How does Vista del Mar Middle compare to other middle schools in San Clemente?

Vista del Mar Middle has a SchoolScope composite score of 60.7/100, placing it at the 89th percentile statewide. 44% of students exceed standard, with a total of 870 students tested across grades and subjects.

What percentage of students exceed standards at Vista del Mar Middle?

44.5% of students at Vista del Mar Middle exceed the state standard on CAASPP assessments, while 73.9% meet or exceed it. The gap between these two numbers reveals whether the school pushes students beyond basic proficiency.

Is Vista del Mar Middle improving or declining?

Based on CAASPP data, Vista del Mar Middle's proficiency rate decreases by 8.7 percentage points from Grade 6 to grade 8 growth. This pattern in test scores may reflect a variety of factors beyond the school itself.

What is the chronic absenteeism rate at Vista del Mar Middle?

16.9% of students at Vista del Mar 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.

Vista del Mar Middle

Middle School

Capistrano Unified San ClementeOrange County92673

📍 1130 Avenue Talega

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

529 students

Student-Teacher Ratio

19:1

Free/Reduced Lunch

18%

Teachers

28 full-time

Dashboard indicators

ELA Year-over-Year

Declined Significantly

-20.3 pts DFS change

Math Year-over-Year

Declined Significantly

-18.2 pts DFS change

Data source: California School Dashboard 2025, ELPAC 2024

Student demographics

Hispanic12.1%

White73.7%

Asian3.2%

Black0.2%

Other10.8%

Performance breakdown

Performance breakdown for Vista del Mar Middle
Category	Percentage
Exceeded Standard	44.5%
Met Standard	29.4%
Below Standard	26.1%

What other rankings don't show you

Most rating sites report "74% proficient" for Vista del Mar Middle and stop there. Here's what that number hides:

44.5% of students exceeded standard while 29.4% met it. That exceeded rate is 27.2 points above the state average of 17.3%. That's 5.7 points above the Capistrano Unified district average of 38.8%. Nearby schools (within ~3 miles) average 42.5% exceeded — about the same. The gap between "met" and "exceeded" can reveal how much a school's curriculum challenges students beyond proficiency.

Proficiency drops by 8.7 percentage points from Grade 6 to grade 8 growth — a signal that the school may not be sustaining early gains.

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

Chronic absenteeism is 16.9%, better than the state average of 19.3%.

Why the exceeded vs. met split matters →

Key metrics

% Exceeded Standard

44.5%

Students scoring above proficient

% Met or Above

73.9%

Students meeting standard

Growth (G6→G8)

-8.7pp

Change in proficiency rate

Chronic Absenteeism

16.9%

Students missing 10%+ of days

Suspension Rate

2.6%

Students suspended at least once

Total Tested

870

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	136	52.9%	32.4%	9.6%	5.2%	85.3%
7th	150	48.0%	32.0%	10.7%	9.3%	80.0%
8th	149	36.2%	40.3%	14.8%	8.7%	76.5%

Math scores by grade

Grade	Tested	Exceeded	Met	Nearly Met	Not Met	Met+Above
6th	136	44.1%	30.9%	16.9%	8.1%	75.0%
7th	150	46.0%	14.0%	22.7%	17.3%	60.0%
8th	149	39.6%	26.9%	17.4%	16.1%	66.4%

K-12 Feeder PathBoundary data

Elementary

Vista del Mar Elementary

69.794th pctile

▼

Middle

Vista del Mar Middle

60.789th pctile

This school

▼

High School

San Clemente High

69.691st pctile

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