How does Taft Middle compare to other middle schools in San Diego?

Taft Middle has a Scope Score of 44.4/100, ranked #996 among California middle schools. 11% of students exceed standard, with a total of 809 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at Taft Middle?

10.5% of students at Taft Middle exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 32.6% meet or exceed it. The gap between these two numbers reveals whether the school pushes students beyond basic proficiency.

Is Taft Middle improving or declining?

Based on CAASPP data, Taft Middle's proficiency rate increases by 5.3 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 Taft Middle?

16.5% of students at Taft 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.

Taft Middle

Middle School

San Diego Unified San DiegoSan Diego County92123

📍 9191 Gramercy Drive

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

375 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

20:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

62%

Teachers

19 full-time

Dashboard indicators

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

ELA Year-over-Year

Declined Significantly

-16.3 pts DFS change

Math Year-over-Year

Declined

-8.3 pts DFS change

EL Proficiency (ELPAC)

26.7%

English learners at Level 4 (Well Developed) · 30 tested

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic38.1%

White18.9%

Asian8.5%

Black14.4%

Other20.0%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for Taft Middle
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	10.5%
Met Standard	22.1%
Below Standard	67.4%

Score Factors

Helping

✓Growth (G6→G8): +5.3pp

Scores improve across grades (state avg +0.8pp)

15% weight

✓Chronic absenteeism: 16.5%

2.8pp below state avg (state avg 19.3%)

15% weight

Holding Back

▼Exceeded standard: 10.5%

6.8pp below state avg (state avg 17.3%)

30% weight

▼Met or exceeded: 32.6%

6.9pp below state avg (state avg 39.5%)

20% weight

▼Baseline proficiency: 32.6%

Below state baseline (state avg 39.5%)

10% weight

▼Suspension rate: 9.0%

4.9pp 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 "33% proficient" for Taft Middle and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

10.5% of students exceeded standard while 22.1% met it. That exceeded rate is 6.8 points below the state average of 17.3%. That's 13.9 points below the San Diego Unified district average of 24.4%. The 2 nearby schools within ~3 miles average 27.2% exceeded — 16.7 points higher. The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

Students here improve by 5.3 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 declined significantly and Math declined year-over-year. 26.7% of English learners reached Level 4 (Well Developed) on ELPAC.

Chronic absenteeism is 16.5%, 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

10.5%

Students scoring above proficient

% Met or Above

32.6%

Students meeting standard

Growth (G6→G8)

+5.3pp

Change in proficiency rate

Chronic Absenteeism

16.5%

Students missing 10%+ of days

Suspension Rate

9.0%

Students suspended at least once

Total Tested

809

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	137	10.2%	24.8%	26.3%	38.7%	35.0%
7th	138	12.3%	31.9%	29.0%	26.8%	44.2%
8th	127	8.7%	33.1%	26.8%	31.5%	41.7%

Math scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
6th	142	9.2%	13.4%	29.6%	47.9%	22.5%
7th	140	10.7%	15.0%	26.4%	47.9%	25.7%
8th	125	12.0%	14.4%	19.2%	54.4%	26.4%

K-12 Feeder PathBoundary data

Elementary

Also serves area

▼

Middle

Taft Middle

44.4# in state

This school

▼

High School

Kearny Digital Media & Design

63.1# in state

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