John Muir: High scores, real growth, strong attendance. We looked for a catch — we didn't find one.
John Muir posts 32.3% exceeding the standard — versus 21.3% statewide — with climate numbers better than most. That doesn't make it perfect. It makes it worth a visit to find what numbers can't measure.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 66 | 32% | 64% | +2.9 | 12.4% | 1.5% |
| CA average · Elementary School | 45 | 21% | 43% | -2.9 | 17.9% | 1.6% |
John Muir scores 66 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 88th percentile of 5,744 California elementary schools (CDE CAASPP 2025).
Measures test performance, attendance, and climate — not arts, community, or your kid. How we score →
💪 Strong All-Around — Ask about what we don't score — class size, electives, the feel of a classroom — strong numbers everywhere on paper don't mean every classroom feels the same.
Most rating sites would stop at “64% proficient” and call it done. John Muir deserves a closer read. The school sits in San Diego, where two in five students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
John Muir's low-income kids hit 56.9% 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
Climbed from the 15th to the 88th percentile since 2019 — past roughly 4000 elementary schools.
The pandemic drop is behind this school: 64% of students meet the standard today, above the 35% who did in 2019.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | — | 36% | 42% | 55% | 67% |
| Grade 4 | 27% | 21% | 25% | 50% | 57% |
| Grade 5 | — | — | 20% | 29% | 78% |
| Grade 6 | 25% | 21% | — | 40% | 72% |
| Grade 7 | 52% | 48% | 50% | 31% | 56% |
| Grade 8 | 54% | 29% | 42% | 54% | 46% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | — | 50% | 63% | 65% | 67% |
| Grade 4 | 43% | 21% | 25% | 46% | 52% |
| Grade 5 | — | — | 27% | 26% | 61% |
| Grade 6 | 30% | 43% | — | 20% | 57% |
| Grade 7 | 33% | 43% | 50% | 31% | 31% |
| Grade 8 | 39% | 23% | 21% | 46% | 31% |
The story this school is actually telling
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 rises 11.4pp across grades; the floor rises 11.6pp. The state average rises 4.5pp over the same span. Kids here gain ground the longer they stay — the pattern you want to see. A school visit and conversation with teachers will tell you more than this number.
John Muir's most underrated number
56.9% 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 what the school is working on next. Strong numbers tell you where a school is, not where it's going.
- Ask how teachers track each child's growth over the year, not just where the class lands on test day.
- 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.
- Ask what a typical day looks like for a new student in the first few weeks.
How every group of students does here
At John Muir in San Diego, 56.9% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 42.6% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. John Muir outperforms its district average for low-income students by 14.3 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (33.9% Math proficient); Hispanic students (63.6% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 9.3 percentage points for low-income students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 58 students tested.
9 of 14 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.
Showing up, and staying in class
Where the path goes
The path below follows attendance boundaries — scores shown for each next step.
Estimated path based on proximity within the same district. Contact your school district for official feeder information.
The people teaching here
Pay is set by the district, not the school.
What gets spent here
$861 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
Transitional kindergarten is offered here — confirmed by actual Census Day enrollment, not just the listed grade span.
On the state's science test (CAST), 56% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is John Muir a good elementary school?
What are John Muir's CAASPP test scores?
How does John Muir rank in California?
Is John Muir getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at John Muir?
How does John Muir compare to other schools in San Diego?
How does John Muir serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 70
Nearby Middle Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 51
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 3 | 27 | 41% | 26% | 19% | 15% | 67% | +23 |
| Grade 4 | 21 | 14% | 43% | 33% | 10% | 57% | +12 |
| Grade 5 | 23 | 52% | 26% | 17% | 4% | 78% | +30 |
| Grade 6 | 29 | 31% | 41% | 21% | 7% | 72% | +26 |
| Grade 7 | 16 | 13% | 44% | 38% | 6% | 56% | +9 |
| Grade 8 | 13 | 15% | 31% | 31% | 23% | 46% | +0 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 27 | 19% | 48% | 7% | 26% | 67% | +21 |
| Grade 4 | 21 | 33% | 19% | 24% | 24% | 52% | +11 |
| Grade 5 | 23 | 35% | 26% | 35% | 4% | 61% | +26 |
| Grade 6 | 30 | 27% | 30% | 13% | 30% | 57% | +22 |
| Grade 7 | 16 | 13% | 19% | 31% | 38% | 31% | −3 |
| Grade 8 | 13 | 23% | 8% | 15% | 54% | 31% | −2 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 36 | 33% | 22% | 33% | 11% |
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 | 58 | 56.9% | +14 | +19 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 66 | 63.6% | +23 | +25 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Muir ← | — | 66 | 32.3% | 63.7% | +2.9 | 1.5% |
| Curie Elementary | 2.2 mi | 72 | 60.1% | 81.8% | −11.8 | 0.9% |
| Mt. Everest Academy | 0.5 mi | 71 | 46.5% | 85.3% | −18.4 | 0.7% |
| Holmes Elementary | 1 mi | 67 | 57.5% | 85.7% | −13.2 | 0.8% |
| California average | — | 45 | 21.3% | 42.7% | −2.9 | 1.6% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 29 | 15 | #4701 | 10.5% | 34.8% | 19.1% | 4.0% | — |
| 2022 | 25 | 19 | #4637 | 9.8% | 32.1% | 40.3% | 5.2% | — |
| 2023 | 28 | 21 | #4547 | 18.4% | 33.5% | 20.8% | 3.5% | -28.8pp |
| 2024 | 46 | 60 | #2281 | 23.3% | 45.1% | 16.7% | 0.9% | -32.6pp |
| 2025 | 66 | 88 | #695 | 32.3% | 63.7% | 12.4% | 1.5% | +2.9pp |
- — Scored here as an elementary school — other grade spans appear in the data appendix.
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 21.6% | 15.8% | -5.8pp |
| Male | 19.3% | 6.9% | -12.4pp |
| Black/African American | 46.2% | 19.0% | -27.2pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 11.6% | 14.7% | +3.1pp |
| Two or More Races | 24.0% | 13.3% | -10.7pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 21.4% | 16.4% | -5.0pp |
| English Learners | 20.0% | 8.7% | -11.3pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 22.6% | 20.5% | -2.1pp |
| All Students | 20.3% | 11.2% | -9.1pp |
| Homeless | — | 16.7% | — |
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