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Charter middle school

Northcoast Preparatory and Performing Arts Academy

Arcata, CA · Grades 6-12 · 118 students · Humboldt County Office of Education

Most kids here clear the bar, year after year. The question is what happens after that.

62% of tested students are Proficient or Advanced in English and 43% in math. Explore the evidence alongside the opportunities your child would use.

SchoolScope archetype

Culture First

What this means for your family

Ask whether the low absenteeism and suspension numbers come from what the school does or from the community it serves — both can produce the same numbers, and only a visit tells you which.

How archetypes are assigned →

Contact

DistrictHumboldt County Office of Education
PrincipalAdam Hess
Grades6-12
Enrollment118 students

Math

43%

Grades 6 & 8 · Proficient or Advanced

English

62%

Grades 6 & 8 · Proficient or Advanced

Students

118

Total enrollment

Chronic absence

4%

Students absent 10% or more of school days

What are you trying to decide?

The overall score is a starting point.

Look at subject results, trends and student groups, then consider the opportunities your child would use.

View school performance →

Academic performance

What do the results tell us?

2025 results · Grades 6 & 8 · weighted by students tested within each subject.

Proficient or Advanced combines Levels 3 and 4, formerly Standard Met and Standard Exceeded. California changed the names for 2025–26; the cut scores did not. About the labels →

Share at Proficient or Advanced

0%25%50%75%100%2019: 45%2022: 44%2023: 44%2024: 57%2025: 43%2019: 79%2022: 73%2023: 62%2024: 74%2025: 62%201920222023202420250%25%50%75%100%2019: 45%2022: 44%2023: 44%2024: 57%2025: 43%2019: 79%2022: 73%2023: 62%2024: 74%2025: 62%20192022202320242025
● Math┄ English

Gaps in the lines mark years without annual results.

Exact annual results
YearMathEnglish
201945%79%
202244%73%
202344%62%
202457%74%
202543%62%

Each year describes that year’s tested students. Changes between years do not follow the same children over time. Cohort-growth evidence, when available, is labeled separately below.

Annual results and the full academic record
Is it getting better · CAASPP 2019 to 2025

Has held the 80th-percentile line every tested year since 2019.

Most rating sites would stop at “59% proficient” and call it done. Northcoast Preparatory and Performing Arts Academy deserves a closer read. One in three of its students qualify for free or reduced lunch (California: 64%) — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.

The headline number: 4.3% chronic absenteeism — versus 18.1% statewide. Attendance is the quietest strong signal a school can post.

As a charter, Northcoast Preparatory and Performing Arts Academy enrolls by application rather than address. That changes how you get in, but it doesn't change the score.

76 tested · 3 of 3 grades published · no cohort tracked

Northcoast Preparatory and Performing Arts Academy scores 51 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 80th percentile of 2,177 California middle schools (CDE CAASPP 2025).

This school hasn't fully recovered from the pandemic: 59% meet the standard today, versus 62% in 2019 — a gap worth asking about on a visit.

Percentile among 2,177 middle schools statewide
Year detailsYear2019 · 87th percentile · Scope Score 61 of 1002022 · 81st percentile · Scope Score 51 of 1002023 · 85th percentile · Scope Score 55 of 1002024 · 86th percentile · Scope Score 57 of 1002025 · 80th percentile · Scope Score 51 of 100
ELABlue(Increased)MathGreen(Increased)
ShowHide the by-grade tables, year by year
ELA — % met or exceeded, by grade
Grade20192022202320242025
Grade 696%71%70%82%47%
Grade 781%73%76%76%79%
Grade 863%75%54%67%73%
Grade 1176%71%76%100%
Math — % met or exceeded, by grade
Grade20192022202320242025
Grade 660%50%42%59%38%
Grade 746%43%56%48%71%
Grade 829%38%46%54%48%
Grade 1150%48%47%50%
Where students land · CAASPP 2024–25

More than half of students here meet the standard. One in four clear it by a lot.

ELA75% met or exceeded
Exceeded 39%Met 36%Nearly Met 18%Not Met 7%
Math53% met or exceeded
Exceeded 23%Met 30%Nearly Met 27%Not Met 19%
Exceeded Met Nearly Met Not Met
California middle schools · average17% exceeded · 40% met or exceeded
This school against the California average
2019–2025 trend · CDE CAASPP
Scope% Exceeded% Met+GrowthAbsenceSuspension
This school5126%59%4.3%0.7%
CA average · Middle School3917%40%18.1%3.6%
This schoolCA avg
Scope5139
% Exceeded26%17%
% Met+59%40%
Growth
Absence4.3%18.1%
Suspension0.7%3.6%
California’s growth results and student groups
State growth model · CDE growth model 2024–25

California's own growth model splits here — the 64th percentile in reading against the 36th in math, among middle schools.

Context — never part of the Scope Score

California runs its own growth model — it follows individual children in grades 4 through 8 and compares each one against a prediction from their own prior scores. On that measure this school sits about at the middle of California middle schools in reading, and the 36th in math. We show it; we don't score it.

pts vs expected is scale-score points above or below what California's model predicted for these same children from their own prior-year scores. It is not a percentage and not a percent of anything. A typical California middle school lands at −1 in reading, and the middle half of them fall between −8 and +6 — the spread is wide, so read the rank, not the sign. CDE blends two consecutive years into each published figure, so adjacent years share input data and no year-over-year trend can honestly be drawn from them. It covers grades 4-8 only, and it is not part of the Scope Score — we assessed it and left it out: it tracks school demographics roughly three times as strongly as our own growth measure does, and one published year is not enough to test how stable it is.

California's growth model, ranked against the schools it scores
State model · readingmatched students, grades 4-8California growth model, reading: +5 scale-score points versus the state's expectation, 64th percentile of 7,519 reported schools.64th pctile · +5 pts
State model · mathmatched students, grades 4-8California growth model, math: −4 scale-score points versus the state's expectation, 36th percentile of 7,518 reported schools.36th pctile · −4 pts
this school| the tick is the middle of the California field

Students & opportunity

Who shares in the school’s results?

Who it works for · CAASPP 2024–25

How every group of students does here

At Northcoast Preparatory and Performing Arts Academy in Arcata, 82.4% of white students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 8.3% district-wide and 61.8% statewide. Northcoast Preparatory and Performing Arts Academy outperforms its district average for white students by 74.0 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: White students (64.7% Math proficient). Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 34 students tested.

Met or exceeded · reading and math combined
All students at this school: 64% met or exceeded
All StudentsAll Students: this school 64%, district —, state 40%64%
WhiteWhite: this school 74%, district 5%, state 56%74% · +9 vs school
FemaleFemale: this school 66%, district 8%, state 44%66% · +2 vs school
MaleMale: this school 67%, district 5%, state 42%67% · +3 vs school

8 of 12 student groups here are too small to report — a privacy protection, not a gap.

this school district, same group California, same group
ShowHide Student-group results by grade
Student-group results by grade

Results compare different grade groups in the same year, relative to the lowest tested grade. They do not track the same children over time. Groups with fewer than 10 tested students per grade are not shown.

ShowHide California's growth model by student group
The state's growth model, by student group

California follows these children individually and predicts each one's score from their own prior year. Each row is read against the same group at a typical California middle school — not against zero, and not against this school's all-students figure, because the state's expectation already differs by group.

Reading
English Only53 studentsEnglish Only, reading: +7 scale-score points versus expectation, against 0 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 53 students.+7 pts · +7 vs typical
White38 studentsWhite, reading: +9 scale-score points versus expectation, against 0 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 38 students.+9 pts · +9 vs typical
Math
English Only53 studentsEnglish Only, math: −5 scale-score points versus expectation, against −3 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 53 students.−5 pts · −2 vs typical
White39 studentsWhite, math: −3 scale-score points versus expectation, against +1 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 39 students.−3 pts · −4 vs typical
this school typical California middle school, same group| the centre tick is 0 = as predicted

— 1 more group is reported here with between 11 and 29 students. We hold those back on purpose: at that size the figure swings about 17 points on its own, and a quarter of such groups land past the state's top or bottom cut point by chance alone. They are listed with their student counts in the data appendix. — A group not listed at all had fewer than 11 students with a growth score, so California published nothing for it here. That is a privacy protection, not a judgment about those students. — Context only. None of this enters the Scope Score.

The daily experience

What is it like to be a student here?

Students per teacher

Student–teacher ratio is a schoolwide staffing measure, not an average class size.

The people teaching · CDE staffing 2024–25

About 20 students for every teacher here.

Context — never part of the Scope Score

Students per teacher20 · district 14
Teaching staff13 teachers
Avg. experience8.3 years
Fully credentialed61%
First-year teachers23%
PrincipalAdam Hess
ShowHide what the district pays
Teacher salary schedule$51,382 – $86,229
Principal salaryUp to $133,290
Superintendent salary$238,626

Pay is set by the district, not the school.

Attendance & discipline · 2024–25

Kids here show up more, and get suspended less, than the state average.

Chronic absenteeismChronic absenteeism: this school 4.3%, district 7.1%, state 18.1%4.3% · −13.8pp vs state
Suspension rateSuspension rate: this school 0.7%, district —, state 3.6%0.7% · −2.9pp vs state
This schoolDistrictCalifornia

Resources & neighborhood

What sits behind the school experience?

Explore school spending and the district budget
What gets spent · FY 2018–19

Its district spends $135,045 per student, more than the California average.

Context — never part of the Scope Score

Per-pupil spendingPer-pupil spending: $135,045, CA average $14,491$135,045 · district average
District averageCalifornia
Where the district's dollars go · FY 2024–25 · CDE SACS
Instruction 31%Instruction support 27%Student services 16%Administration 20%Buildings & maintenance 5%Other 1%

District-level, from the district's own SACS general-ledger filing — school-by-school breakdowns aren't published by the state.

ShowHide the district's spending year by year
district detail, 2016–2019 — the newest published
2019$135,045 per pupil
2018$125,507 per pupil
2017$75,902 per pupil
2016$77,264 per pupil
The neighborhood · ACS 2024

One in three of students here qualify for free or reduced lunch, versus three in five statewide.

Context — never part of the Scope Score

Worth knowing

At 118 students, this school is much smaller than the typical California middle school (≈860).

On the state's science test (CAST), 73% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 and once in high school, and it never enters the Scope Score.

Hispanic or Latino5.9% · district 15.5% · CA 56.1%
White68.6% · district 55.1% · CA 19.9%
Asian3.4% · district 1.9% · CA 10.2%
Other22.0% · district 26.5% · CA 9.0%
GenderFemale 59.3% · Male 39.8% · Non-binary 0.8%
Free or reduced lunch33.0% · CA 64%
Median income$53K · CA $85K
Median home value$501K · CA $659K
Bachelor's degree+46% · CA 35%
ZIP population21,980
Median age29 years

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2024) · ZIP-level

Culture & philosophy

What is the school’s approach?

School-stated approach · questions for your visit

Look beyond the brochure

A source-reviewed culture summary is not available for this profile yet. Ask how teaching, student support and family communication work day to day.

Read the school’s own website ↗

Family voices

What would you want another family to know about the daily experience here?

Ask a current family: “When your child needs help, how does the school respond?”

Educator voices

What should families understand about teaching, support and the school community?

Ask an educator: “How do you adapt a typical day for children with different needs?”

Bring these questions on a visit →

Compare nearby schools

What are the alternatives?

Compare schools serving the same grade stage. Private schools have no comparable state-test score.

2025 · middle schools · combined reading and math measures. Percentiles compare schools within their enrollment group.

Private options →
SchoolTypePerformance bandAdvancedProficient or AdvancedDistanceSelect
Northcoast Preparatory and Performing Arts AcademyCharterStrong26%59%School being viewed
Sunny Brae MiddlePublicDeveloping16%39%0.6 mi
Open the comparison tool →
More nearby public and private options
Your other options

Your other options

Nearby public schools across grade levels, plus private options within 10 miles.

All schools in Arcata →

Private schools do not receive a Scope Score or statewide ranking on SchoolScope.

5 private schools within 10 miles
Not scored
What should I check before applying?
District public
Confirm the attendance boundary and any permit options.
Charter
Check applications, priorities and deadlines with each school.
Private
Confirm admission requirements, tuition and financial aid.

Moving & enrollment

Which schools could serve my child?

Check enrollment with this charter school

Ask the school about applications, priorities and deadlines for your child’s grade.

School website →

Schools across the K–12 journey

Schools are grouped by grade stage. Nearby schools are not confirmed feeder links or address assignments. Verify the current path and eligibility with the district.

Charter enrollment details

Plan your next step

What should I do next?

Worth a school visit

Ask how the school challenges kids who clear the standard early. The gap between meeting and exceeding is where pacing shows.

  • Ask whether the tour can step into a working classroom — watch how the teacher handles a student who's stuck.
  • Ask to tour while school's in session, and notice how hallways and transitions feel — culture shows up between classes, not just in them.
  • Ask how the school communicates with families when a child starts to struggle.
  • Ask what a typical day looks like for a new student in the first few weeks.
Questions

Frequently asked questions

Is Northcoast Preparatory and Performing Arts Academy a good middle school?
Northcoast Preparatory and Performing Arts Academy has a Scope Score of 51 out of 100, placing it in the 80th percentile of California middle schools and ranked #446 statewide. 25.9% of students exceeded the state standard on the 2025 CAASPP assessment, which is 8.7 percentage points above the California average of 17.2%. The Scope Score weights 6 dimensions for middle schools: exceeded standard (42%), met or exceeded (proficient) (23%), grade 6-to-8 growth (20%), chronic absenteeism (5%), suspension rate (5%), and ELPAC English Learner proficiency (5%). Data source: California Department of Education CAASPP 2025, analyzed by SchoolScope.
What are Northcoast Preparatory and Performing Arts Academy's CAASPP test scores?
On the 2025 CAASPP Smarter Balanced Assessment, 59.1% of students at Northcoast Preparatory and Performing Arts Academy met or exceeded the state standard in ELA and Math combined, and 25.9% exceeded it. The gap between those numbers matters: 33.2% of students are at the proficiency floor, while 25.9% went beyond it. Most rating sites report only the combined "proficient" number. SchoolScope surfaces the exceeded-vs-met split because it shows how many students go beyond the standard rather than only meeting it. 122 student-subject combinations were assessed.
How does Northcoast Preparatory and Performing Arts Academy rank in California?
Northcoast Preparatory and Performing Arts Academy ranks #446 among California middle schools by Scope Score, placing it in the 80th 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.
What is the attendance and school culture like at Northcoast Preparatory and Performing Arts Academy?
4.3% of students at Northcoast Preparatory and Performing Arts Academy are chronically absent (missing 10% or more of school days), which is better than the California average of 18.1%. The suspension rate is 0.7%, 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 Northcoast Preparatory and Performing Arts Academy compare to other schools in Arcata?
Northcoast Preparatory and Performing Arts Academy scores 51/100 (80th 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 118 students. Use the schools in Arcata page or the map view to compare all middle schools nearby.
How does Northcoast Preparatory and Performing Arts Academy serve low-income and underrepresented students?
At Northcoast Preparatory and Performing Arts Academy in Arcata, 82.4% of white students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 8.3% district-wide and 61.8% statewide. Northcoast Preparatory and Performing Arts Academy outperforms its district average for white students by 74.0 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: White students (64.7% Math proficient). Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 34 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.

Use the published evidence to prepare questions, then verify fit and access with the school.

Behind the evidence

Inspect the full record

Public sources, visible methods and the underlying school record. Source years and limitations stay attached to the evidence.

How the Scope Score is calculated

On a narrow screen, scroll the table sideways to see the state comparison and weights.

What the score weighs · CAASPP 2024–25

The 5 things our score weighs

What the score weighs
What we weighHereStateWeight
Exceeded standard25.9%17.2%42%
Met or exceeded59.1%40.0%23%
Chronic absenteeism4.3%18.1%5%
Suspension rate0.7%3.6%5%
Grade gap (G6→G8, different students)+18.1pp+1.5pp

Source CAASPP 2025 · California Department of Education. Measures test performance, attendance, and climate — not arts, community, or your kid. How the score is built

A closer look at the evidence

Northcoast Preparatory and Performing Arts Academy: reading the evidence

Northcoast Preparatory and Performing Arts Academy posts 59% meeting the standard, and 25.9% going well past it. Most kids here keep up. Fewer get pushed further. Ask the school what it does for a child who already finds the work easy.

Subject proficiency describes tested students, while graduation describes a graduating cohort. These figures are not successive stages followed by the same students.

Ask whether the low absenteeism and suspension numbers come from what the school does or from the community it serves — both can produce the same numbers, and only a visit tells you which.

Explore the underlying data →
Every number: score factors, grades, student groups and downloads
Every number · For the data nerds

Every number on this page

Score factors, grade-level breakdowns, subgroup proficiency, and nearest schools.

Northcoast Preparatory and Performing Arts Academy is ranked #446 statewide.

01Score factorsWeighted composite · 2024–25
Score factors
FactorSchoolStateWeight
Exceeded standard25.9%17.2%42%
Met or exceeded59.1%40.0%23%
Chronic absenteeism4.3%18.1%5%
Suspension rate0.7%3.6%5%
Grade gap (G6→G8, different students)+18.1pp+1.5ppnot scored
Exceeded standard
↑ vs CA 17.2% · index 60 · 50 = CA middle-school midpoint
Met or exceeded
↑ vs CA 40.0% · index 65 · 50 = CA middle-school midpoint
Chronic absenteeism
↑ vs CA 18.1% · index 70 · 50 = CA middle-school midpoint · ▲ 0.9pp higher vs 2024
Suspension rate
↑ vs CA 3.6% · index 62 · 50 = CA middle-school midpoint · → no change vs 2024
Grade gap (G6→G8, different students)
↑ vs CA +1.5pp
02By grade & subgroupCAASPP 2024–25 · % of tested students
ShowHide table 02 — By grade & subgroup
ELATestedEXCMETNEARNOTMET++/CA
Grade 61520%27%33%20%47%+1
Grade 72442%38%17%4%79%+32
Grade 82227%45%23%5%73%+27
Grade 111573%27%0%0%100%+51
MathTestedEXCMETNEARNOTMET++/CA
Grade 61619%19%38%25%38%+3
Grade 72433%38%25%4%71%+37
Grade 82114%33%29%24%48%+16
Grade 111625%25%19%31%50%+26

We show the grade rows CDE publishes for this school. A missing grade or dash can mean the school does not serve that grade, that we hold no valid result for it, or that the tested group was too small to report. It does not mean zero.

Science (CAST)TestedEXCMETNEARNOT
Schoolwide4120%54%22%5%

CAST is tested in grades 5 and 8, then once in grade 10, 11, or 12. This row is the school's all-student aggregate. Not part of the Scope Score.

Subgroup · ELATestedMET+vs districtvs CA
White3482.4%+74+21
03Nearest middle schoolssorted by Scope Score · Grade gap = grade 3 vs grade 5, this year, different students; Cohort growth = one school's returning cohort tracked across grades (mostly, not exactly, the same kids), in scale-score points — that's the measurement the Scope Score weights
SchoolDistScopeEXCMET+Grade gapCohort growthSusp
Northcoast Preparatory and Performing Arts Academy ←5125.9%59.1%+18.1pp0.7%
Sunny Brae Middle0.6 mi3316.5%39.5%+3.6pp18.5%
California average3917.2%40.0%+1.5pp3.6%
04More measurescontext · not all part of the Scope Score
ShowHide table 04 — More measures
YearScopePctileRankExcMet+AbsentSuspGrade gap
20196187#25733.0%62.4%2.4%0.7%-32.2pp
20225181#40620.5%58.1%4.9%0.7%-4.2pp
20235585#32025.2%57.5%3.8%0.7%-6.3pp
20245786#29331.6%64.3%3.4%0.7%-10.0pp
20255180#44625.9%59.1%4.3%0.7%+18.1pp
Grade gap = this year's grade 3 vs grade 5 result, two different sets of students, not a trend for any one child — it is not the measurement the Scope Score's growth dimension uses. See §01 above and /methodology#verdicts for the school's actual scored (cohort) growth.
NO STATEWIDE TESTING 2020–21 (COVID) · SCORE AND PERCENTILE ARE RELATIVE TO EACH YEAR'S FIELD
What we can't show
  • — Scored here as a middle school — other grade spans appear in the data appendix.
05California growth model, by student group2025 · scale-score points vs the state's prediction · shown, never scored
ShowHide table 05 — California growth model, by student group
GroupReadingnCDE bandMathnCDE band
All Students+554Accelerated−454Average
English Only+753not categorised−553not categorised
White+938Accelerated−339Average
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged−1821Moderate−1320Moderate

Whole scale-score points above or below what CDE's model predicted for these same children from their own prior-year scores — not a percentage, not a percentile. Statewide a typical school lands near +1 with a spread of about 13 points either side, so read a figure against its group's own typical value, not against zero. Muted rows have fewer than 30 students with a growth score — published by CDE, held back from the narrative sections above because at that size the figure swings about 17 points on its own. “Not categorised” is CDE assigning no band — English Only, Recently Reclassified, and English Learners Only receive a value and no band, for every school in the state. It is not a missing number. Most figures blend two consecutive years, so adjacent published years share input data and no trend line can honestly be drawn across them. A group absent from this table had fewer than 11 students with a growth score and was never published. Grades 4-8 only. None of this enters the Scope Score — it is more strongly correlated with school demographics than our own growth measure, and one published year is not enough to test its reliability.

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EXC = exceeded standard · MET+ = met or exceeded ("proficient") · Source: CA Dept. of Education · CAASPP 2024–25 · n=2,177 middle schools · Vintages: climate subgroups 2019+2025 · district finance per its label · ACS 2022 · Data updated 2026-09-18

SchoolScope scores and verdicts are our interpretation of public California Department of Education data — independent analysis, not an official rating. How we analyze · Request a correction

Northcoast Preparatory and Performing Arts Academy

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