Winston Churchill Middle: Two in five kids exceed the standard. But this year's 8th graders test below its 6th graders.
Winston Churchill is one of the strongest middle schools in Carmichael by raw achievement. The catch worth understanding: the cohort doesn't gain ground year-over-year.
| Scope | % Exceeded | % Met+ | Growth | Absence | Suspension | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 55 | 41% | 62% | -18.0 | 16.8% | 6.3% |
| CA average · Middle School | 43 | 17% | 39% | +1.5 | 18.5% | 3.7% |
Winston Churchill Middle scores 55 of 100 on SchoolScope's Scope Score — the 80th 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 “62% proficient” and call it done. Winston Churchill deserves a closer read. The school sits in Carmichael, where two in five students qualify for free or reduced lunch — and reading the numbers without that context misreads the school.
The headline number: 40.9% of students scored in the top band on the state test. The California average is 16.8%.
The seven-year arc
Has held the 80th-percentile line every tested year since 2019.
Proficiency here is back to its pre-pandemic level — 62% meet the standard, about where the school stood in 2019.
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 70% | 60% | 63% | 75% | 73% |
| Grade 7 | 68% | 62% | 57% | 55% | 69% |
| Grade 8 | 61% | 62% | 59% | 57% | 57% |
| Grade | 2019 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 61% | 55% | 52% | 64% | 67% |
| Grade 7 | 59% | 55% | 49% | 47% | 58% |
| Grade 8 | 56% | 55% | 48% | 49% | 47% |
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 70% in this year's grade 6 against 52% 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 15.1pp across grades; the floor slips 16.3pp. 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.
The 6 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 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 Winston Churchill Middle in Carmichael, 44.0% of low-income students met or exceeded the ELA standard in 2025, compared to 29.1% district-wide and 38.2% statewide. Winston Churchill Middle outperforms its district average for low-income students by 15.0 percentage points in ELA. Other subgroups: Low-Income students (34.3% Math proficient); White students (63.6% ELA proficient). The largest proficiency gap is 61.9 percentage points for english learner students. Data source: California Department of Education, CAASPP 2024-25. 443 students tested.
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 18.1pp from grade 6 to grade 8 at this school. District average: -3.2pp.
Showing up, and staying in class
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
$319 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), 49% met or exceeded the standard — science is tested in grades 5 and 8 but never enters the Scope Score.
Frequently asked questions
Is Winston Churchill Middle a good middle school?
What are Winston Churchill Middle's CAASPP test scores?
How does Winston Churchill Middle rank in California?
Is Winston Churchill Middle getting better or worse?
What is the attendance and school culture like at Winston Churchill Middle?
How does Winston Churchill Middle compare to other schools in Carmichael?
How does Winston Churchill Middle serve low-income and underrepresented students?
Your other options
Nearby Middle Schools
3 within ~3 mi · avg 35
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 | 283 | 45% | 28% | 10% | 17% | 73% | +26 |
| Grade 7 | 330 | 42% | 26% | 8% | 23% | 69% | +21 |
| Grade 8 | 352 | 30% | 27% | 11% | 32% | 57% | +10 |
| Math | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT | MET+ | +/CA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 290 | 47% | 20% | 11% | 22% | 67% | +32 |
| Grade 7 | 342 | 44% | 14% | 15% | 27% | 58% | +24 |
| Grade 8 | 356 | 37% | 11% | 17% | 35% | 47% | +15 |
| Science (CAST) | Tested | EXC | MET | NEAR | NOT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grade 5/8/11 | 360 | 27% | 22% | 39% | 13% |
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 | 443 | 44.0% | +15 | +6 |
| White | 379 | 63.6% | +16 | +2 |
| Asian | 254 | 81.9% | +53 | +8 |
| School | Dist | Scope | EXC | MET+ | Growth | Susp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winston Churchill Middle ← | — | 55 | 40.9% | 61.8% | −18.0 | 6.3% |
| Arden Middle | 2.9 mi | 40 | 16.8% | 41.8% | +7.2 | 6.8% |
| John Barrett Middle | 2.2 mi | 34 | 10.7% | 32.0% | +1.1 | 9.3% |
| Arcade Fundamental Middle | 1.8 mi | 31 | 6.5% | 20.0% | +2.6 | 3.0% |
| California average | — | 43 | 16.8% | 39.3% | +1.5 | 3.7% |
| Year | Scope | Pctile | Rank | Exc | Met+ | Absent | Susp | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 57 | 83 | #335 | 45.0% | 62.5% | 11.1% | 5.7% | -6.8pp |
| 2022 | 60 | 88 | #252 | 37.5% | 58.2% | 23.6% | 7.3% | +1.2pp |
| 2023 | 57 | 82 | #395 | 34.2% | 54.7% | 19.5% | 8.9% | -3.9pp |
| 2024 | 56 | 83 | #377 | 39.1% | 57.9% | 19.3% | 11.2% | -16.4pp |
| 2025 | 55 | 80 | #438 | 40.9% | 61.8% | 16.8% | 6.3% | -18.0pp |
| Group | 2019 | 2025 | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Female | 10.3% | 15.9% | +5.6pp |
| Male | 12.0% | 17.7% | +5.7pp |
| Asian | 2.3% | 7.8% | +5.5pp |
| Black/African American | 16.0% | 31.6% | +15.6pp |
| White | 3.8% | — | — |
| Hispanic/Latino | 19.0% | 29.3% | +10.3pp |
| Pacific Islander | 41.7% | — | — |
| Two or More Races | 4.9% | 13.9% | +9.0pp |
| Students with Disabilities | 30.3% | 40.0% | +9.7pp |
| English Learners | 16.8% | 29.5% | +12.7pp |
| Foster Youth | 40.0% | — | — |
| Homeless | 26.6% | 49.0% | +22.4pp |
| Socioeconomically Disadvantaged | 19.6% | 28.3% | +8.7pp |
| All Students | 11.1% | 16.8% | +5.7pp |
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