How does Sierra Madre Middle compare to other middle schools in Sierra Madre?

Sierra Madre Middle has a SchoolScope composite score of 60.3/100, placing it at the 88th percentile statewide. 38% of students exceed standard, with a total of 1,156 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at Sierra Madre Middle?

37.8% of students at Sierra Madre Middle exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 63.9% meet or exceed it. The gap between these two numbers reveals whether the school pushes students beyond basic proficiency.

Is Sierra Madre Middle improving or declining?

Based on CAASPP data, Sierra Madre Middle's proficiency rate increases by 0.6 percentage points from Grade 6 to grade 8 growth. This suggests the school may be adding value over time.

What is the chronic absenteeism rate at Sierra Madre Middle?

11.7% of students at Sierra Madre 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.

Sierra Madre Middle

Middle School

Pasadena Unified Sierra MadreLos Angeles County91024

📍 160 North Canon Avenue

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

593 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

25:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

46%

Teachers

24 full-time

Dashboard indicators

ELA Year-over-Year

Increased

+3.6 pts DFS change

Math Year-over-Year

Increased

+8.9 pts DFS change

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic31.2%

White34.7%

Asian15.7%

Black4.9%

Other13.5%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for Sierra Madre Middle
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	37.8%
Met Standard	26.0%
Below Standard	36.1%

What other rankings don't show you

Most rating sites report "64% proficient" for Sierra Madre Middle and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

37.8% of students exceeded standard while 26.0% met it. That exceeded rate is 20.5 points above the state average of 17.3%. That's 16.3 points above the Pasadena Unified district average of 21.5%. The 2 nearby schools within ~3 miles average 42.5% exceeded — 4.6 points higher. The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

Students here improve by 0.6 percentage points from Grade 6 to grade 8 growth, suggesting the school is adding value beyond what students arrive with.

California's Dashboard shows ELA performance increased and Math increased year-over-year.

Chronic absenteeism is 11.7%, better than the state average of 19.3%.

Why the exceeded vs. met split matters →

Key metrics

% Exceeded Standard

37.8%

Students scoring above proficient

% Met or Above

63.9%

Students meeting standard

Growth (G6→G8)

+0.6pp

Change in proficiency rate

Chronic Absenteeism

11.7%

Students missing 10%+ of days

Suspension Rate

0.5%

Students suspended at least once

Total Tested

1,156

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	210	32.9%	34.3%	17.1%	15.7%	67.1%
7th	192	32.8%	38.5%	14.6%	14.1%	71.3%
8th	176	38.6%	27.8%	21.0%	12.5%	66.5%

Math scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
6th	210	43.8%	15.7%	23.3%	17.1%	59.5%
7th	192	38.0%	19.3%	21.4%	21.4%	57.3%
8th	176	40.9%	20.4%	15.3%	23.3%	61.4%

K-12 Feeder PathBoundary data

Elementary

Sierra Madre Elementary

64.789th pctile

Also serves area

Don Benito Fundamental

50.768th pctile

Willard Elementary

49.163rd pctile

▼

Middle

Sierra Madre Middle

60.388th pctile

This school

▼

High School

Pasadena High

63.782nd pctile

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