How does Pershing Middle compare to other middle schools in San Diego?

Pershing Middle has a SchoolScope composite score of 53.4/100, placing it at the 79th percentile statewide. 29% of students exceed standard, with a total of 1,889 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at Pershing Middle?

28.8% of students at Pershing Middle exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 59.0% meet or exceed it. The gap between these two numbers reveals whether the school pushes students beyond basic proficiency.

Is Pershing Middle improving or declining?

Based on CAASPP data, Pershing Middle's proficiency rate decreases by 10.3 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 Pershing Middle?

9.9% of students at Pershing 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.

Pershing Middle

Middle School

San Diego Unified San DiegoSan Diego County92119

📍 8204 San Carlos Drive

Composite Score

out of 100

State Percentile

of middle schools

State Rank

of 1,714 California middle schools

🤝

Culture First

Strong school culture with high family engagement, even if test scores are still developing.

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

873 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

26:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

31%

Teachers

33 full-time

Dashboard indicators

ELA Year-over-Year

Maintained

+1.8 pts DFS change

Math Year-over-Year

Increased

+10.2 pts DFS change

EL Proficiency (ELPAC)

42.9%

English learners at Level 4 (Well Developed) · 14 tested

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic30.4%

White47.1%

Asian4.7%

Black5.2%

Other12.7%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for Pershing Middle
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	28.8%
Met Standard	30.2%
Below Standard	41.0%

What other rankings don't show you

Most rating sites report "59% proficient" for Pershing Middle and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

28.8% of students exceeded standard while 30.2% met it. That exceeded rate is 11.5 points above the state average of 17.3%. That's 4.4 points above the San Diego Unified district average of 24.4%. Compared to the 1 nearby schools within ~3 miles, this exceeded rate is 11.5 points higher (vs 17.3% average). The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

Proficiency drops by 10.3 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 increased year-over-year. 42.9% of English learners reached Level 4 (Well Developed) on ELPAC.

Chronic absenteeism is 9.9%, better than the state average of 19.3%.

Why the exceeded vs. met split matters →

Key metrics

% Exceeded Standard

28.8%

Students scoring above proficient

% Met or Above

59.0%

Students meeting standard

Growth (G6→G8)

-10.3pp

Change in proficiency rate

Chronic Absenteeism

9.9%

Students missing 10%+ of days

Suspension Rate

1.3%

Students suspended at least once

Total Tested

1,889

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	332	33.1%	36.5%	18.4%	12.1%	69.6%
7th	344	23.6%	44.5%	18.3%	13.7%	68.0%
8th	268	22.8%	31.7%	19.8%	25.8%	54.5%

Math scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
6th	332	35.2%	20.5%	28.6%	15.7%	55.7%
7th	344	29.9%	26.2%	25.9%	18.0%	56.1%
8th	269	28.3%	21.9%	23.8%	26.0%	50.2%

K-12 Feeder PathBoundary data

Elementary

Benchley/Weinberger Elementary

64.789th pctile

Gage Elementary

55.276th pctile

▼

Middle

Pershing Middle

53.479th pctile

This school

▼

High School

Henry High

70.491st pctile

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