How does Sunny Brae Middle compare to other middle schools in Arcata?

Sunny Brae Middle has a Scope Score of 44.5/100, ranked #995 among California middle schools. 16% of students exceed standard, with a total of 425 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at Sunny Brae Middle?

16.5% of students at Sunny Brae Middle exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 39.5% meet or exceed it. The gap between these two numbers reveals whether the school pushes students beyond basic proficiency.

Is Sunny Brae Middle improving or declining?

Based on CAASPP data, Sunny Brae Middle's proficiency rate increases by 3.6 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 Sunny Brae Middle?

40.2% of students at Sunny Brae 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.

Sunny Brae Middle

Middle School

Arcata Elementary ArcataHumboldt County95521

📍 1430 Buttermilk Lane

Scope Score

out of 100

State Rank

of 1,714 California middle schools

📈

On the Rise

On an upward trajectory — scores are improving faster than average. Worth a closer look.

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

240 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

17:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

60%

Teachers

14 full-time

Dashboard indicators

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

ELA Year-over-Year

Increased Significantly

+42.7 pts DFS change

Math Year-over-Year

Increased Significantly

+28.0 pts DFS change

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic23.3%

White54.6%

Asian1.7%

Black1.7%

Other18.8%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for Sunny Brae Middle
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	16.5%
Met Standard	23.0%
Below Standard	60.5%

Score Factors

Helping

✓Growth (G6→G8): +3.6pp

Scores improve across grades (state avg +0.8pp)

15% weight

Holding Back

▼Exceeded standard: 16.5%

0.8pp below state avg (state avg 17.3%)

30% weight

▼Met or exceeded: 39.5%

0.1pp below state avg (state avg 39.5%)

20% weight

▼Chronic absenteeism: 40.2%

20.9pp above state avg (state avg 19.3%)

15% weight

▼Baseline proficiency: 39.5%

Below state baseline (state avg 39.5%)

10% weight

▼Suspension rate: 19.6%

15.5pp 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 Sunny Brae Middle and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

16.5% of students exceeded standard while 23.0% met it. That exceeded rate is near the state average of 17.3%. That's 4.0 points above the Arcata Elementary district average of 12.5%. The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

Students here improve by 3.6 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 significantly and Math increased significantly year-over-year.

Chronic absenteeism is 40.2%, 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

16.5%

Students scoring above proficient

% Met or Above

39.5%

Students meeting standard

Growth (G6→G8)

+3.6pp

Change in proficiency rate

Chronic Absenteeism

40.2%

Students missing 10%+ of days

Suspension Rate

19.6%

Students suspended at least once

Total Tested

425

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	70	7.1%	25.7%	27.1%	40.0%	32.9%
7th	68	20.6%	41.2%	14.7%	23.5%	61.8%
8th	74	18.9%	25.7%	25.7%	29.7%	44.6%

Math scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
6th	70	15.7%	17.1%	31.4%	35.7%	32.9%
7th	69	20.3%	15.9%	33.3%	30.4%	36.2%
8th	74	16.2%	12.2%	24.3%	47.3%	28.4%

K-12 Feeder PathBoundary data

Elementary

Arcata Elementary

31.6# in state

▼

Middle

Sunny Brae Middle

44.5# in state

This school

▼

High School

No feeder data available for this level

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