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What's the most underrated thing about Excelsior Middle that outsiders don't know?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
377
Middle
DISTRICT 296 · STATE 659
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BYRON UNION ELEMENTARY·NCES 060675000595
Excelsior Middle
14301 Byron Hwy., Byron, CA 94514 · (925) 809-7530 · Contra Costa County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE41-RURALREGULAR SCHOOL377 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
19.1:1
20 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 23.3:1 · STATE 20.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
33%
125 students
DISTRICT 36% · STATE 65%
Community
2
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 | 133 | 35% |
| Grade 7 | 123 | 33% |
| Grade 8 | 121 | 32% |
Student demographics
68%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 69% · 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
School pathway
Based on grade levels within Byron Union Elementary. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
CAASPP 2024-25 . % met or exceeded standardEnglish Language Arts
49.4%
CA avg 49.1% . -1.6pp since 2014
Math
34.6%
CA avg 37.7% . -15.4pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 49 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 35 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 2 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 15 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 12.1% | 37.4% | 19.8% | 30.8% |
| Math | 16.7% | 17.9% | 27.9% | 37.5% |
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 | 49.4% | 34.6% |
| 2023-24 | 40.9% | 31.5% |
| 2022-23 | 43.2% | 35.5% |
| 2021-22 | 39.4% | 30.4% |
| 2018-19 | 48.1% | 40.5% |
| 2017-18 | 53.8% | 44.4% |
| 2016-17 | 52.5% | 51.8% |
| 2015-16 | 58.0% | 55.0% |
| 2014-15 | 51.0% | 50.0% |
% 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
39.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
60.1%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-21.1pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 39% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 60% 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 Excelsior Middle
Excelsior Middle's state test result (39.0% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 3 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Excelsior Middle this school | 377 | 33.2% | 39.0% |
| Strawberry Elementary Santa Rosa | 365 | 35.1% | 54.1% |
| Magnolia Science Academy San Diego San Diego | 464 | 34.1% | N/A |
| Joan MacQueen Middle Alpine | 405 | 36.8% | 36.8% |
| College Preparatory Middle Spring Valley | 397 | 42.8% | N/A |
| Willard Middle Berkeley | 596 | 27.5% | 75.2% |
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 Excelsior Middle ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Contra Costa County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 39.0% | #538 of 1,224 | #22 of 39 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 34.6% | #507 of 1,227 ▲ 26 | #23 of 42 ▲ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 49.4% | #500 of 1,227 ▲ 130 | #22 of 42 ▲ 3 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +7.1pp | #177 of 1,214 | #9 of 42 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 377 | #1,113 of 1,377 | #39 of 44 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 19.1:1 | #329 of 1,279 | #3 of 43 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 67.9% | #199 of 1,278 | #19 of 43 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 33.2% | #1,114 of 1,329 | #25 of 40 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -35.0% | #58 of 930 | #2 of 35 |
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
377
-128 (-25%) vs 2020
+4% since 1990-91, when it was 364
Student : Teacher
19.1:1
was 22.0:1
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 | 377 | 19.8 | 19.1:1 | 33% (125) |
| 2023-24 | 423 | 22.5 | 18.8:1 | 32% (136) |
| 2022-23 | 428 | 22.1 | 19.4:1 | 30% (128) |
| 2020-21 | 505 | 23 | 22.0:1 | 32% (163) |
| 2017-18 | 580 | 29.3 | 19.8:1 | 29% (170) |
| 2015-16 | 573 | 22 | 26.1:1 | 27% (153) |
| 2010-11 | 583 | N/A | N/A | 28% (163) |
| 2000-01 | 234 | 10 | 23.4:1 | 11% (26) |
| 1990-91 | 364 | 17 | 21.4:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Excelsior Middle.
Since 2017-18: students down 35% (580 to 377); teachers down 33% (29.3 to 19.8).
About Excelsior Middle
Excelsior Middle is classified as a middle school. It is located in Byron, California. The school teaches grades 6 through 8 and enrolls 377 students. That is 43% below the average of about 659 students for middle schools in California.
The Byron Union Elementary system has 4 schools and 1,182 students.
White students account for 46% of enrollment at Excelsior Middle, more than any other group. Other groups make up 30% Hispanic, 8% Asian, 8% Black, and 5% multiracial. Measured by the diversity index, the student body scores 68%.
The school's 19.8 full-time-equivalent teachers translate to a student-to-teacher ratio of 19.1:1. The average for middle schools in California is 20.7:1, so this school has fewer students per teacher. At Excelsior Middle, 33% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch in 2024-25. For comparison, public schools in Contra Costa County average 45%.
The BeatsExpectations model predicts 60.1% for Excelsior Middle, given its share of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. The actual figure is 39.0%. The 21.1-point gap ranks in the bottom 10% of California schools.
American Community Survey estimates for Contra Costa County show that the median household earns about $127,229 a year, about 45% of adults have at least a bachelor's degree, and the poverty rate is about 6%. Across Contra Costa County, 280 public schools serve about 167,423 students.
Byron Institute for Independent Study is about 2.4 miles away, making it the nearest public school. There are at least 8 more public schools inside five miles. Excelsior Middle ranks 6th of 6 among nearby schools on average proficiency, with 39.0% against a local average of 51.2%.
Its location is classified as Rural: Fringe by the National Center for Education Statistics.
A 25% decline took enrollment from 505 in 2020-21 to 377 in 2024-25. Federal data show the ratio falling from 22.0:1 to 19.1:1.
On allk12, people connected to Excelsior Middle can post about athletics, class schedules, and weather closures. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Contra Costa County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
1,165,012
Census ACS
Median income
$127,229
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
45%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
6%
Below federal line
Schools in county
280
167,423 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Byron Union Elementary
- Discovery Bay ElementaryElementary · 417 students
- Timber Point ElementaryElementary · 362 students
- Byron Institute for Independent StudyElementary · 26 students
Other Excelsior Middle schools
One other US public school is named Excelsior Middle. Excelsior Middle is the 2nd largest of the 2.
- Excelsior Middle SchoolMarion, IA · 594 students
Nearby schools
- Byron Institute for Independent Study2.4 mi · 26
- Timber Point Elementary2.4 mi · 362
- Discovery Bay Elementary2.8 mi · 417
- La Paloma High (Continuation)3.7 mi · 178
- Old River Elementary4.1 mi · 332
- Garin Elementary4.4 mi · 785
Frequently asked questions
About Excelsior MiddleWhat is the total enrollment at Excelsior Middle?
Excelsior Middle enrolls approximately 377 students in grades 06-08.
What grades does Excelsior Middle serve?
Excelsior Middle serves grades 06-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Excelsior Middle?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Excelsior Middle is approximately 19.1:1 (20 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Excelsior Middle?
At Excelsior Middle, the student body is approximately 46% White, 30% Hispanic, 8% Black, 8% Asian, 5% Two or more.
Is Excelsior Middle public or private?
Excelsior Middle is a public K-12 school, overseen by Byron Union Elementary.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.