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What do students at Isbell Middle actually talk about outside of class?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
634
Middle
DISTRICT 457 · STATE 659
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SANTA PAULA UNIFIED·NCES 060142106109
Isbell Middle
221 South Fourth St., Santa Paula, CA 93060 · (805) 933-8880 · Ventura County
GRADES 07–08MIDDLE31-TOWNTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL634 STUDENTS
C
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 27% of California public middle schools
- C-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- C+Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- BThree-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
20.9:1
30 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 21.8:1 · STATE 20.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
84%
531 students
DISTRICT 86% · 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 7 | 319 | 50% |
| Grade 8 | 315 | 50% |
Student demographics
9%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 10% · 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
Feeds from
Based on grade levels within Santa Paula Unified. Attendance zones can vary; confirm enrollment with the district.
Test scores
CAASPP 2024-25 . % met or exceeded standardEnglish Language Arts
29.6%
CA avg 49.1% . -1.4pp since 2014
Math
16.8%
CA avg 37.7% . -3.2pp 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 17 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 are down about 3 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 7.3% | 22.3% | 27.8% | 42.6% |
| Math | 4.7% | 12.1% | 25.2% | 58.0% |
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% | 16.8% |
| 2023-24 | 34.1% | 15.8% |
| 2022-23 | 22.8% | 12.2% |
| 2021-22 | 27.5% | 12.2% |
| 2018-19 | 26.4% | 18.3% |
| 2017-18 | 25.9% | 19.2% |
| 2016-17 | 28.0% | 19.8% |
| 2015-16 | 34.0% | 18.0% |
| 2014-15 | 31.0% | 20.0% |
% 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
24.1%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
30.5%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-6.4pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 24% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 30% 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 Isbell Middle
Isbell Middle's state test result (24.1% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Isbell Middle this school | 634 | 83.8% | 24.1% |
| Cahuilla Desert Academy Junior High Coachella | 668 | 83.8% | 26.6% |
| Walter F. Dexter Middle Whittier | 610 | 86.7% | 25.6% |
| Mira Loma Middle Jurupa Valley | 711 | 84.2% | 23.0% |
| North Monterey County Middle Castroville | 624 | 87.8% | 17.5% |
| Fremont Academy of Environmental Science & Innovative Design Oxnard | 617 | 86.2% | 18.0% |
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 Isbell Middle ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Ventura County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 24.1% | #935 of 1,224 | #21 of 28 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 16.8% | #967 of 1,227 ▼ 39 | #23 of 28 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 29.6% | #996 of 1,227 ▼ 182 | #23 of 28 ▼ 4 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +3.3pp | #481 of 1,214 | #10 of 28 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 634 | #702 of 1,377 | #18 of 28 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 20.9:1 | #599 of 1,279 | #8 of 28 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 9.4% | #1,173 of 1,278 | #28 of 28 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 83.8% | #440 of 1,329 | #5 of 28 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -50.7% | #10 of 930 | #1 of 24 |
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
634
-484 (-43%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
20.9:1
was 23.8:1
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 | 634 | 30.3 | 20.9:1 | 84% (531) |
| 2023-24 | 671 | 32 | 21.0:1 | 84% (565) |
| 2022-23 | 1,010 | 47.7 | 21.2:1 | 72% (729) |
| 2020-21 | 1,118 | 47 | 23.8:1 | 86% (956) |
| 2017-18 | 1,286 | 56.8 | 22.7:1 | 92% (1,184) |
| 2015-16 | 1,231 | 44 | 28.0:1 | 87% (1,071) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Isbell Middle.
Since 2017-18: students down 51% (1,286 to 634); teachers down 47% (56.8 to 30.3).
About Isbell Middle
In Santa Paula, California, Isbell Middle is a medium-sized middle school. The grade span is 7 through 8, and enrollment is 634 students.
A total of 10 schools make up Santa Paula Unified, with 4,570 students enrolled.
At Isbell Middle, Hispanic students make up 95% of the student body. It is also 4% White. Ventura County's residents are about 44% Hispanic, 51 points below the school's share. The chance that two students picked at random at Isbell Middle belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 9%.
At Isbell Middle, 30.3 full-time-equivalent teachers work with students, a ratio of about 20.9:1. Across middle schools in California, the average ratio is about 20.7:1. Students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch make up 84% of enrollment. That is 25 points above the 59% average for public schools in Ventura County.
allk12 grades Isbell Middle a C. The grade compares the school only with California public middle schools, because each state gives its own test.
Test results at Isbell Middle are 6.4 points below what its free or reduced-price lunch share predicts (24.1% actual, 30.5% predicted).
Census Bureau estimates for Ventura County show that median household income is about $109,797, 36% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. A total of 238 public schools operate in Ventura County, serving about 147,841 students.
The closest other public school is Santa Paula High, about 0.6 miles away. Around the school, at least 8 other public schools are within five miles. Its average proficiency rate of 24.1% is below the 30.1% average for nearby schools.
Isbell Middle is in a town close to an urbanized area, a location NCES labels Town: Fringe.
The school's enrollment figures are 1,118 for 2020-21 and 634 for 2024-25. Differences this large can reflect a change in grade levels, a boundary change, or a merger. The number of students per teacher fell from 23.8 to 20.9 over 4 years.
Posts about school safety, transportation, and start times are welcome on this page. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Ventura County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
837,469
Census ACS
Median income
$109,797
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
36%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
238
147,841 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Santa Paula Unified
- Santa Paula HighHigh · 1,494 students
- Glen City ElementaryElementary · 675 students
- Grace Thille ElementaryElementary · 358 students
- Barbara Webster ElementaryElementary · 325 students
- Blanchard ElementaryElementary · 317 students
- McKevett ElementaryElementary · 300 students
Other schools in Santa Paula
- Santa Paula HighHigh · 1,494 students
- Glen City ElementaryElementary · 675 students
- Grace Thille ElementaryElementary · 358 students
- Barbara Webster ElementaryElementary · 325 students
- Blanchard ElementaryElementary · 317 students
- McKevett ElementaryElementary · 300 students
Nearby schools
- Santa Paula High0.6 mi · 1,494
- Renaissance High0.6 mi · 113
- Grace Thille Elementary0.6 mi · 358
- McKevett Elementary0.7 mi · 300
- Glen City Elementary0.8 mi · 675
- Santa Paula Unified School District Independent Studies0.8 mi · 60
Frequently asked questions
About Isbell MiddleHow large is Isbell Middle?
Isbell Middle enrolls approximately 634 students in grades 07-08.
Is Isbell Middle an elementary, middle, or high school?
Isbell Middle is a middle school covering grades 07-08.
How many teachers does Isbell Middle have?
Isbell Middle employs 30 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 20.9:1.
What is the racial breakdown of students at Isbell Middle?
At Isbell Middle, the student body is approximately 4% White, 95% Hispanic, 0% Black, 0% Two or more.
What district is Isbell Middle in?
Isbell Middle is part of Santa Paula Unified.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.