School Profile · Oakland
Oakland School for the Arts: The score is middle of the pack. The trajectory isn't.
Oakland School for the Arts sits mid-pack on raw proficiency — and it's climbing faster than most schools anywhere near it — and that holds when you follow the same students across grades.
530 18th Street, 94612 (opens in new tab)·Oakland Unified·Oakland·Grades 6-12·828 students·29% low-income·Charter·2024–25 CAASPP·(510) 873-8800·Website
Charter school — publicly funded, independently operated, open enrollment via lottery. Learn more
Scope Score
48
🚀 Growth Engine · Developing
ranked #640 statewide · #8 of 34 in Oakland Unified
Oakland School for the Arts scores 48 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 71st 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 “44% proficient” and call it done. Oakland School for the Arts deserves a closer read. The school sits in Oakland, where one in four students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
The headline number: 1.0% chronic absenteeism — versus 18.5% statewide. Attendance is the quietest strong signal a school can post.
As a charter, Oakland School for the Arts 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.
26%
26%
48%
Grade 6 · 52% proficient
22%
31%
47%
Grade 7 · 53% proficient
22%
34%
44%
Grade 8 · 56% proficient
The honest read: the share exceeding falls 3.4pp across grades; the floor rises 4.3pp. The state average falls 0.5pp over the same span. A school visit and conversation with teachers will tell you more than this number.
The 5 things our score weighs
Exceeded standard
20.4%
State 16.8%
3.5pp above state avg
Met or exceeded
43.6%
State 39.3%
4.3pp above state avg
Growth (G6→G8)
+5.7pp
State +1.5pp
Scores improve across grades
Chronic absenteeism
1.0%
State 18.5%
17.6pp below state avg
Suspension rate
1.5%
State 3.7%
2.2pp below state avg
Worth a school visit
Ask what changed — new curriculum, new principal, new program. Momentum has a cause, and a visit will find it.
Where the path goes
The path below follows attendance boundaries — scores shown for each next step.
K-12 Path
Oakland School for the Arts serves grades K-12 — students can complete their entire K-12 education here.
Your other options
Nearby Middle Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 71
Piedmont Middle
Piedmont City Unified · 2.3 mi
Strong
82/100
Downtown Charter Academy
Oakland Unified · 2.6 mi
Strong
76/100
Claremont Middle
Oakland Unified · 2.8 mi
Solid
55/100
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
Hispanic21.1%
White27.3%
Asian5.1%
Black25.9%
Other20.6%
GenderFemale 65.5%Male 31.3%Non-binary 3.3%
Low IncomeFree/reduced lunch eligible 28.7% (35pp below CA avg)
Resources & Access
Enrollment
828
372 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
21:1
0 fewer students per teacher than CA avg
Per-Pupil Spending
$18,173
CA avg: $14,815 · District avg · NCES F-33
Teacher Salary Range
$62,696 – $109,878
District schedule · CA median ~$98K
At Oakland School for the Arts in Oakland, 46.6% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 24.0% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Oakland School for the Arts outperforms its district average for low-income students by 22.6 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (18.3% Math proficient); White students (74.2% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 55.9 percentage points for disabilities students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 148 students tested.
Equity Gaps
ELA · Disabilities−55.9pp
6.3% vs 62.2% overall · n=16
3 more gaps by subject
ELA Exceeded · Disabilities−30.1pp
0.0% vs 30.1% overall · n=16
Math · Disabilities−27.5pp
6.3% vs 33.8% overall · n=16
Math Exceeded · Disabilities−17.7pp
0.0% vs 17.7% overall · n=16
Subgroups with fewer than 15 students are excluded for privacy. Gaps of less than 3 percentage points are not shown.
Subgroup Proficiency
Low-Income148 tested
ELA 46.6%·Math 18.3%· +22.6pp vs district
White128 tested
ELA 74.2%·Math 52.8%· +6.1pp vs district
Black114 tested
ELA 41.2%·Math 11.0%· +20.3pp 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 16.5pp from grade 6 to grade 8 at this school. District average: +2.9pp.
Subgroups with fewer than 10 tested students per grade are not shown.
Funding Breakdown
Neighborhood Context
Median Income
$74K
$11K below CA median
Median Home Value
$828K
$169K above CA median
Bachelor's+
56%
21pp above 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
8.6 years avg experience
54 teachers · 9% first-year · 4% second-year
Teacher Credentials
52% 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%
20.4%
↑ vs CA 16.8% · 54th pctile
Met or exceeded · 22%
43.6%
↑ vs CA 39.3% · 53th pctile
Growth (G6→G8) · 15%
+5.7pp
↑ vs CA +1.5pp · 49th pctile
Chronic absenteeism · 10%
1.0%
↑ vs CA 18.5% · 75th pctile
Suspension rate · 5%
1.5%
↑ vs CA 3.7% · 59th pctile
02By grade & subgroupCAASPP 2024–25 · % of tested students
| ELA | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 116 | 26% | 26% | 29% | 19% | 52% | +5 |
| Grade 7 | 115 | 22% | 31% | 23% | 23% | 53% | +5 |
| Grade 8 | 116 | 22% | 34% | 21% | 23% | 56% | +10 |
| Grade 11 | 104 | 51% | 38% | 7% | 5% | 88% | +41 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 113 | 15% | 16% | 32% | 37% | 31% | −4 |
| Grade 7 | 113 | 15% | 17% | 27% | 42% | 32% | −2 |
| Grade 8 | 113 | 22% | 16% | 27% | 35% | 38% | +6 |
| Grade 11 | 102 | 19% | 16% | 27% | 38% | 34% | +11 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 222 | 16% | 24% | 47% | 13% |
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 | 148 | 46.6% | +23 | +8 |
| White | 128 | 74.2% | +6 | +12 |
| Black/African American | 114 | 41.2% | +20 | +8 |
03Peer comparison · nearest middle schoolssorted by Scope Score
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakland School for the Arts ← | — | 48 | 20.4% | 43.6% | +5.7 | 1.5% |
| Piedmont Middle | 2.3 mi | 82 | 54.9% | 82.9% | −8.1 | 1.7% |
| Downtown Charter Academy | 2.6 mi | 76 | 45.2% | 75.8% | −7.6 | 0.5% |
| Claremont Middle | 2.8 mi | 55 | 30.6% | 58.9% | −6.8 | 3.7% |
| California average | — | 40 | 16.8% | 39.3% | +1.5 | 3.7% |
04More measurescontext · not all part of the Scope Score
Scope Score history
2019 · 2022 · 2023 · 2024 · 2025 · no testing 2020–21 (COVID) · rank #289 → #449 → #389 → #688 → #640
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
Frequently asked questions
Is Oakland School for the Arts a good middle school?
Oakland School for the Arts has a Scope Score of 48 out of 100, placing it in the 71st percentile of California middle schools and ranked #640 statewide. 20.4% of students exceeded the state standard on the 2025 CAASPP assessment, which is 3.5 percentage points above 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 Oakland School for the Arts's CAASPP test scores?
On the 2025 CAASPP Smarter Balanced Assessment, 43.6% of students at Oakland School for the Arts met or exceeded the state standard in ELA and Math combined, and 20.4% exceeded it. The gap between those numbers matters: 23.2% of students are at the proficiency floor, while 20.4% 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. 686 student-subject combinations were assessed.
How does Oakland School for the Arts rank in California?
Oakland School for the Arts ranks #640 among California middle schools by Scope Score, placing it in the 71st 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 Oakland School for the Arts getting better or worse?
Based on 2025 CAASPP data, proficiency at Oakland School for the Arts increases by 5.7 percentage points from Grade 6 to grade 8 growth. This upward trajectory suggests the school is adding measurable value — students leave with higher proficiency rates than they entered with. 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 Oakland School for the Arts?
1.0% of students at Oakland School for the Arts are chronically absent (missing 10% or more of school days), which is better than the California average of 18.5%. The suspension rate is 1.5%, 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 Oakland School for the Arts compare to other schools in Oakland?
Oakland School for the Arts scores 48/100 (71st 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 828 students. Use the schools in Oakland page or the map view to compare all middle schools nearby.
How does Oakland School for the Arts serve low-income and underrepresented students?
At Oakland School for the Arts in Oakland, 46.6% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 24.0% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Oakland School for the Arts outperforms its district average for low-income students by 22.6 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (18.3% Math proficient); White students (74.2% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 55.9 percentage points for disabilities students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 148 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.