How does Lick (James) Middle compare to other middle schools in San Francisco?

Lick (James) Middle has a Scope Score of 19.8/100, ranked #1547 among California middle schools. 8% of students exceed standard, with a total of 844 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at Lick (James) Middle?

7.9% of students at Lick (James) Middle exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 19.3% meet or exceed it. The gap between these two numbers reveals whether the school pushes students beyond basic proficiency.

Is Lick (James) Middle improving or declining?

Based on CAASPP data, Lick (James) Middle's proficiency rate decreases by 6.1 percentage points from Grade 6 to grade 8 growth. This pattern in test scores may reflect a variety of factors beyond the school itself.

What is the chronic absenteeism rate at Lick (James) Middle?

34.6% of students at Lick (James) 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.

Lick (James) Middle

Middle School

San Francisco Unified San FranciscoSan Francisco County94114

📍 1220 Noe Street

Scope Score

out of 100

State Rank

of 1,714 California middle schools

🌱

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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

476 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

17:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

60%

Teachers

28 full-time

Dashboard indicators

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

ELA Year-over-Year

Increased

+8.8 pts DFS change

Math Year-over-Year

Increased

+9.4 pts DFS change

EL Proficiency (ELPAC)

8.3%

English learners at Level 4 (Well Developed) · 159 tested

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic70.4%

White8.6%

Asian1.7%

Black8.2%

Other11.1%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for Lick (James) Middle
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	7.9%
Met Standard	11.3%
Below Standard	80.7%

Score Factors

Holding Back

▼Exceeded standard: 7.9%

9.4pp below state avg (state avg 17.3%)

30% weight

▼Met or exceeded: 19.3%

20.2pp below state avg (state avg 39.5%)

20% weight

▼Growth (G6→G8): -6.1pp

Scores decline across grades (state avg +0.8pp)

15% weight

▼Chronic absenteeism: 34.6%

15.3pp above state avg (state avg 19.3%)

15% weight

▼Baseline proficiency: 19.3%

Below state baseline (state avg 39.5%)

10% weight

▼Suspension rate: 6.8%

2.7pp 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 "19% proficient" for Lick (James) Middle and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

7.9% of students exceeded standard while 11.3% met it. That exceeded rate is 9.4 points below the state average of 17.3%. That's 15.2 points below the San Francisco Unified district average of 23.2%. The 8 nearby schools within ~3 miles average 17.7% exceeded — 9.8 points higher. The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

Proficiency drops by 6.1 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. 8.3% of English learners reached Level 4 (Well Developed) on ELPAC.

Chronic absenteeism is 34.6%, above the state average of 19.3%.

Why the exceeded vs. met split matters →

A low score doesn't tell the whole story. Read: Your School Scored Low — Here's What That Actually Means

Key metrics

% Exceeded Standard

7.9%

Students scoring above proficient

% Met or Above

19.3%

Students meeting standard

Growth (G6→G8)

-6.1pp

Change in proficiency rate

Chronic Absenteeism

34.6%

Students missing 10%+ of days

Suspension Rate

6.8%

Students suspended at least once

Total Tested

844

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	140	12.9%	17.9%	14.3%	55.0%	30.7%
7th	144	4.2%	9.7%	20.8%	65.3%	13.9%
8th	144	9.7%	16.7%	25.7%	47.9%	26.4%

Math scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
6th	139	7.9%	12.9%	19.4%	59.7%	20.9%
7th	139	5.0%	5.8%	18.0%	71.2%	10.8%
8th	138	8.0%	5.1%	16.7%	70.3%	13.0%

K-12 Feeder PathBoundary data

Elementary

Peabody (George) Elementary

93.0# in state

Stevenson (Robert Louis) Eleme…

90.8# in state

Sunset Elementary

86.1# in state

New Traditions Elementary

85.8# in state

Grattan Elementary

85.6# in state

Chin (John Yehall) Elementary

Lau (Gordon J.) Elementary

83.1# in state

Key (Francis Scott) Elementary

West Portal Elementary

74.4# in state

Ortega (Jose) Elementary

74.1# in state

McCoppin (Frank) Elementary

73.1# in state

Sloat (Commodore) Elementary

King (Thomas Starr) Elementary

66.3# in state

Webster (Daniel) Elementary

Feinstein (Dianne) Elementary

Taylor (Edward R.) Elementary

60.9# in state

Milk (Harvey) Civil Rights Ele…

59.9# in state

Glen Park Elementary

55.6# in state

Parker (Jean) Elementary

54.4# in state

Muir (John) Elementary

53.9# in state

Flynn (Leonard R.) Elementary

42.7# in state

Parks (Rosa) Elementary

40.7# in state

Cobb (William L.) Elementary

38.2# in state

Moscone (George R.) Elementary

36.8# in state

Visitacion Valley Elementary

36.7# in state

Guadalupe Elementary

35.3# in state

Longfellow Elementary

32.7# in state

Sheridan Elementary

32.0# in state

Spring Valley Elementary

31.3# in state

Serra (Junipero) Elementary

26.7# in state

Chavez (Cesar) Elementary

Harte (Bret) Elementary

21.0# in state

Tenderloin Community

20.8# in state

Drew (Charles) College Prepara…

Carver (George Washington) Ele…

12.2# in state

Sanchez Elementary

11.0# in state

Also serves area

Chinese Immersion School at De…

96.5# in state

Huerta (Dolores) Elementary

60.7# in state

San Francisco Public Montessor…

43.1# in state

▼

Middle

Lick (James) Middle

19.8# in state

This school

▼

High School

Lowell High

85.1# in state

Washington (George) High

73.0# in state

Lincoln (Abraham) High

72.4# in state

Balboa High

66.0# in state

Wallenberg (Raoul) Traditional…

61.2# in state

Galileo High

60.3# in state

Burton (Phillip and Sala) Acad…

57.6# in state

Mission High

29.8# in state

O'Connell (John) High

27.5# in state

Marshall (Thurgood) High

22.0# in state

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