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Lakeview Middle · WatsonvillePublic

Lakeview Middle: The scores are below where anyone wants them. Here's what they don't tell you.

Lakeview posts low test scores — and grade 8 tests above grade 6 here this year, by 2.5pp. If this is your zoned school, the numbers below are where to start a conversation, not where to end one.

2350 East Lake Avenue, 95076 (opens in new tab)·Pajaro Valley Unified·Watsonville·Grades 6-8·425 students·92% low-income·2024–25 CAASPP·(831) 728-6455
2019–2025 trend · CDE CAASPP
This schoolCA avg
Scope1439
% Exceeded2%17%
% Met+10%40%
Growth (2023 G6 → 2025 G8)Weak · p37Average · p50
Absence30.4%18.1%
Suspension16.3%3.6%
Scope Score
14
🌱 Building Momentum · Needs Support
ranked #2,147 statewide · #8 of 9 in Pajaro Valley Unified

Lakeview Middle scores 14 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 4th percentile of 2,177 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 “10% proficient” and call it done. Lakeview deserves a closer read. The school sits in Watsonville, where four in five students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.

The headline number: 40.1% of English learners reached the top ELPAC level, versus 18.0% statewide.

The seven-year arc

Percentile among 2,177 middle schools statewide

Has stayed near the 4th percentile since 2019.

ELARed(Maintained)MathRed(Declined)

This school hasn't fully recovered from the pandemic: 10% meet the standard today, versus 16% in 2019 — a gap worth asking about on a visit.

ELA — % met or exceeded, by grade
Grade20192022202320242025
Grade 625%9%9%7%11%
Grade 721%24%19%16%18%
Grade 818%22%19%12%14%
Math — % met or exceeded, by grade
Grade20192022202320242025
Grade 67%5%4%5%3%
Grade 710%11%11%8%9%
Grade 813%13%16%11%5%

The story this school is actually telling

The school, grade by grade

ELA · CAASPP 2024–25

Different students, same year — each bar is one grade's proficiency mix.

10%
88%
Grade 6 · 12% proficient
16%
82%
Grade 7 · 18% proficient
12%
86%
Grade 8 · 14% proficient

The 6 things our score weighs

Exceeded standard
2.0%
State 17.2%
15.2pp below state avg
Met or exceeded
10.2%
State 40.0%
29.8pp below state avg
Growth (2023 G6 → 2025 G8)
Weak
State average
The school's returning cohort — mostly, not exactly, the same kids two years on — gained 35 scale-score points across the span. Almost every school gains points, so we rank the gain against every other California school in this level.
Chronic absenteeism
30.4%
State 18.1%
12.3pp above state avg
Suspension rate
16.3%
State 3.6%
12.7pp above state avg
EL proficiency (ELPAC)
40.1%
State 18.0%
22.2pp above state avg

California's own answer to the same question

Context — never part of the Scope Score

California runs its own growth model, following individual children in grades 4 through 8 rather than comparing school-wide averages the way we do — and here the two measures disagree. Ours puts this school around the 37th percentile of California middle schools; the state's puts it around the 8th in reading and math together — a harder read than ours. We are not going to pretend one of those is the answer. Neither measure sees an individual child's classroom, and a disagreement this size is worth asking the principal about directly.

Both measures, ranked against every California school
Our growth measuresame cohort, G6→G8SchoolScope growth measure: 37th percentile among California middle schools.37th pctile
State model · readingmatched students, grades 4-8California growth model, reading: −20 scale-score points versus the state's expectation, 4th percentile of 7,519 reported schools.4th pctile · −20 pts
State model · mathmatched students, grades 4-8California growth model, math: −14 scale-score points versus the state's expectation, 13th percentile of 7,518 reported schools.13th pctile · −14 pts
this school| the tick is the middle of the California field

pts vs expected is scale-score points above or below what California's model predicted for these same children from their own prior-year scores. It is not a percentage and not a percent of anything. A typical California middle school lands at −1 in reading, and the middle half of them fall between −8 and +6 — the spread is wide, so read the rank, not the sign. CDE blends two consecutive years into each published figure, so adjacent years share input data and no year-over-year trend can honestly be drawn from them. It covers grades 4-8 only, and it is not part of the Scope Score — we assessed it and left it out: it tracks school demographics roughly three times as strongly as our own growth measure does, and one published year is not enough to test how stable it is.

Worth a school visit

Ask what changed in the last two years, and what the school is asking families for. Growth shows up in these numbers a year or two after it shows up in classrooms.

  • Ask how the school follows up when a student starts missing days — chronic absence often starts outside the classroom, not inside it.
  • Ask what typically leads to a suspension, and what happens before it gets there.
  • 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 Lakeview Middle in Watsonville, 12.2% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 19.9% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Lakeview Middle trails its district average for low-income students by 7.7 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (4.8% Math proficient); Hispanic students (13.5% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 11.8 percentage points for disabilities students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 370 students tested.

All students at this school: 10% met or exceeded
All StudentsAll Students: this school 10%, district —, state 40%10%
Hispanic/LatinoHispanic/Latino: this school 10%, district 17%, state 32%10% · −1 vs school
Socioeconomically DisadvantagedSocioeconomically Disadvantaged: this school 8%, district 16%, state 32%8% · −2 vs school
FemaleFemale: this school 13%, district 23%, state 44%13% · +2 vs school
MaleMale: this school 8%, district 21%, state 42%8% · −2 vs school
English LearnersEnglish Learners: this school 4%, district 5%, state 11%4% · −6 vs school
Students with DisabilitiesStudents with Disabilities: this school 2%, district 7%, state 15%2% · −9 vs school
HomelessHomeless: this school 7%, district 10%, state 22%7% · −4 vs school

5 of 13 student groups here are too small to report — a privacy protection, not a gap.

this school district, same group California, same group
Subgroup growth by grade

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 rises by 4.5pp from grade 6 to grade 8 at this school. District average: -0.8pp.

The state's growth model, by student group

California follows these children individually and predicts each one's score from their own prior year. Each row is read against the same group at a typical California middle school — not against zero, and not against this school's all-students figure, because the state's expectation already differs by group.

Reading
Hispanic or Latino students364 studentsHispanic or Latino students, reading: −21 scale-score points versus expectation, against −2 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 364 students.−21 pts · −19 vs typical
Low-income students350 studentsLow-income students, reading: −23 scale-score points versus expectation, against −3 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 350 students.−23 pts · −20 vs typical
English Learner233 studentsEnglish Learner, reading: −18 scale-score points versus expectation, against −5 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 233 students.−18 pts · −13 vs typical
English learners only154 studentsEnglish learners only, reading: −16 scale-score points versus expectation, against −15 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 154 students.−16 pts · −1 vs typical
Long-term English learners126 studentsLong-term English learners, reading: −12 scale-score points versus expectation, against −7 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 126 students.−12 pts · −5 vs typical
Math
Hispanic or Latino students364 studentsHispanic or Latino students, math: −13 scale-score points versus expectation, against −6 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 364 students.−13 pts · −7 vs typical
Low-income students350 studentsLow-income students, math: −17 scale-score points versus expectation, against −5 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 350 students.−17 pts · −12 vs typical
English Learner233 studentsEnglish Learner, math: −5 scale-score points versus expectation, against −3 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 233 students.−5 pts · −2 vs typical
English learners only154 studentsEnglish learners only, math: −8 scale-score points versus expectation, against −5 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 154 students.−8 pts · −3 vs typical
Long-term English learners126 studentsLong-term English learners, math: −6 scale-score points versus expectation, against −6 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 126 students.−6 pts · 0 vs typical
this school typical California middle school, same group| the centre tick is 0 = as predicted

— A group not listed at all had fewer than 11 students with a growth score, so California published nothing for it here. That is a privacy protection, not a judgment about those students. — Long-Term English Learners are counted in grades 6-8 only (CDE's own rule), so that row is not comparable to this school's all-students figure. — Context only. None of this enters the Scope Score.

Showing up, and staying in class

Chronic absenteeismChronic absenteeism: this school 30.4%, district 23.9%, state 18.1%30.4% · +12.3pp vs state
Suspension rateSuspension rate: this school 16.3%, district —, state 3.6%16.3% · +12.7pp vs state
Chronic absenteeism by grade band
Grades 4–628.7%
Grades 7–831.7%

Where the path goes

The path below follows attendance boundaries — scores shown for each next step.

K-12 Feeder Path

Feeder patterns derived from NCES attendance boundary data. Boundaries are approximate and may have changed — verify with your school district for current assignments.

Watsonville HighScope 48estimated path

The road from this school ends at Watsonville High, which sent 31 graduates to UC campuses last fall and teaches 11 AP subjects. Those numbers describe past cohorts — a child starting here today would reach Watsonville High around 2031, and 6 years is a long time for a school to hold still, and by the state's 2023 count 68% of Watsonville High's graduates enrolled in college somewhere, UC or not.

31 UC ENROLLEES (FALL 2025) · 11 AP SUBJECTS TAUGHT full record on Watsonville High's page
Source: UC & College Board

The people teaching here

Context — never part of the Scope Score
Student : teacherStudent to teacher ratio: this school 24:1, district 22:124:1
PrincipalJudith Woods
Teaching staff19 teachers
Avg. experience8.5 years
Fully credentialed83%
First-year teachers26%
Salary Schedule
Teacher salary schedule$58,520 – $109,309
Principal salary$122,944 – $142,021
Superintendent salary$268,536

Pay is set by the district, not the school.

What gets spent here

Context — never part of the Scope Score
Per-pupil spendingPer-pupil spending: $25,468, CA average $14,491$25,468 · spent at this school
Federal share$782 per student

$782 per student arrives as federal Title funding — a measure of concentrated need, not school quality.

District current expense · FY 2024–25$24,632 per student

The district's current expense of education per student, from CDE's annual SACS filing — the freshest district spending figure the state publishes.

Where the district's dollars go · FY 2024–25 · CDE SACS
Instruction56%
Instruction support17%
Student services13%
Administration4%
Buildings & maintenance8%
Other1%

District-level, from the district's own SACS general-ledger filing — school-by-school breakdowns aren't published by the state.

district detail, 2016–2020 — the newest published
2020$15,608 per pupil
2019$15,165 per pupil
2018$15,343 per pupil
2017$13,924 per pupil
2016$12,975 per pupil

Source: NCES F-33 · Full district breakdown →

The neighborhood it serves

Context — never part of the Scope Score
Hispanic95.8%
District 84.6% · CA 56.1%
Other2.8%
District 2.2% · CA 9.0%
White0.7%
District 12.4% · CA 19.9%
Black0.7%
District 0.2% · CA 4.8%
Low IncomeFree/reduced lunch eligible 92.5% (29pp above CA avg)
Neighborhood — American Community Survey
Median income$91K · CA $85K
Median home value$809K · CA $659K
Bachelor's degree+18% · CA 35%
ZIP population82,806
Median age36 years

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2024) · ZIP-level

Worth Knowing

At 425 students, this school is much smaller than the typical California middle school (≈860).

On the state's science test (CAST), 9% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 and once in high school, and it never enters the Scope Score.

Frequently asked questions

Is Lakeview Middle a good middle school?

Lakeview Middle has a Scope Score of 14 out of 100, placing it in the 4th percentile of California middle schools and ranked #2,147 statewide. 2.0% of students exceeded the state standard on the 2025 CAASPP assessment, which is 15.2 percentage points below the California average of 17.2%. The Scope Score weights 6 dimensions for middle schools: exceeded standard (42%), met or exceeded (proficient) (23%), grade 6-to-8 growth (20%), chronic absenteeism (5%), suspension rate (5%), and ELPAC English Learner proficiency (5%). Data source: California Department of Education CAASPP 2025, analyzed by SchoolScope.

What are Lakeview Middle's CAASPP test scores?

On the 2025 CAASPP Smarter Balanced Assessment, 10.2% of students at Lakeview Middle met or exceeded the state standard in ELA and Math combined, and 2.0% exceeded it. The gap between those numbers matters: 8.2% of students are at the proficiency floor, while 2.0% pushed past it. Most rating sites report only the combined "proficient" number. SchoolScope surfaces the exceeded-vs-met split because it reveals whether a school's curriculum challenges students beyond minimum proficiency or paces toward it. 806 student-subject combinations were assessed.

How does Lakeview Middle rank in California?

Lakeview Middle ranks #2,147 among California middle schools by Scope Score, placing it in the 4th percentile. This ranking is based on a weighted composite of 2025 CAASPP test performance (exceeded and met rates), same-cohort growth (2023 G6 → 2025 G8), chronic absenteeism, and suspension rate. Unlike single-number ratings, the Scope Score shows what drives the ranking so parents can decide what matters most to their family. See full methodology.

Is Lakeview Middle getting better or worse?

SchoolScope follows the same cohort of students across grades rather than comparing two different grades in the same year. At Lakeview Middle that cohort is 2023 G6 → 2025 G8, measured in SBAC scale-score points. Its gain ranks weak among California middle schools — roughly the 37th percentile, behind the typical school at this level. Read the ranking, not the raw point gain: scale scores rise with age, so nearly every school posts a positive number and only the relative position tells you anything. Growth is weighted at 20% in the middle Scope Score because it is the least demographically confounded signal available — it tracks change over time rather than the level students arrived at. See full methodology.

What is the attendance and school culture like at Lakeview Middle?

30.4% of students at Lakeview Middle are chronically absent (missing 10% or more of school days), compared to the California average of 18.1%. The suspension rate is 16.3%. SchoolScope includes these culture metrics in the Scope Score because they reflect day-to-day school experience in ways test scores alone cannot.

How does Lakeview Middle compare to other schools in Watsonville?

Lakeview Middle scores 14/100 (4th percentile) among California middle schools. To compare with nearby schools, SchoolScope shows the same metrics side by side: exceeded rate, proficiency, growth trajectory, and school culture indicators. The school serves 425 students. Use the schools in Watsonville page or the map view to compare all middle schools nearby.

How does Lakeview Middle serve low-income and underrepresented students?

At Lakeview Middle in Watsonville, 12.2% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 19.9% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Lakeview Middle trails its district average for low-income students by 7.7 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (4.8% Math proficient); Hispanic students (13.5% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 11.8 percentage points for disabilities students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 370 students tested. SchoolScope shows disaggregated test scores by demographic subgroup so you can see how a school performs for your child's specific group — not just the school-wide average. Subgroup data is context, not part of the Scope Score: we don't penalize schools for who they serve. See our equity approach.

Your other options

Private alternatives nearby

Private schools within ~10 miles. These schools do not participate in state testing and cannot be scored or ranked.


For the data nerds

Every number on this page

Score factors, grade-level breakdowns, subgroup proficiency, and nearest schools.

01Score factorsWeighted composite · 2024–25
Exceeded standard · 42%
2.0%
↓ vs CA 17.2% · 33th pctile
Met or exceeded · 23%
10.2%
↓ vs CA 40.0% · 26th pctile
Growth (2023 G6 → 2025 G8) · 20%
Weak
↓ vs CA average · 37th pctile
Chronic absenteeism · 5%
30.4%
↓ vs CA 18.1% · 33th pctile
▲ 3.6pp higher vs 2024
Suspension rate · 5%
16.3%
↓ vs CA 3.6% · 0th pctile
▲ 3.4pp higher vs 2024
EL proficiency (ELPAC) · 5%
40.1%
↑ vs CA 18.0% · 75th pctile
02By grade & subgroupCAASPP 2024–25 · % of tested students
ELATestedEXCMETNEARNOTMET++/CA
Grade 61252%10%23%66%11%−35
Grade 71272%16%27%55%18%−30
Grade 81492%12%32%54%14%−32
MathTestedEXCMETNEARNOTMET++/CA
Grade 61262%2%18%79%3%−31
Grade 71302%7%25%66%9%−25
Grade 81492%3%16%79%5%−27

We show the grade rows CDE publishes for this school. A missing grade or dash can mean the school does not serve that grade, no valid result was published, or the tested group was too small to report. It does not mean zero.

Science (CAST)TestedEXCMETNEARNOT
Schoolwide1481%8%67%24%

CAST is tested in grades 5 and 8, then once in grade 10, 11, or 12. This row is the school's all-student aggregate. Not part of the Scope Score.

Subgroup · ELATestedMET+vs districtvs CA
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged37012.2%−8−26
Hispanic/Latino38513.5%−8−25
English Learners1634.3%−1−6
03Nearest middle schoolssorted by Scope Score · Grade gap = grade 3 vs grade 5, this year, different students; Cohort growth = one school's returning cohort tracked across grades (mostly, not exactly, the same kids), in scale-score points — that's the measurement the Scope Score weights
SchoolDistScopeEXCMET+Grade gapCohort growthSusp
Lakeview Middle ←142.0%10.2%+2.5pp+35 pts16.3%
Pajaro Middle2.7 mi172.9%12.8%+1.7pp8.7%
E. A. Hall Middle1.5 mi151.0%6.3%+1.1pp11.7%
Cesar E. Chavez Middle1.9 mi121.6%11.5%+0.1pp1.5%
California average3917.2%40.0%+1.5pp3.6%
04More measurescontext · not all part of the Scope Score
YearScopePctileRankExcMet+AbsentSuspGrade gap
2019189#18383.1%15.9%12.8%5.0%-0.3pp
2022112#21202.0%14.1%44.4%14.4%+10.7pp
2023113#21171.2%12.9%37.0%10.8%+10.5pp
20241910#19851.5%9.8%26.7%12.9%+5.3pp
2025144#21472.0%10.2%30.4%16.3%+2.5pp
Grade gap = this year's grade 3 vs grade 5 result, two different sets of students, not a trend for any one child — it is not the measurement the Scope Score's growth dimension uses. See §01 above and /methodology#verdicts for the school's actual scored (cohort) growth.
NO STATEWIDE TESTING 2020–21 (COVID) · SCORE AND PERCENTILE ARE RELATIVE TO EACH YEAR'S FIELD
What we can't show
  • — Low-income students here trail the state average for their group by 26 points in ELA — worth asking how the school is closing that gap.
05Climate by student groupchronic absenteeism · 2019 vs 2025 — the two years CDE publishes at subgroup level
Group20192025Δ
Female12.6%25.0%+12.4pp
Male13.0%36.4%+23.4pp
Hispanic/Latino12.4%31.0%+18.6pp
Students with Disabilities17.7%45.9%+28.2pp
English Learners11.6%27.4%+15.8pp
Homeless12.2%34.3%+22.1pp
Military-Connected10.3%35.1%+24.8pp
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged12.0%31.3%+19.3pp
All Students12.8%30.8%+18.0pp
11California growth model, by student group2025 · scale-score points vs the state's prediction · shown, never scored
GroupReadingnCDE bandMathnCDE band
All Students−20378Moderate−14378Moderate
Hispanic or Latino−21364Minimal−13364Moderate
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged−23350Minimal−17350Moderate
English Learner−18233Moderate−5233Average
English Learners Only−16154not categorised−8154not categorised
Long-Term English Learner (grades 6-8 only)−12126Moderate−6126Moderate
English Only−1996not categorised−2596not categorised
Recently Reclassified Fluent-English Proficient Only−1979not categorised079not categorised
Students with Disabilities−3157Minimal−457Average
Homeless Youth−1449Moderate−849Moderate

Whole scale-score points above or below what CDE's model predicted for these same children from their own prior-year scores — not a percentage, not a percentile. Statewide a typical school lands near +1 with a spread of about 13 points either side, so read a figure against its group's own typical value, not against zero. “Not categorised” is CDE assigning no band — English Only, Recently Reclassified, and English Learners Only receive a value and no band, for every school in the state. It is not a missing number. Long-Term English Learner counts cover grades 6-8 only (CDE), so that row is not comparable to the All Students row. Most figures blend two consecutive years, so adjacent published years share input data and no trend line can honestly be drawn across them. A group absent from this table had fewer than 11 students with a growth score and was never published. Grades 4-8 only. None of this enters the Scope Score — it is more strongly correlated with school demographics than our own growth measure, and one published year is not enough to test its reliability.

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EXC = exceeded standard · MET+ = met or exceeded ("proficient") · Source: CA Dept. of Education · CAASPP 2024–25 · n=2,177 middle schools · Vintages: climate subgroups 2019+2025 · district finance per its label · ACS 2022 · Data updated 2026-07-03methodology · data updates · CSV · report issue

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