Hillsdale Middle: 49% of kids clear the bar — ahead of the state's 39%. But suspensions run 2× the state rate.
Hillsdale posts 49% meeting the standard, against 39% across the state. The number below is the one to ask about on a visit.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 46 | 23% | 49% | -2.0 | 18.2% | 8.2% |
| CA average · Middle School | 43 | 17% | 39% | +1.5 | 18.5% | 3.7% |
Hillsdale Middle scores 46 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 62nd 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 “49% proficient” and call it done. Hillsdale deserves a closer read. The school sits in El Cajon, where two-thirds of students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
Hillsdale's low-income kids hit 52.7% proficiency in ELA — a number the same group reaches at 38.2% statewide. If you're trying to read past zip-code-driven test scores, that's the signal worth weighing.
The seven-year arc
Has stayed near the 62nd percentile since 2019.
This school hasn't fully recovered from the pandemic: 49% meet the standard today, versus 55% in 2019 — a gap worth asking about on a visit.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 64% | 53% | 52% | 57% | 57% |
| Grade 7 | 69% | 59% | 56% | 53% | 59% |
| Grade 8 | 59% | 56% | 54% | 54% | 56% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 43% | 38% | 37% | 40% | 42% |
| Grade 7 | 54% | 40% | 37% | 38% | 43% |
| Grade 8 | 41% | 37% | 38% | 36% | 39% |
The story this school is actually telling
of students met or exceeded the standard, versus 39.3% statewide.
of students were suspended, versus 3.7% statewide — worth asking about on a tour.
The school, grade by grade
ELA · CAASPP 2024–25Different students, same year — each bar is one grade's proficiency mix.
The honest read: the share exceeding falls 4.1pp across grades; the proficiency floor barely moves. The state average falls 0.5pp over the same span. A school visit and conversation with teachers will tell you more than this number.
Hillsdale's most underrated number
52.7% of low-income students met the ELA standard — versus 38.2% for the same group statewide. That's the strongest kind of signal a school can post: it holds across income lines.
The 6 things our score weighs
Ask about the discipline philosophy and what a typical suspension is for. Numbers can't tell you whether a campus feels strict or chaotic — a visit can.
- 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 extra support — tutoring, counseling, small groups — reaches kids across income lines, not just the students already ahead.
- 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 Hillsdale Middle in El Cajon, 52.7% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 27.5% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Hillsdale Middle outperforms its district average for low-income students by 25.2 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (36.1% Math proficient); White students (57.6% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 51.5 percentage points for english learner students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 1,041 students tested.
5 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 falls by 2.2pp from grade 6 to grade 8 at this school. District average: +1.2pp.
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
$31 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
At 1,481 students, this school is well above the typical California middle school (≈860).
On the state's science test (CAST), 39% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Hillsdale Middle a good middle school?
What are Hillsdale Middle's CAASPP test scores?
How does Hillsdale Middle rank in California?
Is Hillsdale Middle getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Hillsdale Middle?
How does Hillsdale Middle compare to other schools in El Cajon?
How does Hillsdale Middle serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Middle Schools
2 within ~3 mi · avg 66
Private alternatives nearby
Private schools within ~10 miles. These schools do not participate in state testing and cannot be scored or ranked.
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 | 467 | 25% | 32% | 20% | 23% | 57% | +11 |
| Grade 7 | 478 | 24% | 35% | 20% | 22% | 59% | +11 |
| Grade 8 | 481 | 21% | 35% | 20% | 24% | 56% | +10 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 469 | 21% | 21% | 28% | 30% | 42% | +7 |
| Grade 7 | 477 | 24% | 19% | 25% | 32% | 43% | +9 |
| Grade 8 | 480 | 22% | 18% | 25% | 36% | 39% | +7 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 471 | 14% | 25% | 48% | 14% |
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 | 1,041 | 52.7% | +25 | +15 |
| White | 799 | 57.6% | +22 | −4 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 375 | 56.5% | +27 | +18 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hillsdale Middle ← | — | 46 | 23.0% | 49.4% | −2.0 | 8.2% |
| College Preparatory Middle | 2.3 mi | 90 | 58.1% | 84.0% | +0.8 | 0.8% |
| EJE Middle Academy | 3.3 mi | 41 | 9.8% | 28.3% | +4.2 | 0.6% |
| California average | — | 43 | 16.8% | 39.3% | +1.5 | 3.7% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 45 | 64 | #725 | 24.5% | 54.8% | 7.9% | 2.0% | -3.4pp |
| 2022 | 45 | 69 | #667 | 20.0% | 47.1% | 21.5% | 4.2% | +0.9pp |
| 2023 | 48 | 67 | #716 | 19.7% | 45.6% | 21.0% | 7.9% | +1.5pp |
| 2024 | 41 | 58 | #924 | 20.6% | 46.3% | 17.7% | 10.7% | -3.7pp |
| 2025 | 46 | 62 | #845 | 23.0% | 49.4% | 18.2% | 8.2% | -2.0pp |
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 7.5% | 18.7% | +11.2pp |
| Male | 8.2% | 17.8% | +9.6pp |
| Asian | 12.2% | 13.8% | +1.6pp |
| Black/African American | 15.1% | 16.4% | +1.3pp |
| Filipino | 11.9% | 29.5% | +17.6pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 11.9% | 22.6% | +10.7pp |
| Two or More Races | 3.2% | 17.6% | +14.4pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 22.1% | 24.5% | +2.4pp |
| English Learners | 14.9% | 25.3% | +10.4pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 12.6% | 20.6% | +8.0pp |
| All Students | 7.9% | 18.2% | +10.3pp |
| Homeless | — | 23.1% | — |
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