How does John Adams Middle compare to other middle schools in Santa Monica?

John Adams Middle has a SchoolScope composite score of 52.4/100, placing it at the 77th percentile statewide. 28% of students exceed standard, with a total of 1,557 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at John Adams Middle?

28.2% of students at John Adams Middle exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 56.0% meet or exceed it. The gap between these two numbers reveals whether the school pushes students beyond basic proficiency.

Is John Adams Middle improving or declining?

John Adams Middle's proficiency rate decreases by 2.8 percentage points from Grade 6 to grade 8 growth, suggesting the school is not sustaining early academic gains.

What is the chronic absenteeism rate at John Adams Middle?

14.1% of students at John Adams 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.

John Adams Middle

Middle School

Santa Monica-Malibu Unified Santa MonicaLos Angeles County90405

Composite Score

out of 100

State Percentile

of middle schools

State Rank

of 1,714 California middle schools

School overview

Enrollment

808 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

18:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

41%

Teachers

45 full-time

Dashboard indicators

ELA Year-over-Year

Increased

+5.0 pts DFS change

Math Year-over-Year

Increased

+10.5 pts DFS change

EL Proficiency (ELPAC)

41.0%

English learners at Level 4 (Well Developed) · 61 tested

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic49.3%

White32.4%

Asian4.0%

Black10.5%

Other3.8%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for John Adams Middle
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	28.2%
Met Standard	27.8%
Below Standard	44.0%

What other rankings don't show you

Most rating sites report "56% proficient" for John Adams Middle and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

28.2% of students exceeded standard while 27.8% merely met it. That exceeded rate is 10.9 points above the state average of 17.3%. That's 8.9 points below the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified district average of 37.0%. Nearby schools (within ~3 miles) average 27.6% exceeded — about the same. The gap between "met" and "exceeded" is the difference between a school that clears the bar and one that raises it.

Proficiency drops by 2.8 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. 41.0% of English learners reached Level 4 (Well Developed) on ELPAC.

Chronic absenteeism is 14.1%, better than the state average of 19.3%.

Why the exceeded vs. met split matters →

Key metrics

% Exceeded Standard

28.2%

Students scoring above proficient

% Met or Above

56.0%

Students meeting standard

Growth (G6→G8)

-2.8pp

Change in proficiency rate

Chronic Absenteeism

14.1%

Students missing 10%+ of days

Suspension Rate

3.0%

Students suspended at least once

Total Tested

1,557

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	265	29.4%	34.7%	19.6%	16.2%	64.2%
7th	228	30.3%	33.3%	14.5%	21.9%	63.6%
8th	286	24.5%	38.1%	24.5%	12.9%	62.6%

Math scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
6th	264	34.1%	17.8%	21.6%	26.5%	51.9%
7th	228	21.5%	24.1%	25.4%	28.9%	45.6%
8th	286	29.4%	18.5%	25.9%	26.2%	47.9%

K-12 Feeder PathBoundary data

Elementary

Zoned

Zoned

Will Rogers Elementary

50.768th pctile

Zoned

▼

Middle

John Adams Middle

52.477th pctile

This school

▼

High School

Santa Monica High

76.996th pctile

Zoned

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