Burton Middle

Set in Porterville, California, Burton Middle is a moderately sized middle-grades school, part of Burton Elementary. It works with 586 students across grades 7 through 8.

Burton Elementary runs 7 schools in total, collectively educating 4,805 students. Burton Middle is one of those campuses.

On demographics, Burton Middle reports that 77% of the student body identifies as Hispanic. Other groups include 12% White, 6% Asian, 4% multiracial. That is considerably more Hispanic than the county at large, where the share is closer to 67%.

On the resource side, On paper, Burton Middle has 28 full-time-equivalent teachers, translating to a class-load average of around 20.6:1. That tracks the state average closely. About 84% of enrolled students meet the income threshold for free or reduced-price lunch, a commonly cited indicator of low-income enrollment.

On a residual basis (actual vs predicted given the student mix), Burton Middle tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 29.7% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 34.7%.

Zooming out to the county, Tulare County reports that median household earnings sit near $71,300, roughly 17% of adults have completed at least a four-year degree, and census figures put the poverty rate at about 15%. In all, Tulare County runs 196 public schools (combined enrollment of about 101,494 students), of which Burton Middle is one.

The closest other public school is William R. Buckley Elementary, roughly 0.1 miles away. Within five miles, there are 8 other public schools. Among the 8 schools in that immediate cluster with test data (this one included), Burton Middle ranks 4th on composite proficiency, higher than the local average of 33.6%.

Geographically, the school is in an outer-ring area.

Five-year trend. Over the past 7-year window, the student count changed only slightly: 588 students in 2018 compared to 586 in 2025. The White share of enrollment contracted from 17% to 12% over that span. Class-load math has tightened: from 23.9:1 in 2018 to 20.6:1 in 2025.

In the discussion threads here, posts here usually surface around science fair prep, picture-day reminders, and bus-route questions. Anyone with firsthand experience at this school can post or comment.