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Thomas S. Hart Middle · PleasantonPublic

Thomas S. Hart Middle: High scores, healthy climate, strong attendance. We looked for a catch — we didn't find one.

Thomas S. Hart posts 55.2% exceeding the standard — versus 17.2% statewide — with climate numbers better than most. That doesn't make it perfect. It makes it worth a visit to find what numbers can't measure.

4433 Willow Road, 94588 (opens in new tab)·Pleasanton Unified·Pleasanton·Grades 6-8·1,129 students·10% low-income·2024–25 CAASPP·(925) 426-3102·Website
2019–2025 trend · CDE CAASPP
This schoolCA avg
Scope8139
% Exceeded55%17%
% Met+80%40%
Growth (2023 G6 → 2025 G8)Above avg · p72Average · p50
Absence6.1%18.1%
Suspension1.3%3.6%
Scope Score
81
⭐ High Ceiling · Strong
ranked #51 statewide · #3 of 4 in Pleasanton Unified

Thomas S. Hart Middle scores 81 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 98th percentile of 2,177 California middle schools (CDE CAASPP 2025).

Measures test performance, attendance, and climate — not arts, community, or your kid. How we score →

⭐ High Ceiling — Ask what happens for a kid who shows up behind — a high ceiling for the top can sit right next to thin support at the bottom, and the score alone won't show you which.

CDE CAASPP 2025

Most rating sites would stop at “80% proficient” and call it done. Thomas S. Hart deserves a closer read. It sits at the 98th percentile of 2,177 California middle schools — but the ranking is the least interesting thing on this page.

The headline number: 55.2% of students scored in the top band on the state test. The California average is 17.2%.

The seven-year arc

Percentile among 2,177 middle schools statewide

Has held the 98th-percentile line every tested year since 2019.

CA Dashboard
ELABlue(Increased)MathBlue(Increased)

Proficiency here is back to its pre-pandemic level — 80% meet the standard, about where the school stood in 2019.

ELA — % met or exceeded, by grade
Grade20192022202320242025
Grade 683%83%82%78%83%
Grade 784%85%83%84%80%
Grade 882%79%79%83%83%
Math — % met or exceeded, by grade
Grade20192022202320242025
Grade 674%76%72%75%79%
Grade 782%77%79%77%75%
Grade 873%65%71%76%78%

The story this school is actually telling

The school, grade by grade

ELA · CAASPP 2024–25

Different students, same year — each bar is one grade's proficiency mix.

51%
32%
17%
Grade 6 · 83% proficient
50%
30%
20%
Grade 7 · 80% proficient
49%
34%
17%
Grade 8 · 83% proficient

The honest read: the share exceeding falls 2.9pp across grades; the proficiency floor barely moves. The state average rises 0.1pp over the same span. A school visit and conversation with teachers will tell you more than this number.

The 6 things our score weighs

Exceeded standard
55.2%
State 17.2%
38.0pp above state avg
Met or exceeded
79.6%
State 40.0%
39.7pp above state avg
Growth (2023 G6 → 2025 G8)
Above avg
State average
The school's returning cohort — mostly, not exactly, the same kids two years on — gained 51 scale-score points across the span. Almost every school gains points, so we rank the gain against every other California school in this level.
Chronic absenteeism
6.1%
State 18.1%
12.0pp below state avg
Suspension rate
1.3%
State 3.6%
2.3pp below state avg
EL proficiency (ELPAC)
46.8%
State 18.0%
28.8pp above state avg

California's own answer to the same question

Context — never part of the Scope Score

California runs its own growth model, following individual children in grades 4 through 8 rather than comparing school-wide averages the way we do — and its two subjects part company here. It puts this school around the 70th percentile of California middle schools in reading and the 96th in math; ours, which blends the subjects, lands around the 72nd. A gap that size between math and reading in one building is worth asking about directly — one year of data can't tell you whether it is the teaching, the cohort, or noise.

Both measures, ranked against every California school
Our growth measuresame cohort, G6→G8SchoolScope growth measure: 72nd percentile among California middle schools.72nd pctile
State model · readingmatched students, grades 4-8California growth model, reading: +7 scale-score points versus the state's expectation, 70th percentile of 7,519 reported schools.70th pctile · +7 pts
State model · mathmatched students, grades 4-8California growth model, math: +25 scale-score points versus the state's expectation, 96th percentile of 7,518 reported schools.96th pctile · +25 pts
this school| the tick is the middle of the California field

— pts vs expected is scale-score points above or below what California's model predicted for these same children from their own prior-year scores. It is not a percentage and not a percent of anything. A typical California middle school lands at −1 in reading, and the middle half of them fall between −8 and +6 — the spread is wide, so read the rank, not the sign. CDE blends two consecutive years into each published figure, so adjacent years share input data and no year-over-year trend can honestly be drawn from them. It covers grades 4-8 only, and it is not part of the Scope Score — we assessed it and left it out: it tracks school demographics roughly three times as strongly as our own growth measure does, and one published year is not enough to test how stable it is.

Worth a school visit

Ask what the school is working on next. Strong numbers tell you where a school is, not where it's going.

  • 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 Thomas S. Hart Middle in Pleasanton, 41.8% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 42.7% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Thomas S. Hart Middle trails its district average for low-income students by 0.9 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (33.3% Math proficient); Asian students (91.6% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 66.9 percentage points for disabilities students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 119 students tested.

All students at this school: 80% met or exceeded
All StudentsAll Students: this school 80%, district —, state 40%80%
AsianAsian: this school 91%, district 89%, state 72%91% · +11 vs school
FemaleFemale: this school 82%, district 76%, state 44%82% · +2 vs school
MaleMale: this school 77%, district 76%, state 42%77% · −2 vs school
WhiteWhite: this school 68%, district 68%, state 56%68% · −11 vs school
Socioeconomically DisadvantagedSocioeconomically Disadvantaged: this school 38%, district 39%, state 32%38% · −42 vs school
Hispanic/LatinoHispanic/Latino: this school 40%, district 38%, state 32%40% · −40 vs school
Students with DisabilitiesStudents with Disabilities: this school 12%, district 24%, state 15%12% · −67 vs school
Two or More RacesTwo or More Races: this school 71%, district 73%, state 56%71% · −8 vs school
FilipinoFilipino: this school 73%, district 73%, state 65%73% · −7 vs school

5 of 15 student groups here are too small to report — a privacy protection, not a gap.

this school district, same group California, same group
Subgroup growth by grade

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 rises by 5.4pp from grade 6 to grade 8 at this school. District average: -3.9pp.

The state's growth model, by student group

California follows these children individually and predicts each one's score from their own prior year. Each row is read against the same group at a typical California middle school — not against zero, and not against this school's all-students figure, because the state's expectation already differs by group.

Reading
Asian674 studentsAsian, reading: +5 scale-score points versus expectation, against +6 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 674 students.+5 pts · −1 vs typical
English Only527 studentsEnglish Only, reading: +6 scale-score points versus expectation, against 0 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 527 students.+6 pts · +6 vs typical
White200 studentsWhite, reading: +6 scale-score points versus expectation, against 0 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 200 students.+6 pts · +6 vs typical
English Learner159 studentsEnglish Learner, reading: −3 scale-score points versus expectation, against −5 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 159 students.−3 pts · +2 vs typical
Recently reclassified145 studentsRecently reclassified, reading: −1 scale-score points versus expectation, against +2 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 145 students.−1 pts · −3 vs typical
Math
Asian675 studentsAsian, math: +33 scale-score points versus expectation, against +17 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 675 students.+33 pts · +16 vs typical
English Only529 studentsEnglish Only, math: +20 scale-score points versus expectation, against −3 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 529 students.+20 pts · +23 vs typical
White199 studentsWhite, math: +10 scale-score points versus expectation, against +1 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 199 students.+10 pts · +9 vs typical
English Learner159 studentsEnglish Learner, math: +23 scale-score points versus expectation, against −3 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 159 students.+23 pts · +26 vs typical
Recently reclassified145 studentsRecently reclassified, math: +25 scale-score points versus expectation, against −1 for the same group at a typical California middle school, 145 students.+25 pts · +26 vs typical
this school typical California middle school, same group| the centre tick is 0 = as predicted

— 2 more groups are reported here with between 11 and 29 students. We hold those back on purpose: at that size the figure swings about 17 points on its own, and a quarter of such groups land past the state's top or bottom cut point by chance alone. They are listed with their student counts in the data appendix. — A group not listed at all had fewer than 11 students with a growth score, so California published nothing for it here. That is a privacy protection, not a judgment about those students. — Context only. None of this enters the Scope Score.

Showing up, and staying in class

Chronic absenteeismChronic absenteeism: this school 6.1%, district 8.8%, state 18.1%6.1% · −12.0pp vs state
Suspension rateSuspension rate: this school 1.3%, district —, state 3.6%1.3% · −2.3pp vs state
Chronic absenteeism by grade band
Grades 4–64.9%
Grades 7–86.5%

Where the path goes

The path below follows attendance boundaries — scores shown for each next step.

K-12 Feeder Path
▼
Middle
Thomas S. Hart Middle
81/100
This school

Feeder patterns derived from NCES attendance boundary data. Boundaries are approximate and may have changed — verify with your school district for current assignments.

Foothill HighScope 79direct feeder

The road from this school ends at Foothill High, which sent 120 graduates to UC campuses last fall and teaches 26 AP subjects. Those numbers describe past cohorts — a child starting here today would reach Foothill High around 2031, and 6 years is a long time for a school to hold still, and by the state's 2023 count 89% of Foothill High's graduates enrolled in college somewhere, UC or not.

120 UC ENROLLEES (FALL 2025) · 26 AP SUBJECTS TAUGHT → full record on Foothill High's page
Source: UC & College Board

The people teaching here

Context — never part of the Scope Score
Student : teacherStudent to teacher ratio: this school 24:1, district 24:124:1
PrincipalCaroline Fields
Teaching staff48 teachers
Avg. experience13.1 years
Fully credentialed82%
First-year teachers6%
Salary Schedule
Teacher salary schedule$76,813 – $136,658
Principal salary$162,920 – $181,544
Superintendent salary$233,276

Pay is set by the district, not the school.

What gets spent here

Context — never part of the Scope Score
Per-pupil spendingPer-pupil spending: $15,983, CA average $14,491$15,983 · spent at this school
District current expense · FY 2024–25$17,441 per student

The district's current expense of education per student, from CDE's annual SACS filing — the freshest district spending figure the state publishes.

Where the district's dollars go · FY 2024–25 · CDE SACS
Instruction66%
Instruction support12%
Student services8%
Administration6%
Buildings & maintenance8%

District-level, from the district's own SACS general-ledger filing — school-by-school breakdowns aren't published by the state.

district detail, 2016–2020 — the newest published
2020$12,555 per pupil
2019$12,375 per pupil
2018$12,065 per pupil
2017$11,307 per pupil
2016$10,755 per pupil

Source: NCES F-33 · Full district breakdown →

The neighborhood it serves

Context — never part of the Scope Score
Asian62.9%
District 53.8% · CA 10.2%
White19.0%
District 24.5% · CA 19.9%
Hispanic8.9%
District 11.3% · CA 56.1%
Other7.8%
District 8.8% · CA 9.0%
Black1.3%
District 1.6% · CA 4.8%
Low IncomeFree/reduced lunch eligible 10.0% (54pp below CA avg)
Neighborhood — American Community Survey
Median income$191K · CA $85K
Median home value$1.38M · CA $659K
Bachelor's degree+71% · CA 35%
ZIP population34,328
Median age41 years

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2024) · ZIP-level

Worth Knowing

On the state's science test (CAST), 74% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 and once in high school, and it never enters the Scope Score.

Frequently asked questions

Is Thomas S. Hart Middle a good middle school?

Thomas S. Hart Middle has a Scope Score of 81 out of 100, placing it in the 98th percentile of California middle schools and ranked #51 statewide. 55.2% of students exceeded the state standard on the 2025 CAASPP assessment, which is 38.0 percentage points above the California average of 17.2%. The Scope Score weights 6 dimensions for middle schools: exceeded standard (42%), met or exceeded (proficient) (23%), grade 6-to-8 growth (20%), chronic absenteeism (5%), suspension rate (5%), and ELPAC English Learner proficiency (5%). Data source: California Department of Education CAASPP 2025, analyzed by SchoolScope.

What are Thomas S. Hart Middle's CAASPP test scores?

On the 2025 CAASPP Smarter Balanced Assessment, 79.6% of students at Thomas S. Hart Middle met or exceeded the state standard in ELA and Math combined, and 55.2% exceeded it. The gap between those numbers matters: 24.4% of students are at the proficiency floor, while 55.2% pushed past it. Most rating sites report only the combined "proficient" number. SchoolScope surfaces the exceeded-vs-met split because it reveals whether a school's curriculum challenges students beyond minimum proficiency or paces toward it. 2,211 student-subject combinations were assessed.

How does Thomas S. Hart Middle rank in California?

Thomas S. Hart Middle ranks #51 among California middle schools by Scope Score, placing it in the 98th percentile. This ranking is based on a weighted composite of 2025 CAASPP test performance (exceeded and met rates), same-cohort growth (2023 G6 → 2025 G8), chronic absenteeism, and suspension rate. Unlike single-number ratings, the Scope Score shows what drives the ranking so parents can decide what matters most to their family. See full methodology.

Is Thomas S. Hart Middle getting better or worse?

SchoolScope follows the same cohort of students across grades rather than comparing two different grades in the same year. At Thomas S. Hart Middle that cohort is 2023 G6 → 2025 G8, measured in SBAC scale-score points. Its gain ranks above avg among California middle schools — roughly the 72nd percentile, ahead of the typical school at this level. Read the ranking, not the raw point gain: scale scores rise with age, so nearly every school posts a positive number and only the relative position tells you anything. Growth is weighted at 20% in the middle Scope Score because it is the least demographically confounded signal available — it tracks change over time rather than the level students arrived at. See full methodology.

What is the attendance and school culture like at Thomas S. Hart Middle?

6.1% of students at Thomas S. Hart Middle are chronically absent (missing 10% or more of school days), which is better than the California average of 18.1%. The suspension rate is 1.3%, indicating a low-discipline-incident environment. SchoolScope includes these culture metrics in the Scope Score because they reflect day-to-day school experience in ways test scores alone cannot.

How does Thomas S. Hart Middle compare to other schools in Pleasanton?

Thomas S. Hart Middle scores 81/100 (98th percentile) among California middle schools. To compare with nearby schools, SchoolScope shows the same metrics side by side: exceeded rate, proficiency, growth trajectory, and school culture indicators. The school serves 1,129 students. Use the schools in Pleasanton page or the map view to compare all middle schools nearby.

How does Thomas S. Hart Middle serve low-income and underrepresented students?

At Thomas S. Hart Middle in Pleasanton, 41.8% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 42.7% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Thomas S. Hart Middle trails its district average for low-income students by 0.9 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (33.3% Math proficient); Asian students (91.6% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 66.9 percentage points for disabilities students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 119 students tested. SchoolScope shows disaggregated test scores by demographic subgroup so you can see how a school performs for your child's specific group — not just the school-wide average. Subgroup data is context, not part of the Scope Score: we don't penalize schools for who they serve. See our equity approach.

What high school does Thomas S. Hart Middle feed into?

By attendance boundary, Thomas S. Hart Middle is zoned to Foothill High. Foothill High has a Scope Score of 79 out of 100. Boundaries come from the U.S. Department of Education's School Attendance Boundary Survey, a 2015-16 collection and the most recent national one — they are approximate and may since have changed. A boundary is also not a placement guarantee: magnet, charter, open-enrollment and inter-district transfer options mean students from one school often continue to several different ones. Confirm your address with the district before making an enrollment or housing decision. Data source: NCES School Attendance Boundary Survey, analyzed by SchoolScope.

Your other options

All schools in Pleasanton →

Private alternatives nearby

Private schools within ~10 miles. These schools do not participate in state testing and cannot be scored or ranked.

For the data nerds

Every number on this page

Score factors, grade-level breakdowns, subgroup proficiency, and nearest schools.

01Score factorsWeighted composite · 2024–25
Exceeded standard · 42%
55.2%
↑ vs CA 17.2% · 93th pctile
Met or exceeded · 23%
79.6%
↑ vs CA 40.0% · 83th pctile
Growth (2023 G6 → 2025 G8) · 20%
Above avg
↑ vs CA average · 72th pctile
Chronic absenteeism · 5%
6.1%
↑ vs CA 18.1% · 67th pctile
▼ 0.6pp lower vs 2024
Suspension rate · 5%
1.3%
↑ vs CA 3.6% · 59th pctile
▼ 1.2pp lower vs 2024
EL proficiency (ELPAC) · 5%
46.8%
↑ vs CA 18.0% · 85th pctile
02By grade & subgroupCAASPP 2024–25 · % of tested students
ELATestedEXCMETNEARNOTMET++/CA
Grade 637351%32%11%6%83%+37
Grade 735950%30%9%11%80%+32
Grade 837149%34%10%8%83%+37
MathTestedEXCMETNEARNOTMET++/CA
Grade 637657%21%14%7%79%+44
Grade 736259%16%13%12%75%+41
Grade 837064%14%12%10%78%+46

We show the grade rows CDE publishes for this school. A missing grade or dash can mean the school does not serve that grade, no valid result was published, or the tested group was too small to report. It does not mean zero.

Science (CAST)TestedEXCMETNEARNOT
Schoolwide37043%31%24%2%

CAST is tested in grades 5 and 8, then once in grade 10, 11, or 12. This row is the school's all-student aggregate. Not part of the Scope Score.

Subgroup · ELATestedMET+vs districtvs CA
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged11941.8%−1+4
Asian69991.6%+3+17
White21072.4%−0+11
03Nearest middle schoolssorted by Scope Score · Grade gap = grade 3 vs grade 5, this year, different students; Cohort growth = one school's returning cohort tracked across grades (mostly, not exactly, the same kids), in scale-score points — that's the measurement the Scope Score weights
SchoolDistScopeEXCMET+Grade gapCohort growthSusp
Thomas S. Hart Middle ←—8155.2%79.6%−0.6pp+51 pts1.3%
Harvest Park Middle1.1 mi8657.5%83.5%+0.3pp—1.2%
Eleanor Murray Fallon2.7 mi7852.9%81.1%+1.1pp—2.1%
Pleasanton Middle2.2 mi5338.7%66.7%−7.2pp—2.7%
California average—3917.2%40.0%+1.5pp—3.6%
04More measurescontext · not all part of the Scope Score
YearScopePctileRankExcMet+AbsentSuspGrade gap
20198097#6548.9%79.3%4.0%2.8%-0.9pp
20228398#5048.3%77.4%8.0%2.8%-6.9pp
20238598#4550.8%77.8%9.8%2.4%-2.4pp
20248098#5553.2%78.7%6.7%2.5%+3.1pp
20258198#5155.2%79.6%6.1%1.3%-0.6pp
Grade gap = this year's grade 3 vs grade 5 result, two different sets of students, not a trend for any one child — it is not the measurement the Scope Score's growth dimension uses. See §01 above and /methodology#verdicts for the school's actual scored (cohort) growth.
NO STATEWIDE TESTING 2020–21 (COVID) · SCORE AND PERCENTILE ARE RELATIVE TO EACH YEAR'S FIELD
05Climate by student groupchronic absenteeism · 2019 vs 2025 — the two years CDE publishes at subgroup level
Group20192025Δ
Female3.2%6.5%+3.3pp
Male4.5%5.3%+0.8pp
Asian1.7%2.6%+0.9pp
Black/African American10.5%13.3%+2.8pp
White0.0%4.2%+4.2pp
Hispanic/Latino5.3%17.6%+12.3pp
Two or More Races2.6%8.9%+6.3pp
Students with Disabilities9.3%21.1%+11.8pp
English Learners2.7%5.6%+2.9pp
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged15.8%21.6%+5.8pp
All Students3.9%5.9%+2.0pp
Homeless—33.3%—
11California growth model, by student group2025 · scale-score points vs the state's prediction · shown, never scored
GroupReadingnCDE bandMathnCDE band
All Students+71,046Accelerated+251,049Exceptional
Asian+5674Accelerated+33675Exceptional
English Only+6527not categorised+20529not categorised
White+6200Accelerated+10199Accelerated
English Learner−3159Average+23159Exceptional
Recently Reclassified Fluent-English Proficient Only−1145not categorised+25145not categorised
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged−3101Average+7104Accelerated
Hispanic or Latino+680Accelerated+582Accelerated
Students with Disabilities−1478Moderate079Average
Two or More Races+1452Accelerated+2152Exceptional
Filipino+123Average+1923Accelerated
English Learners Only−1814not categorised+2714not categorised

Whole scale-score points above or below what CDE's model predicted for these same children from their own prior-year scores — not a percentage, not a percentile. Statewide a typical school lands near +1 with a spread of about 13 points either side, so read a figure against its group's own typical value, not against zero. Muted rows have fewer than 30 students with a growth score — published by CDE, held back from the narrative sections above because at that size the figure swings about 17 points on its own. “Not categorised” is CDE assigning no band — English Only, Recently Reclassified, and English Learners Only receive a value and no band, for every school in the state. It is not a missing number. Most figures blend two consecutive years, so adjacent published years share input data and no trend line can honestly be drawn across them. A group absent from this table had fewer than 11 students with a growth score and was never published. Grades 4-8 only. None of this enters the Scope Score — it is more strongly correlated with school demographics than our own growth measure, and one published year is not enough to test its reliability.

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EXC = exceeded standard · MET+ = met or exceeded ("proficient") · Source: CA Dept. of Education · CAASPP 2024–25 · n=2,177 middle schools · Vintages: climate subgroups 2019+2025 · district finance per its label · ACS 2022 · Data updated 2026-07-03methodology · data updates · CSV · report issue

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

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