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What advice would you give to incoming students at Benjamin Franklin Intermediate?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
497
Middle
DISTRICT 548 · STATE 659
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·JEFFERSON ELEMENTARY·NCES 061887002278
Benjamin Franklin Intermediate
700 Stewart Ave., Colma, CA 94015 · (650) 991-1202 · San Mateo County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL497 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
18.0:1
28 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 20.0:1 · STATE 20.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
48%
240 students
DISTRICT 50% · STATE 65%
Community
6
0 members
Enrollment and student:teacher ratio compared against other middle schools. Free/Reduced Lunch and demographics compared against all schools.
Enrollment by grade, 2024-25
| Grade | Students | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 6 | 145 | 29% |
| Grade 7 | 166 | 33% |
| Grade 8 | 186 | 37% |
Student demographics
62%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 62% · STATE 62% · US 70%
Student head counts by race/ethnicity from federal NCES enrollment data. District, state, and US figures are each group's share of all public school students in that area (US excludes territories). Very small groups may be suppressed in the source, so categories do not always sum exactly to total enrollment.
Gender split
Test scores
CAASPP 2024-25 . % met or exceeded standardEnglish Language Arts
29.6%
CA avg 49.1% . -16.4pp since 2014
Math
24.4%
CA avg 37.7% . -7.6pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 30 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 24 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all California schools, those numbers are about 49 and 38. Reading and writing scores are down about 16 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 8 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 7.5% | 22.1% | 23.4% | 47.0% |
| Math | 12.8% | 11.6% | 24.6% | 51.0% |
Share of tested students at each CAASPP level. Each student counts in one level, so a row adds to about 100%.
CAASPP results by year
| School year | English Language Arts | Math |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 29.6% | 24.4% |
| 2023-24 | 28.4% | 21.5% |
| 2022-23 | 33.0% | 24.9% |
| 2021-22 | 42.6% | 29.1% |
| 2020-21 | 42.3% | 23.1% |
| 2018-19 | 47.5% | 26.5% |
| 2017-18 | 52.9% | 30.8% |
| 2016-17 | 49.1% | 29.6% |
| 2015-16 | 49.0% | 30.0% |
| 2014-15 | 46.0% | 32.0% |
% met or exceeded standard, all students and all tested grades.
Source: CAASPP. All students, all grades. See all years and grades →
BeatsExpectations
Demographically-adjusted score · methodologyTier
UNDERPERFORMING
Bottom 10% of CA schools after controlling for student poverty
Actual proficiency
25.9%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
51.2%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-25.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 26% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 51% typical for California schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations compares each school with others at the same poverty level, not by raw scores, so a school lands here when its results trail those comparable schools, which is not the same as having low scores. A higher-scoring school can still fall in this tier if similar schools score higher still.
BeatsExpectations runs a per-state regression of proficiency on free/reduced-lunch share, then scores each school by residual. How this is calculated →
Schools most like Benjamin Franklin Intermediate
Benjamin Franklin Intermediate's state test result (25.9% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Benjamin Franklin Intermediate this school | 497 | 48.3% | 25.9% |
| Thomas R. Pollicita Middle Daly City | 558 | 46.2% | 35.9% |
| Casimir Middle Torrance | 617 | 44.1% | 59.9% |
| Alta Loma Middle South San Francisco | 652 | 37.0% | 41.8% |
| Dolores Huerta Middle San Jose | 571 | 37.0% | 39.5% |
| Bernal Intermediate San Jose | 675 | 41.9% | 50.4% |
Matched among California middle schools on enrollment, the share of students from low-income families (eligible for free or reduced-price lunch), and racial and ethnic makeup. Proficient is the average share of students meeting the state standard across all of the school's state tests in 2023-24 and 2024-25, the same combined score our test-score rankings use. Online schools and schools serving specialized populations are not matched.
Where Benjamin Franklin Intermediate ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In California | In San Mateo County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 25.9% | #874 of 1,224 | #23 of 26 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 24.4% | #737 of 1,227 ▲ 22 | #23 of 26 ▲ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 29.6% | #999 of 1,227 ▼ 30 | #23 of 26 ▲ 1 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -8.9pp | #12 of 1,214 | #1 of 26 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 497 | #927 of 1,377 | #17 of 26 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.0:1 | #204 of 1,279 | #11 of 25 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 61.9% | #390 of 1,278 | #14 of 25 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 48.3% | #955 of 1,329 | #7 of 26 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -25.4% | #197 of 930 | #5 of 20 |
Ranked against other public middle schools. Online schools are left out of every list, and test-score lists leave out schools that serve specialized populations. Each rank links to the full list. Arrows under a test-score rank show places moved since the prior test year, among schools tested both years.
4-year change
SY 2020-21 vs SY 2024-25Enrollment
497
-127 (-20%) vs 2020
-7% since 1990-91, when it was 535
Student : Teacher
18.0:1
was 22.3:1
Source: NCES Common Core of Data
Enrollment and staffing by year
| School year | Students | Teachers (FTE) | Students per teacher | Free and reduced lunch |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 497 | 27.6 | 18.0:1 | 48% (240) |
| 2023-24 | 518 | 25.9 | 20.0:1 | 54% (279) |
| 2022-23 | 500 | 21.7 | 23.1:1 | 51% (253) |
| 2020-21 | 624 | 28 | 22.3:1 | 46% (290) |
| 2017-18 | 666 | 31 | 21.5:1 | 62% (413) |
| 2015-16 | 703 | 30 | 23.4:1 | 60% (419) |
| 2010-11 | 487 | N/A | N/A | 54% (262) |
| 2000-01 | 572 | 25 | 22.9:1 | 38% (215) |
| 1990-91 | 535 | 23 | 23.3:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Benjamin Franklin Intermediate.
Since 2017-18: students down 25% (666 to 497); teachers down 11% (31 to 27.6).
About Benjamin Franklin Intermediate
Benjamin Franklin Intermediate is a middle school with a street address in Colma, California. The latest federal count shows 497 students in grades 6 through 8. Against the 659-student average for middle schools in California, enrollment here is 25% lower.
Jefferson Elementary serves 4,942 students across 14 schools.
Federal enrollment data show Hispanic students as the largest group at Benjamin Franklin Intermediate, at 47%. Other groups include 38% Asian, 8% White, and 3% multiracial. By comparison, San Mateo County residents are about 25% Hispanic. Pick two students at random and there is a 62% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
Teachers at the school number 27.6 full-time equivalents, and the ratio is 18.0:1. This ratio sits 2.7 below the 20.7:1 average for middle schools in California. Roughly 48% of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price lunch. Among public schools in San Mateo County, the average eligibility rate is 34%.
BeatsExpectations places Benjamin Franklin Intermediate in the bottom 10% of California schools. The measure fits a line through proficiency and free or reduced-price lunch share for each state, and this school sits 25.4 points below it (25.9% actual, 51.2% predicted).
Recent Census Bureau figures for San Mateo County show that the median household income is $158,855, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 54%, and roughly 4% of residents are in poverty. Besides Benjamin Franklin Intermediate, San Mateo County has 175 other public schools.
The closest public school to Benjamin Franklin Intermediate is Garden Village Elementary, about 0.3 miles away. Counting only straight-line distance, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Its average proficiency rate of 25.9% is below the 44.1% average for nearby schools.
The federal government classifies Benjamin Franklin Intermediate's location as Suburb: Large.
Compared with 2020-21, the school had 127 fewer students in 2024-25. There were fewer students per teacher in 2024-25 (18.0:1) than in 2020-21 (22.3:1).
Discussions about Benjamin Franklin Intermediate may include school events, clubs, and volunteer needs. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
San Mateo County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
742,340
Census ACS
Median income
$158,855
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
54%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
4%
Below federal line
Schools in county
176
82,403 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Jefferson Elementary
- Fernando Rivera IntermediateMiddle · 588 students
- Thomas R. Pollicita MiddleMiddle · 558 students
- Susan B. Anthony ElementaryElementary · 407 students
- Westlake ElementaryElementary · 321 students
- Daniel Webster ElementaryElementary · 317 students
- John F. Kennedy ElementaryElementary · 304 students
Nearby schools
- Garden Village Elementary0.3 mi · 288
- Marjorie H. Tobias Elementary0.5 mi · 299
- Westlake Elementary0.7 mi · 321
- Margaret Pauline Brown Elementary0.8 mi · 303
- Westmoor High0.8 mi · 1,278
- Jefferson High0.9 mi · 1,072
Frequently asked questions
About Benjamin Franklin IntermediateHow many students attend Benjamin Franklin Intermediate?
Benjamin Franklin Intermediate enrolls approximately 497 students in grades 06-08.
What grades does Benjamin Franklin Intermediate serve?
Benjamin Franklin Intermediate serves grades 06-08.
How many teachers does Benjamin Franklin Intermediate have?
Benjamin Franklin Intermediate employs 28 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 18.0:1.
What is the student diversity at Benjamin Franklin Intermediate?
Student demographics at Benjamin Franklin Intermediate are roughly 8% White, 47% Hispanic, 1% Black, 38% Asian, 3% Two or more.
What district is Benjamin Franklin Intermediate in?
Benjamin Franklin Intermediate is part of Jefferson Elementary.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.