How does Nicolet Middle compare to other middle schools in Banning?

Nicolet Middle has a Scope Score of 13.2/100, ranked #1640 among California middle schools. 3% of students exceed standard, with a total of 1,874 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at Nicolet Middle?

2.7% of students at Nicolet Middle exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 13.5% meet or exceed it. The gap between these two numbers reveals whether the school pushes students beyond basic proficiency.

Is Nicolet Middle improving or declining?

Based on CAASPP data, Nicolet Middle's proficiency rate decreases by 2.9 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 Nicolet Middle?

29.7% of students at Nicolet 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.

Nicolet Middle

Middle School

Banning Unified BanningRiverside County92220

📍 101 East Nicolet 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

985 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

21:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

86%

Teachers

46 full-time

Dashboard indicators

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

ELA Year-over-Year

Maintained

+1.7 pts DFS change

Math Year-over-Year

Maintained

+0.9 pts DFS change

EL Proficiency (ELPAC)

13.1%

English learners at Level 4 (Well Developed) · 155 tested

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic73.3%

White9.4%

Asian4.1%

Black7.1%

Other6.1%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for Nicolet Middle
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	2.7%
Met Standard	10.8%
Below Standard	86.5%

Score Factors

Holding Back

▼Exceeded standard: 2.7%

14.6pp below state avg (state avg 17.3%)

30% weight

▼Met or exceeded: 13.5%

26.0pp below state avg (state avg 39.5%)

20% weight

▼Growth (G6→G8): -2.9pp

Scores decline across grades (state avg +0.8pp)

15% weight

▼Chronic absenteeism: 29.7%

10.4pp above state avg (state avg 19.3%)

15% weight

▼Baseline proficiency: 13.5%

Below state baseline (state avg 39.5%)

10% weight

▼Suspension rate: 7.2%

3.1pp 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 "14% proficient" for Nicolet Middle and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

2.7% of students exceeded standard while 10.8% met it. That exceeded rate is 14.6 points below the state average of 17.3%. That's 4.8 points below the Banning Unified district average of 7.6%. The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

Proficiency drops by 2.9 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 maintained and Math maintained year-over-year. 13.1% of English learners reached Level 4 (Well Developed) on ELPAC.

Chronic absenteeism is 29.7%, 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

2.7%

Students scoring above proficient

% Met or Above

13.5%

Students meeting standard

Growth (G6→G8)

-2.9pp

Change in proficiency rate

Chronic Absenteeism

29.7%

Students missing 10%+ of days

Suspension Rate

7.2%

Students suspended at least once

Total Tested

1,874

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	315	3.5%	14.3%	27.6%	54.6%	17.8%
7th	312	4.8%	17.6%	25.0%	52.6%	22.4%
8th	310	1.9%	13.6%	26.8%	57.7%	15.5%

Math scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
6th	315	3.2%	5.4%	20.3%	71.1%	8.6%
7th	312	2.6%	9.0%	22.1%	66.3%	11.5%
8th	310	0.3%	4.8%	16.8%	78.1%	5.2%

K-12 Feeder PathBoundary data

Elementary

Hemmerling Elementary

21.0# in state

▼

Middle

Nicolet Middle

13.2# in state

This school

▼

High School

Banning High

45.0# in state

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