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Does Desert Springs Middle have enough mental health and stress support?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
749
Middle
DISTRICT 825 · STATE 659
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PALM SPRINGS UNIFIED·NCES 062955009602
Desert Springs Middle
66-755 Two Bunch Palms Trail, Desert Hot Springs, CA 92240 · (760) 251-7200 · Riverside County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE31-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL749 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 9% of California public middle schools
- DTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- CBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- FThree-year trend Change in reading and math proficiency over the last three test years.
Grades compare a school only with schools in the same state, because every state gives its own test. How grades work · Top-graded California public middle schools
Student : Teacher
20.4:1
37 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 20.7:1 · STATE 20.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
97%
724 students
DISTRICT 94% · 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 | 274 | 37% |
| Grade 7 | 233 | 31% |
| Grade 8 | 242 | 32% |
Student demographics
27%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 31% · 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
19.6%
CA avg 49.1% . -1.4pp since 2014
Math
11.0%
CA avg 37.7% . -0.0pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 20 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 11 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 1 points since 2014, while math scores have held steady.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 4.5% | 15.1% | 23.5% | 57.0% |
| Math | 3.4% | 7.6% | 20.9% | 68.1% |
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 | 19.6% | 11.0% |
| 2023-24 | 21.6% | 12.4% |
| 2022-23 | 19.5% | 12.6% |
| 2021-22 | 28.7% | 13.8% |
| 2018-19 | 33.2% | 17.9% |
| 2017-18 | 29.5% | 15.4% |
| 2016-17 | 29.2% | 13.2% |
| 2015-16 | 31.0% | 10.0% |
| 2014-15 | 21.0% | 11.0% |
% 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
AS EXPECTED
Performing as predicted given the school's student profile
Actual proficiency
16.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
22.9%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-6.7pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 16% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 23% typical for California schools with a similar share of low-income students. BeatsExpectations measures results against demographically similar schools rather than by raw scores, and this school falls within the typical range, neither among California's top nor bottom 10%.
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 Desert Springs Middle
Desert Springs Middle's state test result (16.2% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Desert Springs Middle this school | 749 | 96.7% | 16.2% |
| Painted Hills Middle Desert Hot Springs | 722 | 97.2% | 18.2% |
| Sierra Middle Bakersfield | 731 | 96.4% | 15.3% |
| Ray Wiltsey Middle Ontario | 727 | 95.2% | 28.7% |
| McKee Middle Bakersfield | 869 | 93.2% | 34.1% |
| Van Nuys Middle Van Nuys | 726 | 92.8% | 30.8% |
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 Desert Springs Middle ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Riverside County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 16.2% | #1,127 of 1,224 | #68 of 78 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 11.0% | #1,119 of 1,227 ▼ 74 | #68 of 78 ▼ 9 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 19.6% | #1,174 of 1,227 ▼ 48 | #74 of 78 ▼ 5 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -6.0pp | #40 of 1,214 | #2 of 77 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 749 | #507 of 1,377 | #59 of 79 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 20.4:1 | #518 of 1,279 | #12 of 78 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 27.0% | #976 of 1,278 | #64 of 77 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 96.7% | #60 of 1,329 | #6 of 78 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -23.3% | #253 of 930 | #9 of 61 |
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
749
-125 (-14%) vs 2020
-15% since 1990-91, when it was 882
Student : Teacher
20.4:1
was 23.0:1
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 | 749 | 36.8 | 20.4:1 | 97% (724) |
| 2023-24 | 740 | 33.3 | 22.2:1 | 97% (717) |
| 2022-23 | 803 | 34.5 | 23.3:1 | 99% (795) |
| 2020-21 | 874 | 38 | 23.0:1 | 99% (868) |
| 2017-18 | 977 | 44.2 | 22.1:1 | 97% (943) |
| 2015-16 | 883 | 36 | 24.5:1 | 95% (835) |
| 2010-11 | 1,585 | N/A | N/A | 94% (1,486) |
| 2000-01 | 1,206 | 53 | 22.8:1 | 85% (1,021) |
| 1990-91 | 882 | 39 | 22.6:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Desert Springs Middle.
Since 2017-18: students down 23% (977 to 749); teachers down 17% (44.2 to 36.8).
About Desert Springs Middle
Among the schools in Desert Hot Springs, California, is Desert Springs Middle, a mid-sized middle school. Enrollment totals 749 students across grades 6 through 8.
Desert Springs Middle is one of 27 schools in Palm Springs Unified, which enrolls 20,007 students in total.
The share of students at Desert Springs Middle who are Hispanic is 85%. Enrollment also includes 6% White, 5% Black, and 2% multiracial. Among people living in Riverside County, the Hispanic share is about 51%. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 27, compared with 70 nationally.
Its ratio of 20.4:1 is based on 36.8 full-time-equivalent teachers. The 20.7:1 average for middle schools in California is close to this figure. The share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch is 97%. It compares with 74% for public schools in Riverside County.
Desert Springs Middle earns a D on the allk12 Grade, which blends test scores, results against poverty-based expectations, and the three-year trend. It scored higher than 9% of California public middle schools.
Test results at Desert Springs Middle are 6.7 points below what its free or reduced-price lunch share predicts (16.2% actual, 22.9% predicted).
In Riverside County, median household income comes to about $93,074, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 26% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 8%. Riverside County counts 543 public schools with about 424,872 students.
Two Bunch Palms Elementary is about 0.7 miles from Desert Springs Middle, the shortest distance to any other public school. The five-mile area around Desert Springs Middle holds 7 other public schools. Nearby schools with test data average 23.2% proficiency; Desert Springs Middle posts 16.2%.
The federal government classifies Desert Springs Middle's location as Town: Fringe.
Over the 4 years from 2020-21 to 2024-25, enrollment fell 14%. The ratio of students to teachers went from 23.0:1 to 20.4:1 over the same years.
This page is set up for the Desert Springs Middle community to discuss homework, tutoring, and testing dates. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Riverside County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
2,478,600
Census ACS
Median income
$93,074
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
26%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
8%
Below federal line
Schools in county
543
424,872 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Palm Springs Unified
- Desert Hot Springs HighHigh · 1,687 students
- Palm Springs HighHigh · 1,497 students
- Rancho Mirage HighHigh · 1,401 students
- Cathedral City HighHigh · 1,334 students
- James Workman MiddleMiddle · 1,020 students
- Nellie N. Coffman MiddleMiddle · 914 students
Other schools in Desert Hot Springs
- Desert Hot Springs HighHigh · 1,687 students
- Bella Vista ElementaryElementary · 779 students
- Painted Hills MiddleMiddle · 722 students
- Two Bunch Palms ElementaryElementary · 717 students
- Cabot Yerxa ElementaryElementary · 664 students
- Bubbling Wells ElementaryElementary · 581 students
Nearby schools
- Two Bunch Palms Elementary0.7 mi · 717
- Bubbling Wells Elementary0.8 mi · 581
- Cabot Yerxa Elementary0.8 mi · 664
- Desert Hot Springs High1.8 mi · 1,687
- Julius Corsini Elementary2.1 mi · 397
- Bella Vista Elementary2.7 mi · 779
Frequently asked questions
About Desert Springs MiddleHow large is Desert Springs Middle?
Desert Springs Middle enrolls approximately 749 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Desert Springs Middle serve?
Desert Springs Middle serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Desert Springs Middle?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Desert Springs Middle is approximately 20.4:1 (37 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Desert Springs Middle?
At Desert Springs Middle, the student body is approximately 6% White, 85% Hispanic, 5% Black, 1% Asian, 2% Two or more.
Who oversees Desert Springs Middle?
Desert Springs Middle is overseen by Palm Springs Unified in Riverside County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.