How does Thurston Middle compare to other middle schools in Laguna Beach?

Thurston Middle has a SchoolScope composite score of 64.5/100, placing it at the 93rd percentile statewide. 39% of students exceed standard, with a total of 1,044 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at Thurston Middle?

38.9% of students at Thurston Middle exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 75.7% meet or exceed it. The gap between these two numbers reveals whether the school pushes students beyond basic proficiency.

Is Thurston Middle improving or declining?

Based on CAASPP data, Thurston Middle's proficiency rate increases by 5.0 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 Thurston Middle?

6.3% of students at Thurston 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.

Thurston Middle

Middle School

Laguna Beach Unified Laguna BeachOrange County92651

📍 2100 Park Avenue

Composite Score

out of 100

State Percentile

of middle schools

State Rank

of 1,714 California middle schools

🏫

Solid Base

A solid, reliable choice — most students meet proficiency standards consistently.

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

519 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

16:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

20%

Teachers

32 full-time

Dashboard indicators

ELA Year-over-Year

Maintained

+0.3 pts DFS change

Math Year-over-Year

Increased

+11.9 pts DFS change

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic11.0%

White65.3%

Asian3.7%

Black0.6%

Other19.5%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for Thurston Middle
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	38.9%
Met Standard	36.7%
Below Standard	24.3%

What other rankings don't show you

Most rating sites report "76% proficient" for Thurston Middle and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

38.9% of students exceeded standard while 36.7% met it. That exceeded rate is 21.6 points above the state average of 17.3%. That's 5.2 points below the Laguna Beach Unified district average of 44.1%. Nearby schools (within ~3 miles) average 39.3% exceeded — about the same. The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

Students here improve by 5.0 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 maintained and Math increased year-over-year.

Chronic absenteeism is 6.3%, better than the state average of 19.3%.

Why the exceeded vs. met split matters →

Key metrics

% Exceeded Standard

38.9%

Students scoring above proficient

% Met or Above

75.7%

Students meeting standard

Growth (G6→G8)

+5.0pp

Change in proficiency rate

Chronic Absenteeism

6.3%

Students missing 10%+ of days

Suspension Rate

4.4%

Students suspended at least once

Total Tested

1,044

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	169	33.7%	40.2%	19.5%	6.5%	74.0%
7th	184	33.7%	43.5%	17.4%	5.4%	77.2%
8th	170	24.1%	54.7%	13.5%	7.7%	78.8%

Math scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
6th	168	47.0%	25.0%	18.4%	9.5%	72.0%
7th	183	42.6%	32.2%	16.9%	8.2%	74.9%
8th	170	52.4%	24.7%	10.0%	12.9%	77.1%

K-12 Feeder PathBoundary data

Elementary

Top of the World Elementary

70.795th pctile

El Morro Elementary

59.482nd pctile

▼

Middle

Thurston Middle

64.593rd pctile

This school

▼

High School

Laguna Beach High

72.793rd pctile

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