How does San Marcos Middle compare to other middle schools in San Marcos?

San Marcos Middle has a Scope Score of 49.2/100, ranked #868 among California middle schools. 15% of students exceed standard, with a total of 1,859 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at San Marcos Middle?

15.3% of students at San Marcos Middle exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 38.7% meet or exceed it. The gap between these two numbers reveals whether the school pushes students beyond basic proficiency.

Is San Marcos Middle improving or declining?

Based on CAASPP data, San Marcos Middle's proficiency rate decreases by 4.1 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 San Marcos Middle?

14.7% of students at San Marcos 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 the Scope Score.

San Marcos Middle

Middle School

San Marcos Unified San MarcosSan Diego County92069

📍 650 West Mission Road

Scope Score

out of 100

State Rank

of 1,714 California middle schools

🌱

Building Momentum

Every school has strengths the data doesn’t fully capture. Visit and see for yourself.

Scope 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

987 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

22:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

63%

Teachers

45 full-time

Dashboard indicators

How this school's scores changed from last year to this year

ELA Year-over-Year

Increased Significantly

+35.1 pts DFS change

Math Year-over-Year

Increased

+5.9 pts DFS change

EL Proficiency (ELPAC)

25.1%

English learners at Level 4 (Well Developed) · 179 tested

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic72.6%

White15.1%

Asian3.1%

Black1.4%

Other7.7%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for San Marcos Middle
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	15.3%
Met Standard	23.4%
Below Standard	61.3%

Score Factors

Helping

✓Chronic absenteeism: 14.7%

4.6pp below state avg (state avg 19.3%)

15% weight

Holding Back

▼Exceeded standard: 15.3%

2.0pp below state avg (state avg 17.3%)

30% weight

▼Met or exceeded: 38.7%

0.8pp below state avg (state avg 39.5%)

20% weight

▼Growth (G6→G8): -4.1pp

Scores decline across grades (state avg +0.8pp)

15% weight

▼Baseline proficiency: 38.7%

Below state baseline (state avg 39.5%)

10% weight

▼Suspension rate: 4.6%

0.5pp above state avg (state avg 4.1%)

10% weight

Unlike traditional school ratings, we show our work. Every factor, its weight, and how this school compares to the state average — so you can decide what matters most to your family. The middle school Scope Score is weighted across 6 dimensions. See full methodology →

What other rankings don't show you

Most rating sites report "39% proficient" for San Marcos Middle and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

15.3% of students exceeded standard while 23.4% met it. That exceeded rate is 2.0 points below the state average of 17.3%. That's 12.8 points below the San Marcos Unified district average of 28.1%. The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

Proficiency drops by 4.1 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 increased significantly and Math increased year-over-year. 25.1% of English learners reached Level 4 (Well Developed) on ELPAC.

Chronic absenteeism is 14.7%, better than the state average of 19.3%.

Why the exceeded vs. met split matters →

A low score doesn't tell the whole story. Read: Your School Scored Low — Here's What That Actually Means

Key metrics

% Exceeded Standard

15.3%

Students scoring above proficient

% Met or Above

38.7%

Students meeting standard

Growth (G6→G8)

-4.1pp

Change in proficiency rate

Chronic Absenteeism

14.7%

Students missing 10%+ of days

Suspension Rate

4.6%

Students suspended at least once

Total Tested

1,859

Across all grades & subjects

Grade trajectory

How proficiency compares across grade levels this year (different students, same test year)

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	305	13.8%	31.1%	27.9%	27.2%	44.9%
7th	308	16.2%	29.9%	20.1%	33.8%	46.1%
8th	323	13.6%	31.0%	24.1%	31.3%	44.6%

Math scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
6th	299	19.4%	17.4%	22.4%	40.8%	36.8%
7th	309	13.6%	17.5%	31.7%	37.2%	31.1%
8th	315	15.2%	13.7%	20.0%	51.1%	28.9%

K-12 Feeder PathBoundary data

Elementary

Paloma Elementary

80.9# in state

Joli Ann Leichtag Elementary

50.0# in state

San Marcos Elementary

34.0# in state

▼

Middle

San Marcos Middle

49.2# in state

This school

▼

High School

Also serves area

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