How does Hercules Middle compare to other middle schools in Hercules?

Hercules Middle has a Scope Score of 60.4/100, ranked #602 among California middle schools. 18% of students exceed standard, with a total of 1,172 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at Hercules Middle?

17.6% of students at Hercules Middle exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 45.4% meet or exceed it. The gap between these two numbers reveals whether the school pushes students beyond basic proficiency.

Is Hercules Middle improving or declining?

Based on CAASPP data, Hercules Middle's proficiency rate increases by 4.6 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 Hercules Middle?

13.0% of students at Hercules 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 the Scope Score.

Hercules Middle

Middle School

West Contra Costa Unified HerculesContra Costa County94547

📍 1900 Refugio Valley Road

Scope Score

out of 100

State Rank

of 1,714 California middle schools

📈

On the Rise

On an upward trajectory — scores are improving faster than average. Worth a closer look.

Scope 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

593 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

27:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

44%

Teachers

22 full-time

Dashboard indicators

How this school's scores changed from last year to this year

ELA Year-over-Year

Increased

+9.9 pts DFS change

Math Year-over-Year

Increased

+10.1 pts DFS change

EL Proficiency (ELPAC)

24.4%

English learners at Level 4 (Well Developed) · 41 tested

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic26.8%

White7.3%

Asian20.4%

Black15.3%

Other30.2%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for Hercules Middle
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	17.6%
Met Standard	27.8%
Below Standard	54.6%

Score Factors

Helping

✓Exceeded standard: 17.6%

0.3pp above state avg (state avg 17.3%)

30% weight

✓Met or exceeded: 45.4%

5.9pp above state avg (state avg 39.5%)

20% weight

✓Growth (G6→G8): +4.6pp

Scores improve across grades (state avg +0.8pp)

15% weight

✓Chronic absenteeism: 13.0%

6.3pp below state avg (state avg 19.3%)

15% weight

✓Baseline proficiency: 45.4%

Above state baseline (state avg 39.5%)

10% weight

Holding Back

▼Suspension rate: 6.4%

2.3pp above state avg (state avg 4.1%)

10% weight

Unlike traditional school ratings, we show our work. Every factor, its weight, and how this school compares to the state average — so you can decide what matters most to your family. The middle school Scope Score is weighted across 6 dimensions. See full methodology →

What other rankings don't show you

Most rating sites report "45% proficient" for Hercules Middle and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

17.6% of students exceeded standard while 27.8% met it. That exceeded rate is near the state average of 17.3%. That's 4.4 points above the West Contra Costa Unified district average of 13.2%. The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

Students here improve by 4.6 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. 24.4% of English learners reached Level 4 (Well Developed) on ELPAC.

Chronic absenteeism is 13.0%, better than the state average of 19.3%.

Why the exceeded vs. met split matters →

Key metrics

% Exceeded Standard

17.6%

Students scoring above proficient

% Met or Above

45.4%

Students meeting standard

Growth (G6→G8)

+4.6pp

Change in proficiency rate

Chronic Absenteeism

13.0%

Students missing 10%+ of days

Suspension Rate

6.4%

Students suspended at least once

Total Tested

1,172

Across all grades & subjects

Grade trajectory

How proficiency compares across grade levels this year (different students, same test year)

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	191	21.5%	32.5%	23.6%	22.5%	53.9%
7th	207	15.9%	36.7%	22.7%	24.6%	52.7%
8th	191	15.7%	40.8%	22.0%	21.5%	56.5%

Math scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
6th	189	14.3%	19.6%	29.1%	37.0%	33.9%
7th	204	18.1%	16.7%	30.9%	34.3%	34.8%
8th	190	20.0%	20.5%	24.2%	35.3%	40.5%

K-12 Feeder PathBoundary data

Elementary

Ohlone Elementary

65.0# in state

Hanna Ranch Elementary

58.7# in state

Lupine Hills Elementary

47.9# in state

▼

Middle

Hercules Middle

60.4# in state

This school

▼

High School

Hercules High

73.6# in state

Also serves area

Middle College HighMagnet

78.9# in state

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