How does Marco Forster Middle compare to other middle schools in San Juan Capistrano?

Marco Forster Middle has a Scope Score of 62.1/100, ranked #565 among California middle schools. 20% of students exceed standard, with a total of 1,805 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at Marco Forster Middle?

19.6% of students at Marco Forster Middle exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 43.0% meet or exceed it. The gap between these two numbers reveals whether the school pushes students beyond basic proficiency.

Is Marco Forster Middle improving or declining?

Based on CAASPP data, Marco Forster Middle's proficiency rate increases by 10.0 percentage points from Grade 6 to grade 8 growth. This suggests the school may be adding value over time.

What is the chronic absenteeism rate at Marco Forster Middle?

16.8% of students at Marco Forster 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.

Marco Forster Middle

Middle School

Capistrano Unified San Juan CapistranoOrange County92675

📍 25601 Camino del Avion

Scope Score

out of 100

State Rank

of 1,714 California middle schools

🚀

Growth Engine

A growth engine — students gain measurably more here than at peer schools.

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

1,040 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

19:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

71%

Teachers

54 full-time

Dashboard indicators

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

ELA Year-over-Year

Increased

+5.9 pts DFS change

Math Year-over-Year

Increased

+3.7 pts DFS change

EL Proficiency (ELPAC)

24.9%

English learners at Level 4 (Well Developed) · 243 tested

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic68.6%

White25.6%

Asian0.6%

Black0.1%

Other5.2%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for Marco Forster Middle
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	19.6%
Met Standard	23.4%
Below Standard	57.0%

Score Factors

Helping

✓Exceeded standard: 19.6%

2.3pp above state avg (state avg 17.3%)

30% weight

✓Met or exceeded: 43.0%

3.5pp above state avg (state avg 39.5%)

20% weight

✓Growth (G6→G8): +10.0pp

Scores improve across grades (state avg +0.8pp)

15% weight

✓Chronic absenteeism: 16.8%

2.5pp below state avg (state avg 19.3%)

15% weight

✓Baseline proficiency: 43.0%

Above state baseline (state avg 39.5%)

10% weight

Holding Back

▼Suspension rate: 4.9%

0.8pp 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 "43% proficient" for Marco Forster Middle and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

19.6% of students exceeded standard while 23.4% met it. That exceeded rate is 2.3 points above the state average of 17.3%. That's 19.2 points below the Capistrano Unified district average of 38.8%. The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

Students here improve by 10.0 percentage points from Grade 6 to grade 8 growth, suggesting the school is adding value beyond what students arrive with.

California's Dashboard shows ELA performance increased and Math increased year-over-year. 24.9% of English learners reached Level 4 (Well Developed) on ELPAC.

Chronic absenteeism is 16.8%, better than the state average of 19.3%.

Why the exceeded vs. met split matters →

Key metrics

% Exceeded Standard

19.6%

Students scoring above proficient

% Met or Above

43.0%

Students meeting standard

Growth (G6→G8)

+10.0pp

Change in proficiency rate

Chronic Absenteeism

16.8%

Students missing 10%+ of days

Suspension Rate

4.9%

Students suspended at least once

Total Tested

1,805

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	293	19.1%	25.3%	23.6%	32.1%	44.4%
7th	306	20.6%	28.1%	23.2%	28.1%	48.7%
8th	297	18.2%	35.0%	25.6%	21.2%	53.2%

Math scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
6th	297	14.8%	17.2%	24.6%	43.4%	32.0%
7th	309	21.7%	14.9%	22.3%	41.1%	36.6%
8th	303	23.4%	19.8%	23.8%	33.0%	43.2%

K-12 Feeder PathBoundary data

Elementary

Harold Ambuehl Elementary

68.7# in state

Richard Henry Dana Elementary

62.3# in state

Del Obispo Elementary

Also serves area

John Malcom Elementary

73.0# in state

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Middle

Marco Forster Middle

62.1# in state

This school

▼

High School

Also serves area

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