Rate

0.6%

Students suspended at least once

Total Tested

1,966

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	315	33.3%	41.6%	16.8%	8.3%	74.9%
7th	325	33.2%	40.0%	17.2%	9.5%	73.2%
8th	344	29.4%	40.4%	19.5%	10.8%	69.8%

Math scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
6th	313	45.7%	27.2%	15.7%	11.5%	72.8%
7th	323	42.4%	21.7%	21.1%	14.9%	64.1%
8th	346	33.0%	23.7%	23.4%	19.9%	56.6%

K-12 Feeder PathBoundary data

Elementary

Walnut Acres Elementary

68.893rd pctile

Valle Verde Elementary

67.993rd pctile

Also serves area

Bancroft Elementary

60.283rd pctile

Eagle Peak Montessori

50.968th pctile

▼

Middle

Foothill Middle

59.287th pctile

This school

▼

High School

Northgate High

72.093rd pctile

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