Murrieta Canyon Academy: Low-income kids here outscore the state by 17 points. But one in three miss a month of school or more.
Murrieta Canyon Academy's strongest signal is real. Attendance is the number to ask about — and both belong on the same page.
Murrieta Canyon Academy scores 65 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 89th percentile of 1,714 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 “66% proficient” and call it done. Murrieta Canyon Academy deserves a closer read. The school sits in Murrieta, where three in five students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
The headline number: +6.2pp proficiency climbs from grade 6 to grade 8 across the school. The state average falls 0.5pp over the same span.
The story this school is actually telling
proficiency climbs from grade 6 to grade 8 across the school. The state average falls 0.5pp over the same span.
of students miss a month or more of school, versus 19.1% statewide. High absence often tracks community stress — worth asking about on a tour.
The school, grade by grade
ELA · CAASPP 2024–25Different students, same year — each bar is one grade's proficiency mix.
The honest read: the share exceeding rises 22.0pp across grades; the proficiency floor barely moves. The state average falls 0.5pp over the same span. Kids here gain ground the longer they stay — the pattern you want to see. A school visit and conversation with teachers will tell you more than this number.
Murrieta Canyon Academy's most underrated number
55.5% of low-income students met the ELA standard — versus 38.2% for the same group statewide. That's the strongest kind of signal a school can post: it holds across income lines.
The 6 things our score weighs
Ask how the school tracks and follows up on attendance. High absence often reflects community stress, not classroom quality — a visit will tell you which.
Where the path goes
The path below follows attendance boundaries — scores shown for each next step.
K-12 Path
Murrieta Canyon Academy serves grades K-12 — students can complete their entire K-12 education here.
Your other options
Nearby Middle Schools
2 within ~3 mi · avg 46
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 59
Nearby High Schools
2 within ~3 mi · avg 65
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
Student demographics
3 more gaps by subject
Subgroups with fewer than 15 students are excluded for privacy. Gaps of less than 3 percentage points are not shown.
Weighted average across tested grades. Subgroups with fewer than 15 students excluded. Data: CDE CAASPP 2024-25.
Subgroup Growth by Grade
Low-income student ELA proficiency falls by 4.0pp from grade 6 to grade 8 at this school. District average: +2.8pp.
Subgroups with fewer than 10 tested students per grade are not shown.
Funding Breakdown
Neighborhood Context
Whole Child
Source: CDE SARC, 2024-25
For the data nerdsEvery number on this page
Score factors, grade-level breakdowns, subgroup proficiency, and peer comparisons.
Every number on this page
Score factors, grade-level breakdowns, subgroup proficiency, and peer comparisons.
| ELA | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Grade 4 | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Grade 5 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Grade 6 | 16 | 19% | 56% | 19% | 6% | 75% | +28 |
| Grade 7 | 22 | 41% | 45% | 9% | 5% | 86% | +39 |
| Grade 8 | 27 | 41% | 33% | 22% | 4% | 74% | +28 |
| Grade 11 | 53 | 11% | 23% | 43% | 23% | 34% | −13 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 3 | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Grade 4 | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Grade 5 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Grade 6 | 16 | 31% | 13% | 38% | 19% | 44% | +9 |
| Grade 7 | 23 | 39% | 22% | 26% | 13% | 61% | +27 |
| Grade 8 | 28 | 46% | 11% | 18% | 25% | 57% | +25 |
| Grade 11 | 52 | 0% | 4% | 25% | 71% | 4% | −20 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 94 | 14% | 28% | 57% | 1% |
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 | 80 | 55.5% | −0 | +17 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 45 | 46.1% | −11 | +7 |
| White | 17 | 47.1% | −22 | −15 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Murrieta Canyon Academy ← | — | 65 | 36.2% | 66.2% | +6.2 | 5.2% |
| Thompson Middle | 0.2 mi | 48 | 21.5% | 52.4% | +0.8 | 3.2% |
| Shivela Middle | 2.2 mi | 43 | 19.8% | 47.9% | −1.2 | 5.5% |
| California average | — | 40 | 17.3% | 39.5% | +0.8 | 4.2% |
- — Scored here as a middle school — other grade spans appear in the data appendix.