School Profile · Lancaster
Mission Academy: The scores are below where anyone wants them. Here's what they don't tell you.
Mission Academy posts low test scores — and suspensions run below the state rate (0.3% vs 3.7%). If this is your zoned school, the numbers below are where to start a conversation, not where to end one.
43141 Business Center Pkwy Suite 102, 93535 (opens in new tab)·Acton-Agua Dulce Unified·Lancaster·Grades 6-12·694 students·78% low-income·Charter·2024–25 CAASPP·(844) 788-3965·Website
Charter school — publicly funded, independently operated, open enrollment via lottery. Learn more
Scope Score
25
🌱 Building Momentum · Needs Support
ranked #1,797 statewide · #8 of 8 in Acton-Agua Dulce Unified
Mission Academy scores 25 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 20th percentile of 2,238 California middle schools (CDE CAASPP 2025).
Measures test performance, attendance, and climate — not arts, community, or your kid. How we score →
Most rating sites would stop at “31% proficient” and call it done. Mission Academy deserves a closer read. The school sits in Lancaster, where three in four students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
The headline number: 0.3% suspension rate — versus 3.7% statewide.
As a charter, Mission Academy enrolls by application, not address — the score reads the same, the enrollment path doesn't.
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.
8%
32%
60%
Grade 6 · 40% proficient
31%
63%
Grade 7 · 37% proficient
22%
77%
Grade 8 · 23% proficient
The 5 things our score weighs
Exceeded standard
8.4%
State 16.8%
8.4pp below state avg
Met or exceeded
31.4%
State 39.3%
7.8pp below state avg
Growth (G6→G8)
-14.0pp
State +1.5pp
Scores decline across grades
Chronic absenteeism
61.6%
State 18.5%
43.0pp above state avg
Suspension rate
0.3%
State 3.7%
3.4pp below state avg
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.
Where the path goes
The path below follows attendance boundaries — scores shown for each next step.
Estimated K-12 Path
Estimated K-12 path based on district and proximity. Actual attendance zones may differ. Contact your school district for official feeder information.
Your other options
Nearby Middle Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 21
Fulton and Alsbury Academy of Arts and Engineering
Lancaster Elementary · 1 mi
Developing
46/100
New Vista Middle
Lancaster Elementary · 0.9 mi
Needs Support
12/100
RISE
Lancaster Elementary · 1.6 mi
Needs Support
3/100
Private alternatives nearby
Private schools within ~10 miles. These schools do not participate in state testing and cannot be scored or ranked.
The community around it
Community Profile
Context — not part of the Scope ScoreStudent demographics
Hispanic61.2%
White21.2%
Asian1.7%
Black7.3%
Other8.5%
GenderFemale 52.0%Male 46.3%Non-binary 1.7%
Low IncomeFree/reduced lunch eligible 78.2% (14pp above CA avg)
Resources & Access
Enrollment
694
506 below CA avg (~1,200)
Transitional Kindergarten
TK status unconfirmed
No TK enrollment is on file with the state for this school — that isn't the same as “no TK.” Confirm directly with the district.
Student-Teacher Ratio
20:1
1 fewer students per teacher than CA avg
Per-Pupil Spending
$17,135
CA avg: $14,815 · District avg · NCES F-33
At Mission Academy in Lancaster, 30.8% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 30.4% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Mission Academy outperforms its district average for low-income students by 0.5 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (26.9% Math proficient); Hispanic students (31.2% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 29.4 percentage points for english learner students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 249 students tested.
Equity Gaps
ELA · English Learner−29.4pp
5.9% vs 35.3% overall · n=17
3 more gaps by subject
ELA Exceeded · Disabilities−6.8pp
0.0% vs 6.8% overall · n=35
Math · Disabilities−23.7pp
5.9% vs 29.6% overall · n=34
Math Exceeded · Disabilities−11.2pp
0.0% vs 11.2% overall · n=34
Subgroups with fewer than 15 students are excluded for privacy. Gaps of less than 3 percentage points are not shown.
Subgroup Proficiency
Low-Income249 tested
ELA 30.8%·Math 26.9%· +0.5pp vs district
Hispanic227 tested
ELA 31.2%·Math 25.3%· +2.0pp vs district
White52 tested
ELA 37.2%·Math 38.5%· -2.7pp vs district
Weighted average across tested grades. Subgroups with fewer than 15 students excluded. Data: CDE CAASPP 2024-25.
Subgroup Growth by Grade
Change in proficiency from lowest tested grade. Shows which groups are gaining ground.
Low-income student ELA proficiency falls by 12.8pp from grade 6 to grade 8 at this school. District average: +7.2pp.
Subgroups with fewer than 10 tested students per grade are not shown.
Funding Breakdown
Neighborhood Context
Median Income
$70K
$15K below CA median
Median Home Value
$381K
$278K below CA median
Bachelor's+
15%
20pp below CA avg
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2024) · ZIP-level
Whole Child
Teacher experience, college/career readiness, and more. Context only — never part of the Scope Score.
Teacher Experience
9.9 years avg experience
39 teachers
Teacher Credentials
33% fully credentialed
Source: CDE SARC, 2024-25
Community Profile provides context about who attends this school and the resources available. These factors are never part of the Scope Score. Learn why →
For the data nerdsEvery number on this page
Score factors, grade-level breakdowns, subgroup proficiency, and peer comparisons.
For the data nerds
Every number on this page
Score factors, grade-level breakdowns, subgroup proficiency, and peer comparisons.
01Score factorsWeighted composite · 2024–25
Exceeded standard · 43%
8.4%
↓ vs CA 16.8% · 41th pctile
Met or exceeded · 22%
31.4%
↓ vs CA 39.3% · 44th pctile
Growth (G6→G8) · 15%
-14.0pp
↓ vs CA +1.5pp · 47th pctile
Chronic absenteeism · 10%
61.6%
↓ vs CA 18.5% · 0th pctile
Suspension rate · 5%
0.3%
↑ vs CA 3.7% · 64th pctile
02By grade & subgroupCAASPP 2024–25 · % of tested students
| ELA | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 25 | 8% | 32% | 12% | 48% | 40% | −7 |
| Grade 7 | 49 | 6% | 31% | 22% | 41% | 37% | −11 |
| Grade 8 | 107 | 1% | 22% | 30% | 47% | 23% | −23 |
| Grade 11 | 152 | 12% | 30% | 27% | 32% | 41% | −6 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 25 | 8% | 24% | 12% | 56% | 32% | −3 |
| Grade 7 | 50 | 20% | 16% | 22% | 42% | 36% | +2 |
| Grade 8 | 107 | 7% | 13% | 19% | 61% | 21% | −12 |
| Grade 11 | 151 | 10% | 21% | 20% | 49% | 31% | +8 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 120 | 1% | 18% | 63% | 18% |
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 | 249 | 30.8% | +0 | −7 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 227 | 31.2% | +2 | −8 |
| White | 52 | 37.2% | −3 | −25 |
03Peer comparison · nearest middle schoolssorted by Scope Score
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mission Academy ← | — | 25 | 8.4% | 31.4% | −14.0 | 0.3% |
| Fulton and Alsbury Academy of Arts and Engineering | 1 mi | 46 | 19.6% | 47.6% | +13.3 | 1.5% |
| New Vista Middle | 0.9 mi | 12 | 1.8% | 10.1% | +0.8 | 11.6% |
| RISE | 1.6 mi | 3 | 0.0% | 0.0% | — | 19.2% |
| California average | — | 40 | 16.8% | 39.3% | +1.5 | 3.7% |
04More measurescontext · not all part of the Scope Score
Scope Score history
2022 · 2023 · 2024 · 2025 · rank #1892 → #1888 → #2049 → #1797
What we can't show
- — Scored here as a middle school — other grade spans appear in the data appendix.
Source: CA Dept. of Education · CAASPP 2024–25 · n=2,238 middle schools · Data updated 2026-07-03methodology · data updates · CSV · report issue
A low score doesn't tell the whole story. Read: Your School Scored Low — Here's What That Actually Means
Frequently asked questions
Is Mission Academy a good middle school?
Mission Academy has a Scope Score of 25 out of 100, placing it in the 20th percentile of California middle schools and ranked #1,797 statewide. 8.4% of students exceeded the state standard on the 2025 CAASPP assessment, which is 8.4 percentage points below the California average of 16.8%. The Scope Score weights six dimensions for middle schools: exceeded standard (43%), met or exceeded (22%), grade 3-to-5 growth (15%), chronic absenteeism (10%), ELPAC English Learner proficiency (5%), and suspension rate (5%). Data source: California Department of Education CAASPP 2025, analyzed by SchoolScope.
What are Mission Academy's CAASPP test scores?
On the 2025 CAASPP Smarter Balanced Assessment, 31.4% of students at Mission Academy met or exceeded the state standard in ELA and Math combined, and 8.4% exceeded it. The gap between those numbers matters: 23.0% of students are at the proficiency floor, while 8.4% 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. 363 student-subject combinations were assessed.
How does Mission Academy rank in California?
Mission Academy ranks #1,797 among California middle schools by Scope Score, placing it in the 20th percentile. This ranking is based on a weighted composite of 2025 CAASPP test performance (exceeded and met rates), grade-level growth (Grade 6 to grade 8 growth), 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 Mission Academy getting better or worse?
Based on 2025 CAASPP data, proficiency at Mission Academy decreases by 14.0 percentage points from Grade 6 to grade 8 growth. This downward pattern doesn't necessarily mean the school is failing — it can reflect cohort differences, demographic shifts, or curriculum changes. A campus visit and conversation with teachers can reveal what the numbers can't. Growth trajectory is weighted at 15% in the middle Scope Score because it measures what the school does, not just who walks in the door.
What is the attendance and school culture like at Mission Academy?
61.6% of students at Mission Academy are chronically absent (missing 10% or more of school days), compared to the California average of 18.5%. The suspension rate is 0.3%, indicating a low-discipline-incident environment. 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 Mission Academy compare to other schools in Lancaster?
Mission Academy scores 25/100 (20th 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 694 students. Use the schools in Lancaster page or the map view to compare all middle schools nearby.
How does Mission Academy serve low-income and underrepresented students?
At Mission Academy in Lancaster, 30.8% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 30.4% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Mission Academy outperforms its district average for low-income students by 0.5 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (26.9% Math proficient); Hispanic students (31.2% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 29.4 percentage points for english learner students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 249 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.