Vista del Mar Middle: Two in five kids exceed the standard. But this year's 8th graders test below its 6th graders.
Vista del Mar is one of the strongest middle schools in San Clemente by raw achievement. The catch worth understanding: the cohort doesn't gain ground year-over-year.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 67 | 44% | 74% | -8.7 | 17.0% | 2.6% |
| CA average · Middle School | 43 | 17% | 39% | +1.5 | 18.5% | 3.7% |
Vista del Mar Middle scores 67 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 92nd percentile of 2,238 California middle schools (CDE CAASPP 2025).
Measures test performance, attendance, and climate — not arts, community, or your kid. How we score →
🌱 Building Momentum — This label means the data doesn't clearly sort the school one way or the other — ask what the school is proud of, and what it's working on.
Most rating sites would stop at “74% proficient” and call it done. Vista del Mar deserves a closer read. It sits at the 92nd percentile of 2,238 California middle schools — but the ranking is the least interesting thing on this page.
Vista del Mar's low-income kids hit 61.3% proficiency in ELA — a number the same group reaches at 38.2% statewide. If you're trying to read past zip-code-driven test scores, that's the signal worth weighing.
The seven-year arc
Has held the 92nd-percentile line every tested year since 2019.
Proficiency here is back to its pre-pandemic level — 74% meet the standard, about where the school stood in 2019.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 80% | 70% | 78% | 80% | 85% |
| Grade 7 | 86% | 74% | 83% | 78% | 80% |
| Grade 8 | 79% | 81% | 74% | 82% | 77% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 76% | 68% | 70% | 64% | 75% |
| Grade 7 | 68% | 61% | 72% | 68% | 60% |
| Grade 8 | 71% | 76% | 67% | 74% | 66% |
The story this school is actually telling
of students scored in the top band on the state test. The California average is 16.8%.
proficiency runs 80% in this year's grade 6 against 71% in its grade 8. The state average falls by −0.5pp over the same span.
The school, grade by grade
ELA · CAASPP 2024–25Different students, same year — each bar is one grade's proficiency mix.
The honest read: the share exceeding falls 16.7pp across grades; the floor slips 8.8pp. The state average falls 0.5pp over the same span. The school's 8th graders aren't posting a wider lead than its 6th graders. One question worth asking on a tour: are the strongest students being pushed, or coasting? A school visit and conversation with teachers will tell you more than this number.
Vista del Mar's most underrated number
61.3% of low-income students met the ELA standard — versus 38.2% for the same group statewide. That's the strongest kind of signal a school can post: it holds across income lines.
The 5 things our score weighs
Ask the principal what changes between grade 6 and grade 8. Ask who teaches the older grades, and what the school does when a child starts falling behind.
- Ask what changes between grade 6 and grade 8 here, and who teaches the older kids.
- Ask whether extra support — tutoring, counseling, small groups — reaches kids across income lines, not just the students already ahead.
- 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 Vista del Mar Middle in San Clemente, 61.3% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 55.1% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Vista del Mar Middle outperforms its district average for low-income students by 6.2 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (36.0% Math proficient); White students (79.0% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 40.7 percentage points for disabilities students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 75 students tested.
5 of 13 student groups here are too small to report — a privacy protection, not a gap.
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 falls by 11.5pp from grade 6 to grade 8 at this school. District average: +5.7pp.
Showing up, and staying in class
Grades 7–8 students miss school at roughly one and a half times the rate of Grades 4–6 students (19.0% vs 11.9%). Chronic absence here concentrates in the upper grades.
Where the path goes
The path below follows attendance boundaries — scores shown for each next step.
Feeder patterns derived from NCES attendance boundary data. Boundaries are approximate and may have changed — verify with your school district for current assignments.
The people teaching here
Pay is set by the district, not the school.
What gets spent here
$341 per student arrives as federal Title funding — a measure of concentrated need, not school quality.
The district's current expense of education per student, from CDE's annual SACS filing — the freshest district spending figure the state publishes.
District-level, from the district's own SACS general-ledger filing — school-by-school breakdowns aren't published by the state.
Source: NCES F-33 · Full district breakdown →
The neighborhood it serves
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates (2024) · ZIP-level
On the state's science test (CAST), 62% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Vista del Mar Middle a good middle school?
What are Vista del Mar Middle's CAASPP test scores?
How does Vista del Mar Middle rank in California?
Is Vista del Mar Middle getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Vista del Mar Middle?
How does Vista del Mar Middle compare to other schools in San Clemente?
How does Vista del Mar Middle serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Elementary Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 65
Private alternatives nearby
Private schools within ~10 miles. These schools do not participate in state testing and cannot be scored or ranked.
Every number on this page
Score factors, grade-level breakdowns, subgroup proficiency, and peer comparisons.
| ELA | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 136 | 53% | 32% | 10% | 5% | 85% | +39 |
| Grade 7 | 150 | 48% | 32% | 11% | 9% | 80% | +32 |
| Grade 8 | 149 | 36% | 40% | 15% | 9% | 77% | +30 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 136 | 44% | 31% | 17% | 8% | 75% | +40 |
| Grade 7 | 150 | 46% | 14% | 23% | 17% | 60% | +26 |
| Grade 8 | 149 | 40% | 27% | 17% | 16% | 66% | +34 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 162 | 30% | 32% | 33% | 5% |
CAST is tested in grades 5, 8, and once in high school — not annually. Not part of the Scope Score.
| Subgroup · ELA | Tested | MET+ | vs district | vs CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 75 | 61.3% | +6 | +23 |
| White | 319 | 79.0% | +1 | +17 |
| Hispanic/Latino | 51 | 74.5% | +23 | +36 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vista del Mar Middle ← | — | 67 | 44.5% | 73.9% | −8.7 | 2.6% |
| Bernice Ayer Middle | 2 mi | 75 | 42.5% | 71.4% | +4.0 | 3.3% |
| California average | — | 43 | 16.8% | 39.3% | +1.5 | 3.7% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 64 | 91 | #187 | 42.3% | 76.7% | 7.2% | 2.7% | -2.9pp |
| 2022 | 68 | 93 | #148 | 37.8% | 71.4% | 15.5% | 1.2% | +9.5pp |
| 2023 | 74 | 95 | #118 | 42.4% | 74.0% | 16.2% | 2.1% | -3.8pp |
| 2024 | 77 | 96 | #84 | 43.9% | 74.3% | 14.4% | 3.1% | +6.6pp |
| 2025 | 67 | 92 | #187 | 44.5% | 73.9% | 17.0% | 2.6% | -8.7pp |
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 6.3% | 19.4% | +13.1pp |
| Male | 7.9% | 14.3% | +6.4pp |
| Asian | 4.5% | 0.0% | -4.5pp |
| Hispanic/Latino | 6.3% | 29.2% | +22.9pp |
| Two or More Races | 5.1% | 7.7% | +2.6pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 17.5% | 26.8% | +9.3pp |
| English Learners | 8.7% | 36.4% | +27.7pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 18.3% | 28.6% | +10.3pp |
| All Students | 7.2% | 16.9% | +9.7pp |
| Filipino | — | 7.7% | — |
| Homeless | — | 43.8% | — |
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