Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies: English learners reach fluency faster than the state rate. But this year's 8th graders test below its 6th graders.
Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies has real strengths and one number that complicates them. Most rating sites show you one or the other. Both belong on the same page.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 60 | 32% | 64% | -12.8 | 16.3% | 0.7% |
| CA average · Middle School | 43 | 17% | 39% | +1.5 | 18.5% | 3.7% |
Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies scores 60 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 86th 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 →
🌱 Building Momentum — This label means the data doesn't clearly sort the school one way or the other — ask what the school is proud of, and what it's working on.
Most rating sites would stop at “64% proficient” and call it done. Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies deserves a closer read. The school sits in Reseda, where more than half of students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies's low-income kids hit 64.2% 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.
The seven-year arc
Climbed from the 70th to the 86th percentile since 2019 — past roughly 300 middle schools.
The pandemic drop is behind this school: 64% of students meet the standard today, above the 55% who did in 2019.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 4 | 56% | 60% | 65% | 65% | 63% |
| Grade 5 | 65% | 63% | 57% | 65% | 65% |
| Grade 6 | 62% | 72% | 60% | 63% | 80% |
| Grade 7 | 65% | 64% | 80% | 64% | 72% |
| Grade 8 | 61% | 62% | 68% | 79% | 66% |
| Grade 11 | 77% | 84% | 83% | 69% | 72% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 4 | 54% | 54% | 64% | 63% | 60% |
| Grade 5 | 40% | 32% | 41% | 51% | 53% |
| Grade 6 | 44% | 57% | 53% | 44% | 63% |
| Grade 7 | 50% | 41% | 65% | 47% | 53% |
| Grade 8 | 45% | 35% | 38% | 64% | 51% |
| Grade 11 | 52% | 38% | 42% | 46% | 50% |
The story this school is actually telling
of English learners reached the top ELPAC level, versus 18.0% statewide.
proficiency runs 71% in this year's grade 6 against 58% in its grade 8. The state average falls by −0.5pp over the same span.
The school, grade by grade
ELA · CAASPP 2024–25Different students, same year — each bar is one grade's proficiency mix.
The honest read: the share exceeding falls 6.6pp across grades; the floor slips 13.7pp. The state average falls 0.5pp over the same span. The school's 8th graders aren't posting a wider lead than its 6th graders. One question worth asking on a tour: are the strongest students being pushed, or coasting? A school visit and conversation with teachers will tell you more than this number.
Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies's most underrated number
64.2% 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.
The 6 things our score weighs
Ask the principal what changes between grade 6 and grade 8. Ask who teaches the older grades, and what the school does when a child starts falling behind.
- Ask what changes between grade 6 and grade 8 here, and who teaches the older kids.
- 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 Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies in Reseda, 64.2% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 40.9% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies outperforms its district average for low-income students by 23.2 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (44.7% Math proficient); Hispanic students (62.5% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 32.9 percentage points for disabilities students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 544 students tested.
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 falls by 16.2pp from grade 6 to grade 8 at this school. District average: -0.3pp.
Showing up, and staying in class
Grades 9–12 students miss school at roughly three times the rate of Grades 4–6 students (22.4% vs 7.7%). Chronic absence here concentrates in the upper grades.
Where the path goes
Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies serves grades 4-12 — students can complete middle and high school here, without a separate middle-to-high transition.
The people teaching here
Pay is set by the district, not the school.
What gets spent here
These measure different things: this figure is spending attributed to this campus, while district-wide figures also include central administration, districtwide programs, and the state's pension contributions made on the district's behalf — costs that never get assigned to a single school. The district number runs higher at nearly every school, not just this one.
$1,117 per student arrives as federal Title funding — a measure of concentrated need, not school quality.
The district's current expense of education per student, from CDE's annual SACS filing — the freshest district spending figure the state publishes.
District-level, from the district's own SACS general-ledger filing — school-by-school breakdowns aren't published by the state.
Source: NCES F-33 · Full district breakdown →
The neighborhood it serves
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2024) · ZIP-level
At 1,712 students, this school is well above the typical California middle school (≈860).
On the state's science test (CAST), 48% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies a good middle school?
What are Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies's CAASPP test scores?
How does Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies rank in California?
Is Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies?
How does Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies compare to other schools in Reseda?
How does Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Middle Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 53
Private alternatives nearby
Private schools within ~10 miles. These schools do not participate in state testing and cannot be scored or ranked.
Every number on this page
Score factors, grade-level breakdowns, subgroup proficiency, and peer comparisons.
| ELA | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 4 | 102 | 36% | 26% | 25% | 12% | 63% | +18 |
| Grade 5 | 172 | 31% | 34% | 17% | 17% | 65% | +17 |
| Grade 6 | 168 | 38% | 42% | 17% | 3% | 80% | +33 |
| Grade 7 | 167 | 27% | 45% | 19% | 9% | 72% | +24 |
| Grade 8 | 162 | 31% | 35% | 20% | 14% | 66% | +20 |
| Grade 11 | 207 | 41% | 31% | 13% | 14% | 72% | +25 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 4 | 102 | 24% | 36% | 31% | 9% | 60% | +18 |
| Grade 5 | 171 | 31% | 22% | 30% | 16% | 53% | +18 |
| Grade 6 | 168 | 35% | 27% | 25% | 13% | 63% | +27 |
| Grade 7 | 167 | 29% | 25% | 30% | 17% | 53% | +19 |
| Grade 8 | 162 | 30% | 20% | 25% | 24% | 51% | +18 |
| Grade 11 | 208 | 26% | 24% | 24% | 27% | 50% | +26 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 549 | 15% | 33% | 46% | 5% |
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 | 544 | 64.2% | +23 | +26 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 347 | 62.5% | +22 | +24 |
| White | 340 | 72.1% | +3 | +10 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies ← | — | 60 | 31.8% | 64.0% | −12.8 | 0.7% |
| Gaspar De Portola Charter Middle | 1.2 mi | 68 | 43.3% | 64.0% | −6.9 | 0.8% |
| James Jordan Middle | 2.3 mi | 50 | 18.5% | 46.1% | +9.2 | 3.3% |
| William Mulholland Middle | 2 mi | 42 | 13.9% | 33.8% | +0.3 | 0.2% |
| California average | — | 43 | 16.8% | 39.3% | +1.5 | 3.7% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 48 | 70 | #592 | 21.1% | 54.7% | 11.4% | 0.9% | -0.0pp |
| 2022 | 42 | 61 | #843 | 24.8% | 55.5% | 22.5% | 0.2% | -16.1pp |
| 2023 | 61 | 86 | #307 | 31.4% | 60.5% | 8.9% | 0.5% | -3.3pp |
| 2024 | 62 | 88 | #255 | 30.5% | 60.2% | 14.0% | 0.9% | +18.0pp |
| 2025 | 60 | 86 | #310 | 31.8% | 64.0% | 16.3% | 0.7% | -12.8pp |
- — Scored here as a middle school — other grade spans appear in the data appendix.
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 11.5% | 14.7% | +3.2pp |
| Male | 11.3% | 17.6% | +6.3pp |
| Asian | 4.8% | 9.2% | +4.4pp |
| Black/African American | 17.4% | 21.1% | +3.7pp |
| White | 6.5% | 10.8% | +4.3pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 9.5% | 14.5% | +5.0pp |
| Two or More Races | 5.2% | 6.9% | +1.7pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 15.5% | 24.0% | +8.5pp |
| English Learners | 22.5% | 20.0% | -2.5pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 12.3% | 18.8% | +6.5pp |
| All Students | 11.4% | 16.2% | +4.8pp |
| Filipino | — | 26.7% | — |
| Homeless | — | 36.4% | — |
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