How does Manuel F. Cunha Intermediate compare to other middle schools in Half Moon Bay?

Manuel F. Cunha Intermediate has a Scope Score of 44.4/100, ranked #998 among California middle schools. 14% of students exceed standard, with a total of 1,019 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at Manuel F. Cunha Intermediate?

13.6% of students at Manuel F. Cunha Intermediate exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 37.4% meet or exceed it. The gap between these two numbers reveals whether the school pushes students beyond basic proficiency.

What is the chronic absenteeism rate at Manuel F. Cunha Intermediate?

14.2% of students at Manuel F. Cunha Intermediate 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.

Manuel F. Cunha Intermediate

Q: Is Manuel F. Cunha Intermediate improving or declining?

Based on CAASPP data, Manuel F. Cunha Intermediate's proficiency rate decreases by 7.7 percentage points from Grade 6 to grade 8 growth. This pattern in test scores may reflect a variety of factors beyond the school itself.

Middle School

Cabrillo Unified Half Moon BaySan Mateo County94019

📍 600 Church Street

Scope Score

out of 100

State Rank

of 1,714 California middle schools

🌱

Building Momentum

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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

542 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

21:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

45%

Teachers

26 full-time

Dashboard indicators

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

ELA Year-over-Year

Declined

-4.5 pts DFS change

Math Year-over-Year

Increased

+11.4 pts DFS change

EL Proficiency (ELPAC)

24.7%

English learners at Level 4 (Well Developed) · 77 tested

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic56.8%

White36.7%

Asian1.3%

Other5.2%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for Manuel F. Cunha Intermediate
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	13.6%
Met Standard	23.8%
Below Standard	62.6%

Score Factors

Helping

✓Chronic absenteeism: 14.2%

5.1pp below state avg (state avg 19.3%)

15% weight

Holding Back

▼Exceeded standard: 13.6%

3.8pp below state avg (state avg 17.3%)

30% weight

▼Met or exceeded: 37.4%

2.1pp below state avg (state avg 39.5%)

20% weight

▼Growth (G6→G8): -7.7pp

Scores decline across grades (state avg +0.8pp)

15% weight

▼Baseline proficiency: 37.4%

Below state baseline (state avg 39.5%)

10% weight

▼Suspension rate: 6.6%

2.5pp 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 "37% proficient" for Manuel F. Cunha Intermediate and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

13.6% of students exceeded standard while 23.8% met it. That exceeded rate is 3.8 points below the state average of 17.3%. That's 5.2 points below the Cabrillo Unified district average of 18.8%. The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

Proficiency drops by 7.7 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 declined and Math increased year-over-year. 24.7% of English learners reached Level 4 (Well Developed) on ELPAC.

Chronic absenteeism is 14.2%, better than 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

13.6%

Students scoring above proficient

% Met or Above

37.4%

Students meeting standard

Growth (G6→G8)

-7.7pp

Change in proficiency rate

Chronic Absenteeism

14.2%

Students missing 10%+ of days

Suspension Rate

6.6%

Students suspended at least once

Total Tested

1,019

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	167	16.8%	26.4%	29.9%	26.9%	43.1%
7th	159	10.1%	29.6%	23.9%	36.5%	39.6%
8th	183	10.4%	30.6%	24.0%	35.0%	41.0%

Math scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
6th	168	20.8%	19.6%	23.2%	36.3%	40.5%
7th	158	11.4%	21.5%	25.3%	41.8%	32.9%
8th	184	12.0%	15.2%	25.0%	47.8%	27.2%

K-12 Feeder PathBoundary data

Elementary

Farallone View Elementary

81.9# in state

El Granada Elementary

53.4# in state

Alvin S. Hatch Elementary

42.0# in state

Kings Mountain Elementary

No score# in state

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Middle

Manuel F. Cunha Intermediate

44.4# in state

This school

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High School

Half Moon Bay High

63.4# in state

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