ExploreMapCompareBlogSign in
Sam H. Lawson Middle · CupertinoPublic

Sam H. Lawson Middle: High scores, real growth, strong attendance. We looked for a catch — we didn't find one.

Sam H. Lawson posts 64.4% exceeding the standard — versus 17.2% statewide — with climate numbers better than most. That doesn't make it perfect. It makes it worth a visit to find what numbers can't measure.

10401 Vista Drive, 95014 (opens in new tab)·Cupertino Union·Cupertino·Grades 6-8·841 students·15% low-income·2024–25 CAASPP·(408) 255-7500·Website
Scope Score
95
Strong High Ceiling
ranked #3 statewide · #1 of 6 in Cupertino Union
790 tested · 3 of 3 grades published · cohort of 265 tracked

Sam H. Lawson Middle scores 95 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 99th percentile of 2,177 California middle schools (CDE CAASPP 2025).

Measures test performance, attendance, and climate — not arts, community, or your kid. How we score →

High Ceiling — Ask what happens for a kid who shows up behind — a high ceiling for the top can sit right next to thin support at the bottom, and the score alone won't show you which.

CDE CAASPP 2025

Most rating sites would stop at “88% proficient” and call it done. Sam H. Lawson deserves a closer read. It sits at the 99th percentile of 2,177 California middle schools — but the ranking is the least interesting thing on this page.

Sam H. Lawson's low-income kids hit 69.6% proficiency in ELA — a number the same group reaches at 38.2% statewide. If you're trying to read past zip-code-driven test scores, that's the signal worth weighing.

2019–2025 trend · CDE CAASPP
This schoolCA avg
Scope9539
% Exceeded64%17%
% Met+88%40%
Growth (2023 G6 → 2025 G8)Strong · p96Average · p50
Absence3.8%18.1%
Suspension0.4%3.6%

The seven-year arc

Percentile among 2,177 middle schools statewide

Has held the 99th-percentile line every tested year since 2019.

CA Dashboard
ELABlue(Increased)MathBlue(Increased)

Proficiency here is back to its pre-pandemic level — 88% meet the standard, about where the school stood in 2019.

ELA — % met or exceeded, by grade
Grade20192022202320242025
Grade 684%87%85%84%84%
Grade 788%91%89%88%87%
Grade 887%90%91%87%90%
Math — % met or exceeded, by grade
Grade20192022202320242025
Grade 685%86%85%83%86%
Grade 791%91%90%90%88%
Grade 889%91%92%87%91%

Where its students land

ELA
Exceeded 54%Met 33%Nearly Met 7%Not Met 6%
Math
Exceeded 75%Met 14%Nearly Met 6%Not Met 5%
Exceeded Met Nearly Met Not Met
California middle schools · average17% exceeded · 40% met or exceeded

The school, grade by grade

The school, grade by grade

ELA · CAASPP 2024–25

Different students, same year — each bar is one grade's proficiency mix.

47%
37%
16%
Grade 6 · 84% proficient
59%
28%
13%
Grade 7 · 87% proficient
56%
34%
10%
Grade 8 · 90% proficient

The honest read: the share exceeding rises 9.6pp across grades; the floor rises 6.0pp. The state average rises 0.1pp over the same span. Kids here gain ground the longer they stay — the pattern you want to see. A school visit and conversation with teachers will tell you more than this number.

69.6%
Low-income · ELA · met standard

Sam H. Lawson's most underrated number

69.6% of low-income students met the ELA standard — versus 38.2% for the same group statewide. That's the strongest kind of signal a school can post: it holds across income lines.

Sam H. Lawson low-income: 69.6%State low-income: 38.2%Sam H. Lawson EL: 27.1%State EL: 10.4%

The 6 things our score weighs

Exceeded standard
64.4%
State 17.2%
47.2pp above state avg
Met or exceeded
87.7%
State 40.0%
47.7pp above state avg
Growth (2023 G6 → 2025 G8)
Strong
State average
The school's returning cohort — mostly, not exactly, the same kids two years on — gained 74 scale-score points across the span. Almost every school gains points, so we rank the gain against every other California school in this level.
Chronic absenteeism
3.8%
State 18.1%
14.3pp below state avg
Suspension rate
0.4%
State 3.6%
3.3pp below state avg
EL proficiency (ELPAC)
37.4%
State 18.0%
19.4pp above state avg
The returning cohort, two years on
ELA · 2023 · Grade 6
52%
exceeded standard · 85% met or exceeded
ELA · 2025 · Grade 8
56%
exceeded standard · 90% met or exceeded

Percent exceeded, ELA only. SchoolScope's scored growth measure uses a different metric — mean scale-score change across ELA and Math; California's own matched-student model is below.

California's own answer to the same question

Context — never part of the Scope Score

California runs its own growth model, following individual children in grades 4 through 8 rather than comparing school-wide averages the way we do — and its two subjects part company here. It puts this school around the 67th percentile of California middle schools in reading and the 100th in math; ours, which blends the subjects, lands around the 96th. A gap that size between math and reading in one building is worth asking about directly — one year of data can't tell you whether it is the teaching, the cohort, or noise.

Both measures, ranked against every California school
Our growth measurereturning cohort, G6→G8SchoolScope growth measure: 96th percentile among California middle schools.96th pctile
State model · readingmatched students, grades 4-8California growth model, reading: +6 scale-score points versus the state's expectation, 67th percentile of 7,519 reported schools.67th pctile · +6 pts
State model · mathmatched students, grades 4-8California growth model, math: +44 scale-score points versus the state's expectation, 99th percentile of 7,518 reported schools.99th pctile · +44 pts
this school| the tick is the middle of the California field

— 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.

Worth a school visit

Ask what the school is working on next. Strong numbers tell you where a school is, not where it's going.

  • Ask how teachers track each child's growth over the year, not just where the class lands on test day.
  • Ask whether extra support — tutoring, counseling, small groups — reaches kids across income lines, not just the students already ahead.
  • 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.

How every group of students does here

At Sam H. Lawson Middle in Cupertino, 69.6% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 61.0% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Sam H. Lawson Middle outperforms its district average for low-income students by 8.6 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (71.9% Math proficient); Asian students (89.5% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 60.1 percentage points for english learner students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 125 students tested.

All students at this school: 88% met or exceeded
All StudentsAll Students: this school 88%, district —, state 40%88%
AsianAsian: this school 90%, district 89%, state 72%90% · +2 vs school
MaleMale: this school 85%, district 82%, state 42%85% · −2 vs school
FemaleFemale: this school 90%, district 85%, state 44%90% · +3 vs school
Socioeconomically DisadvantagedSocioeconomically Disadvantaged: this school 71%, district 61%, state 32%71% · −17 vs school
English LearnersEnglish Learners: this school 43%, district 45%, state 11%43% · −44 vs school
WhiteWhite: this school 83%, district 77%, state 56%83% · −5 vs school
Two or More RacesTwo or More Races: this school 88%, district 85%, state 56%88% · +1 vs school
Students with DisabilitiesStudents with Disabilities: this school 40%, district 42%, state 15%40% · −47 vs school
Hispanic/LatinoHispanic/Latino: this school 33%, district 38%, state 32%33% · −54 vs school
FilipinoFilipino: too few students to report‹11
Black/African AmericanBlack/African American: too few students to report‹11
American Indian/Alaska NativeAmerican Indian/Alaska Native: too few students to report‹11
Pacific IslanderPacific Islander: too few students to report‹11
this school district, same group California, same group
Subgroup growth by grade

Change in proficiency from the lowest tested grade — which groups gain ground the longer they stay. Groups with fewer than 10 tested students per grade are not shown.

Low-income student ELA proficiency rises by 6.2pp from grade 6 to grade 8 at this school. District average: +6.2pp.

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
Asian560 studentsAsian, reading: +7 scale-score points versus expectation, against +6 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 560 students.+7 pts · +1 vs typical
English Only244 studentsEnglish Only, reading: +10 scale-score points versus expectation, against 0 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 244 students.+10 pts · +10 vs typical
English Learner135 studentsEnglish Learner, reading: +2 scale-score points versus expectation, against −5 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 135 students.+2 pts · +7 vs typical
Low-income students104 studentsLow-income students, reading: +2 scale-score points versus expectation, against −3 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 104 students.+2 pts · +5 vs typical
Recently reclassified101 studentsRecently reclassified, reading: +9 scale-score points versus expectation, against +2 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 101 students.+9 pts · +7 vs typical
Math
Asian560 studentsAsian, math: +48 scale-score points versus expectation, against +17 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 560 students.+48 pts · +31 vs typical
English Only244 studentsEnglish Only, math: +40 scale-score points versus expectation, against −3 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 244 students.+40 pts · +43 vs typical
English Learner135 studentsEnglish Learner, math: +52 scale-score points versus expectation, against −3 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 135 students.+52 pts · +55 vs typical
Low-income students104 studentsLow-income students, math: +51 scale-score points versus expectation, against −5 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 104 students.+51 pts · +56 vs typical
Recently reclassified101 studentsRecently reclassified, math: +49 scale-score points versus expectation, against −1 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 101 students.+49 pts · +50 vs typical
this school typical California middle school, same group| the centre tick is 0 = as predicted

— 3 more groups are 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.

Showing up, and staying in class

Chronic absenteeismChronic absenteeism: this school 3.8%, district 6.5%, state 18.1%3.8% · −14.3pp vs state
Suspension rateSuspension rate: this school 0.4%, district —, state 3.6%0.4% · −3.3pp vs state
Chronic absenteeism by grade band
Grades 4–63.3%
Grades 7–83.6%

Where the path goes

The path below follows attendance boundaries — scores shown for each next step.

K-12 Feeder Path
▼
Middle
Sam H. Lawson Middle
95/100
This school
▼
High School
No feeder data available for this level

Estimated path based on proximity within the same district. Contact your school district for official feeder information.

The people teaching here

Context — never part of the Scope Score
Student : teacherStudent to teacher ratio: this school 20:1, district 22:120:1
PrincipalMelissa Maisen
Teaching staff45 teachers
Avg. experience14.2 years
Fully credentialed88%
First-year teachers4%
Salary Schedule
Teacher salary schedule$79,336 – $150,441
Principal salaryFrom $204,549
Superintendent salary$385,579

Pay is set by the district, not the school.

What gets spent here

Context — never part of the Scope Score
Per-pupil spendingPer-pupil spending: $19,113, CA average $14,491$19,113 · spent at this school
Federal share$134 per student

$134 per student arrives as federal Title funding — a measure of concentrated need, not school quality.

District current expense · FY 2024–25$19,567 per student

The district's current expense of education per student, from CDE's annual SACS filing — the freshest district spending figure the state publishes.

Where the district's dollars go · FY 2024–25 · CDE SACS
Instruction65%
Instruction support12%
Student services7%
Administration6%
Buildings & maintenance9%

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

district detail, 2016–2020 — the newest published
2020$12,354 per pupil
2019$11,995 per pupil
2018$12,291 per pupil
2017$11,257 per pupil
2016$10,574 per pupil

Source: NCES F-33 · Full district breakdown →

The neighborhood it serves

Context — never part of the Scope Score
Asian82.4%
District 68.9% · CA 10.2%
Other7.0%
District 11.4% · CA 9.0%
White6.2%
District 12.0% · CA 19.9%
Hispanic3.7%
District 7.2% · CA 56.1%
Black0.7%
District 0.6% · CA 4.8%
Low IncomeFree/reduced lunch eligible 15.2% (49pp below CA avg)
Neighborhood — American Community Survey
Median income$231K · CA $85K
Median home value$2.00M · CA $659K
Bachelor's degree+82% · CA 35%
ZIP population60,932
Median age41 years

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

Worth Knowing

On the state's science test (CAST), 85% 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.

Frequently asked questions

Is Sam H. Lawson Middle a good middle school?

Sam H. Lawson Middle has a Scope Score of 95 out of 100, placing it in the 99th percentile of California middle schools and ranked #3 statewide. 64.4% of students exceeded the state standard on the 2025 CAASPP assessment, which is 47.2 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 Sam H. Lawson Middle's CAASPP test scores?

On the 2025 CAASPP Smarter Balanced Assessment, 87.7% of students at Sam H. Lawson Middle met or exceeded the state standard in ELA and Math combined, and 64.4% exceeded it. The gap between those numbers matters: 23.3% of students are at the proficiency floor, while 64.4% 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. 1,608 student-subject combinations were assessed.

How does Sam H. Lawson Middle rank in California?

Sam H. Lawson Middle ranks #3 among California middle schools by Scope Score, placing it in the 99th percentile. This ranking is based on a weighted composite of 2025 CAASPP test performance (exceeded and met rates), same-cohort growth (2023 G6 → 2025 G8), 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 Sam H. Lawson Middle getting better or worse?

SchoolScope follows the same cohort of students across grades rather than comparing two different grades in the same year. At Sam H. Lawson Middle that cohort is 2023 G6 → 2025 G8, measured in SBAC scale-score points. Its gain ranks strong among California middle schools — roughly the 96th percentile, ahead of the typical school at this level. Read the ranking, not the raw point gain: scale scores rise with age, so nearly every school posts a positive number and only the relative position tells you anything. Growth is weighted at 20% in the middle Scope Score because it is the least demographically confounded signal available — it tracks change over time rather than the level students arrived at. See full methodology.

What is the attendance and school culture like at Sam H. Lawson Middle?

3.8% of students at Sam H. Lawson Middle are chronically absent (missing 10% or more of school days), which is better than the California average of 18.1%. The suspension rate is 0.4%, 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 Sam H. Lawson Middle compare to other schools in Cupertino?

Sam H. Lawson Middle scores 95/100 (99th 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 841 students. Use the schools in Cupertino page or the map view to compare all middle schools nearby.

How does Sam H. Lawson Middle serve low-income and underrepresented students?

At Sam H. Lawson Middle in Cupertino, 69.6% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 61.0% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Sam H. Lawson Middle outperforms its district average for low-income students by 8.6 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (71.9% Math proficient); Asian students (89.5% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 60.1 percentage points for english learner students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 125 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.

Your other options

All schools in Cupertino →

Private alternatives nearby

Private schools within ~10 miles. These schools do not participate in state testing and cannot be scored or ranked.

For the data nerds

Every number on this page

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

01Score factorsWeighted composite · 2024–25
Exceeded standard · 42%
64.4%
↑ vs CA 17.2% · index 100 · 50 = CA middle-school midpoint
Met or exceeded · 23%
87.7%
↑ vs CA 40.0% · index 89 · 50 = CA middle-school midpoint
Growth (2023 G6 → 2025 G8) · 20%
Strong
↑ vs CA average · 96th pctile
Chronic absenteeism · 5%
3.8%
↑ vs CA 18.1% · index 71 · 50 = CA middle-school midpoint
▼ 2.2pp lower vs 2024
Suspension rate · 5%
0.4%
↑ vs CA 3.6% · index 63 · 50 = CA middle-school midpoint
▼ 0.7pp lower vs 2024
EL proficiency (ELPAC) · 5%
37.4%
↑ vs CA 18.0% · index 72 · 50 = CA middle-school midpoint
02By grade & subgroupCAASPP 2024–25 · % of tested students
ELATestedEXCMETNEARNOTMET++/CA
Grade 627047%37%6%10%84%+38
Grade 725759%28%9%5%87%+39
Grade 826356%34%5%5%90%+44
MathTestedEXCMETNEARNOTMET++/CA
Grade 628369%16%7%7%86%+51
Grade 726874%14%6%6%88%+55
Grade 826781%10%6%2%91%+59

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

Science (CAST)TestedEXCMETNEARNOT
Schoolwide26656%29%13%2%

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
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged12569.6%+9+31
Asian64789.5%+2+15
English Learners7027.1%−8+17
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
Sam H. Lawson Middle ←—9564.4%87.7%+6.0pp+74 pts0.4%
Joaquin Miller Middle2 mi9272.6%91.0%−0.9pp—1.0%
John F. Kennedy Middle1.7 mi8770.8%90.9%−1.1pp—0.2%
Cupertino Middle2 mi8556.3%78.7%+9.6pp—1.0%
California average—3917.2%40.0%+1.5pp—3.6%
04More measurescontext · not all part of the Scope Score
YearScopePctileRankExcMet+AbsentSuspGrade gap
20199499#1063.3%87.3%1.8%0.7%+3.6pp
20229599#663.9%89.4%5.2%0.9%+4.4pp
20239499#765.3%88.5%4.4%1.7%+6.1pp
20249099#1062.7%86.6%6.0%1.1%+3.4pp
20259599#364.4%87.7%3.8%0.4%+6.0pp
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
05Climate by student groupchronic absenteeism · 2019 vs 2025 — the two years CDE publishes at subgroup level
Group20192025Δ
Female1.1%2.3%+1.2pp
Male2.3%4.5%+2.2pp
Asian0.9%2.5%+1.6pp
Hispanic/Latino15.9%21.9%+6.0pp
Two or More Races4.0%0.0%-4.0pp
White2.1%3.8%+1.7pp
Students with Disabilities5.6%16.9%+11.3pp
English Learners0.9%4.1%+3.2pp
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged10.0%7.8%-2.2pp
All Students1.7%3.5%+1.8pp
06California growth model, by student group2025 · scale-score points vs the state's prediction · shown, never scored
GroupReadingnCDE bandMathnCDE band
All Students+6689Accelerated+44689Exceptional
Asian+7560Accelerated+48560Exceptional
English Only+10244not categorised+40244not categorised
English Learner+2135Average+52135Exceptional
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged+2104Average+51104Exceptional
Recently Reclassified Fluent-English Proficient Only+9101not categorised+49101not categorised
White047Average+2947Exceptional
Students with Disabilities−1440Moderate+3140Exceptional
English Learners Only−1534not categorised+5934not categorised
Hispanic or Latino+725Accelerated+2025Exceptional
Two or More Races+625Accelerated+2325Exceptional
Long-Term English Learner (grades 6-8 only)−113Average+4513Exceptional

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. Long-Term English Learner counts cover grades 6-8 only (CDE), so that row is not comparable to the All Students row. 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.

Embed this scorecard
<iframe
  src="https://schoolscope.co/embed/school/sam-h-lawson-middle-8126"
  width="100%" height="210" loading="lazy"
  style="border:0;border-radius:12px"
  title="Sam H. Lawson Middle — SchoolScope scorecard">
</iframe>

Free to embed with the credit link. Data updates automatically.

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 2026-09-07methodology · data updates · CSV · report issue

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

← Browse all schools