How does Niguel Hills Middle compare to other middle schools in Laguna Niguel?

Niguel Hills Middle has a SchoolScope composite score of 54.2/100, placing it at the 80th percentile statewide. 36% of students exceed standard, with a total of 1,244 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at Niguel Hills Middle?

35.8% of students at Niguel Hills Middle exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 64.0% meet or exceed it. The gap between these two numbers reveals whether the school pushes students beyond basic proficiency.

Is Niguel Hills Middle improving or declining?

Based on CAASPP data, Niguel Hills Middle's proficiency rate decreases by 0.4 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 Niguel Hills Middle?

18.7% of students at Niguel Hills 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 our composite score.

Niguel Hills Middle

Middle School

Capistrano Unified Laguna NiguelOrange County92677

📍 29070 Shark Bay

Composite Score

out of 100

State Percentile

of middle schools

State Rank

of 1,714 California middle schools

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Composite 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

733 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

19:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

40%

Teachers

38 full-time

Dashboard indicators

ELA Year-over-Year

Declined

-4.2 pts DFS change

Math Year-over-Year

Declined

-10.6 pts DFS change

EL Proficiency (ELPAC)

17.9%

English learners at Level 4 (Well Developed) · 56 tested

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic29.5%

White57.0%

Asian3.1%

Black1.2%

Other9.1%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for Niguel Hills Middle
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	35.8%
Met Standard	28.2%
Below Standard	36.0%

What other rankings don't show you

Most rating sites report "64% proficient" for Niguel Hills Middle and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

35.8% of students exceeded standard while 28.2% met it. That exceeded rate is 18.5 points above the state average of 17.3%. That's 3.0 points below the Capistrano Unified district average of 38.8%. Nearby schools (within ~3 miles) average 37.7% exceeded — about the same. The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

Proficiency drops by 0.4 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 declined year-over-year. 17.9% of English learners reached Level 4 (Well Developed) on ELPAC.

Chronic absenteeism is 18.7%, better than the state average of 19.3%.

Why the exceeded vs. met split matters →

Key metrics

% Exceeded Standard

35.8%

Students scoring above proficient

% Met or Above

64.0%

Students meeting standard

Growth (G6→G8)

-0.4pp

Change in proficiency rate

Chronic Absenteeism

18.7%

Students missing 10%+ of days

Suspension Rate

7.9%

Students suspended at least once

Total Tested

1,244

Across all grades & subjects

Grade trajectory

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	191	40.3%	31.9%	13.6%	14.1%	72.3%
7th	226	31.9%	33.6%	17.3%	17.3%	65.5%
8th	202	37.1%	34.6%	14.4%	13.9%	71.8%

Math scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
6th	194	37.1%	24.2%	18.0%	20.6%	61.3%
7th	228	29.4%	22.8%	25.0%	22.8%	52.2%
8th	203	38.9%	22.2%	17.7%	21.2%	61.1%

K-12 Feeder PathBoundary data

Elementary

George White Elementary

62.886th pctile

Moulton Elementary

60.083rd pctile

Hidden Hills Elementary

44.451st pctile

Also serves area

John Malcom Elementary

61.384th pctile

San Juan Elementary

43.047th pctile

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Middle

Niguel Hills Middle

54.280th pctile

This school

▼

High School

Dana Hills High

65.586th pctile

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