How does Santa Barbara Junior High compare to other middle schools in Santa Barbara?

Santa Barbara Junior High has a Scope Score of 29.9/100, ranked #1320 among California middle schools. 10% of students exceed standard, with a total of 960 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at Santa Barbara Junior High?

10.1% of students at Santa Barbara Junior High exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 28.8% meet or exceed it. The gap between these two numbers reveals whether the school pushes students beyond basic proficiency.

What is the chronic absenteeism rate at Santa Barbara Junior High?

28.1% of students at Santa Barbara Junior High 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.

Santa Barbara Junior High

Middle School

Santa Barbara Unified Santa BarbaraSanta Barbara County93103

📍 721 East Cota Street

Scope Score

out of 100

State Rank

of 1,714 California middle schools

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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

502 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

15:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

78%

Teachers

33 full-time

Dashboard indicators

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

ELA Year-over-Year

Declined

-9.5 pts DFS change

Math Year-over-Year

Increased

+8.9 pts DFS change

EL Proficiency (ELPAC)

16.7%

English learners at Level 4 (Well Developed) · 60 tested

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic81.7%

White12.8%

Asian0.8%

Black0.6%

Other4.2%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for Santa Barbara Junior High
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	10.1%
Met Standard	18.6%
Below Standard	71.2%

Score Factors

Holding Back

▼Exceeded standard: 10.1%

7.2pp below state avg (state avg 17.3%)

30% weight

▼Met or exceeded: 28.8%

10.8pp below state avg (state avg 39.5%)

20% weight

▼Chronic absenteeism: 28.1%

8.8pp above state avg (state avg 19.3%)

15% weight

▼Baseline proficiency: 28.8%

Below state baseline (state avg 39.5%)

10% weight

▼Suspension rate: 12.7%

8.6pp 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 5 dimensions. See full methodology →

What other rankings don't show you

Most rating sites report "29% proficient" for Santa Barbara Junior High and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

10.1% of students exceeded standard while 18.6% met it. That exceeded rate is 7.2 points below the state average of 17.3%. That's 9.1 points below the Santa Barbara Unified district average of 19.2%. The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

California's Dashboard shows ELA performance declined and Math increased year-over-year. 16.7% of English learners reached Level 4 (Well Developed) on ELPAC.

Chronic absenteeism is 28.1%, above 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

10.1%

Students scoring above proficient

% Met or Above

28.8%

Students meeting standard

Growth (G6→G8)

N/A

Change in proficiency rate

Chronic Absenteeism

28.1%

Students missing 10%+ of days

Suspension Rate

12.7%

Students suspended at least once

Total Tested

960

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	0	—	—	—	—	—
7th	244	6.2%	21.7%	22.9%	49.2%	27.9%
8th	237	8.0%	25.7%	23.6%	42.6%	33.8%

Math scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
6th	0	—	—	—	—	—
7th	246	12.6%	15.0%	24.8%	47.6%	27.6%
8th	233	13.7%	12.0%	19.7%	54.5%	25.8%

K-12 Feeder PathBoundary data

Elementary

Also serves area

Washington Elementary

71.3# in state

Santa Barbara Community Academ…

38.1# in state

▼

Middle

Santa Barbara Junior High

29.9# in state

This school

▼

High School

Santa Barbara Senior High

53.8# in state

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