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What's something La Colina Junior High does better than most schools?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
832
Middle
DISTRICT 501 · STATE 659
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SANTA BARBARA UNIFIED·NCES 060141406022
La Colina Junior High
4025 Foothill Rd., Santa Barbara, CA 93110 · (805) 967-4506 · Santa Barbara County
GRADES 07–08MIDDLE13-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL832 STUDENTS
A
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 94% of California public middle schools
- ATest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- A+Three-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
19.8:1
42 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 15.1:1 · STATE 20.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
41%
345 students
DISTRICT 65% · 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 | 411 | 49% |
| Grade 8 | 421 | 51% |
Student demographics
59%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 55% · 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
68.9%
CA avg 49.1% . +0.9pp since 2014
Math
60.9%
CA avg 37.7% . +7.9pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 69 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 61 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all California schools, those numbers are about 49 and 38. Reading and writing scores have held steady since 2014, while math scores are up about 8 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 27.9% | 41.0% | 19.9% | 11.3% |
| Math | 41.2% | 19.7% | 20.1% | 19.1% |
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 | 68.9% | 60.9% |
| 2023-24 | 68.1% | 56.6% |
| 2022-23 | 67.5% | 56.5% |
| 2021-22 | 60.5% | 48.4% |
| 2018-19 | 66.7% | 64.8% |
| 2017-18 | 68.7% | 62.4% |
| 2016-17 | 70.3% | 65.3% |
| 2015-16 | 71.0% | 63.0% |
| 2014-15 | 68.0% | 53.0% |
% 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
63.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
55.2%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+8.3pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 64% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 55% 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 La Colina Junior High
La Colina Junior High's state test result (63.5% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| La Colina Junior High this school | 832 | 41.5% | 63.5% |
| Kenilworth Junior High Petaluma | 812 | 45.2% | 45.1% |
| Oakdale Junior High Oakdale | 780 | 38.3% | 37.4% |
| Tierra del Sol Middle Lakeside | 713 | 41.4% | 33.9% |
| Horace Ensign Intermediate Newport Beach | 875 | 47.2% | 60.1% |
| Cabrillo Middle Ventura | 936 | 46.7% | 49.5% |
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 La Colina Junior High ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Santa Barbara County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 63.5% | #183 of 1,224 | #1 of 15 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 60.9% | #171 of 1,227 ▲ 15 | #1 of 15 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 68.9% | #197 of 1,227 ▼ 9 | #1 of 15 no change |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +10.5pp | #62 of 1,214 | #1 of 15 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 832 | #394 of 1,377 | #3 of 15 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 19.8:1 | #448 of 1,279 | #10 of 14 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 59.3% | #451 of 1,278 | #3 of 14 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 41.5% | #1,032 of 1,329 | #15 of 15 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -7.7% | #730 of 930 | #9 of 10 |
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
832
-56 (-6%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
19.8:1
was 23.4:1
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 | 832 | 41.9 | 19.8:1 | 41% (345) |
| 2023-24 | 893 | 44.4 | 20.1:1 | 42% (374) |
| 2022-23 | 900 | 41.1 | 21.9:1 | 42% (377) |
| 2020-21 | 888 | 38 | 23.4:1 | 35% (309) |
| 2017-18 | 901 | 38.6 | 23.3:1 | 35% (313) |
| 2015-16 | 947 | 38 | 24.9:1 | 25% (236) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for La Colina Junior High.
Since 2017-18: students down 8% (901 to 832); teachers up 9% (38.6 to 41.9).
About La Colina Junior High
Santa Barbara, California, is home to La Colina Junior High, a medium-sized middle school. School enrollment was 832 students in 2024-25, in grades 7 through 8. The average among middle schools in California is roughly 659 students; this school is 26% larger than that.
Santa Barbara Unified enrolls 12,247 students in 20 schools, including La Colina Junior High.
By race and ethnicity, the largest group at La Colina Junior High is White (49%). Smaller groups are 40% Hispanic, 7% multiracial, and 3% Asian. For comparison, Santa Barbara County is about 48% White. La Colina Junior High has a diversity index of 59%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
La Colina Junior High's 41.9 full-time-equivalent teachers put its ratio at 19.8:1. For comparison, middle schools in California average 20.7:1. Eligibility for subsidized school meals is 41%. The gap from the 68% average for public schools in Santa Barbara County is 27 points.
allk12 grades La Colina Junior High an A. The grade compares the school only with California public middle schools, because each state gives its own test.
In California, La Colina Junior High is in the middle band of BeatsExpectations: 63.5% actual against a predicted 55.2%.
Recent Census Bureau figures for Santa Barbara County show that median household income is about $98,161, 37% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 9% of people live in poverty. Federal data list 129 public schools in Santa Barbara County, with a combined enrollment of about 66,191.
Nearby, Hope Elementary is about 0.3 miles away. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. Ranked by average proficiency, La Colina Junior High places 3rd out of 5 schools in its immediate area.
Locale data from NCES put La Colina Junior High inside a principal city with a population under 100,000 (City: Small).
Enrollment was 888 in 2020-21 and 832 in 2024-25, a decrease of 56 students. The student-to-teacher ratio fell from 23.4:1 in 2020-21 to 19.8:1 in 2024-25.
Community posts for La Colina Junior High can cover sports schedules, lunch menus, and spirit week. Alumni can share how the school prepared them.
Santa Barbara County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
443,701
Census ACS
Median income
$98,161
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
37%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
9%
Below federal line
Schools in county
129
66,191 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Santa Barbara Unified
- Dos Pueblos Senior HighHigh · 2,149 students
- San Marcos Senior HighHigh · 1,926 students
- Santa Barbara Senior HighHigh · 1,924 students
- Goleta Valley Junior HighMiddle · 731 students
- Santa Barbara Junior HighMiddle · 512 students
- Washington ElementaryElementary · 477 students
Other schools in Santa Barbara
- San Marcos Senior HighHigh · 1,926 students
- Santa Barbara Senior HighHigh · 1,924 students
- Peabody CharterElementary · 780 students
- Santa Barbara Junior HighMiddle · 512 students
- Washington ElementaryElementary · 477 students
- Adams ElementaryElementary · 469 students
Nearby schools
- Hope Elementary0.3 mi · 279
- Monte Vista Elementary0.6 mi · 267
- Santa Barbara County Special Education0.8 mi · 49
- Santa Barbara County Juvenile Court0.8 mi · 31
- Santa Barbara County Community0.8 mi · 27
- Vieja Valley Elementary1.2 mi · 313
Frequently asked questions
About La Colina Junior HighWhat is the total enrollment at La Colina Junior High?
La Colina Junior High enrolls approximately 832 students in grades 07-08.
What age range does La Colina Junior High serve?
La Colina Junior High serves students from grade 07 through grade 08.
How many students per teacher at La Colina Junior High?
Approximately 19.8:1 students per teacher at La Colina Junior High.
How diverse is La Colina Junior High?
La Colina Junior High reports a student body of 49% White, 40% Hispanic, 0% Black, 3% Asian, 7% Two or more.
Who oversees La Colina Junior High?
La Colina Junior High is overseen by Santa Barbara Unified in Santa Barbara County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.