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Which teacher or staff member at La Paz Intermediate deserves more recognition?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
713
Middle
DISTRICT 832 · STATE 659
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·SADDLEBACK VALLEY UNIFIED·NCES 063386005301
La Paz Intermediate
25151 Pradera Dr., Mission Viejo, CA 92691 · (949) 830-1720 · Orange County
GRADES 07–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL713 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 84% 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.
- C+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
21.8:1
33 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 22.2:1 · STATE 20.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
40%
283 students
DISTRICT 49% · 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 | 337 | 47% |
| Grade 8 | 376 | 53% |
Student demographics
68%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 68% · 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
69.5%
CA avg 49.1% . +4.5pp since 2014
Math
62.8%
CA avg 37.7% . +15.8pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 70 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 63 of 100 do math at grade level. Across all California schools, those numbers are about 49 and 38. Reading and writing scores are up about 5 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 16 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 33.2% | 36.3% | 19.7% | 10.8% |
| Math | 41.4% | 21.4% | 19.1% | 18.1% |
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 | 69.5% | 62.8% |
| 2023-24 | 67.6% | 57.9% |
| 2022-23 | 72.7% | 59.8% |
| 2021-22 | 70.5% | 59.5% |
| 2018-19 | 75.0% | 61.2% |
| 2017-18 | 71.8% | 59.1% |
| 2016-17 | 74.9% | 58.2% |
| 2015-16 | 74.0% | 57.0% |
| 2014-15 | 65.0% | 47.0% |
% 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
64.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
56.3%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+8.3pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 65% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 56% 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 Paz Intermediate
La Paz Intermediate's state test result (64.5% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| La Paz Intermediate this school | 713 | 39.7% | 64.5% |
| Pacific Beach Middle San Diego | 715 | 41.1% | 71.9% |
| Ethel Dwyer Middle Huntington Beach | 884 | 37.1% | 61.9% |
| Standley Middle San Diego | 813 | 43.3% | 65.5% |
| Lawrence E. Jones Middle Rohnert Park | 775 | 38.3% | 37.0% |
| Pleasant Hill Middle Pleasant Hill | 738 | 44.4% | 49.3% |
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 Paz Intermediate ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Orange County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 64.5% | #172 of 1,224 | #30 of 85 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 62.8% | #155 of 1,227 ▲ 18 | #24 of 85 ▲ 8 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 69.5% | #189 of 1,227 ▲ 9 | #31 of 85 ▲ 2 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +1.1pp | #736 of 1,214 | #53 of 84 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 713 | #577 of 1,377 | #47 of 88 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 21.8:1 | #771 of 1,279 | #33 of 87 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 68.3% | #186 of 1,278 | #16 of 87 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 39.7% | #1,050 of 1,329 | #59 of 88 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -17.8% | #414 of 930 | #49 of 74 |
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
713
-88 (-11%) vs 2020
-36% since 1990-91, when it was 1,112
Student : Teacher
21.8:1
was 25.0:1
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 | 713 | 32.7 | 21.8:1 | 40% (283) |
| 2023-24 | 707 | 31.1 | 22.8:1 | 42% (295) |
| 2022-23 | 706 | 30.6 | 23.1:1 | 38% (265) |
| 2020-21 | 801 | 32 | 25.0:1 | 26% (210) |
| 2017-18 | 867 | 35.2 | 24.6:1 | 24% (208) |
| 2015-16 | 889 | 33 | 26.9:1 | 22% (199) |
| 2010-11 | 1,017 | N/A | N/A | 15% (149) |
| 2000-01 | 1,122 | 49 | 22.9:1 | 8% (90) |
| 1990-91 | 1,112 | 45 | 24.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for La Paz Intermediate.
Since 2017-18: students down 18% (867 to 713); teachers down 7% (35.2 to 32.7).
About La Paz Intermediate
The public middle-grades school La Paz Intermediate is located in Mission Viejo, California. The student body numbers 713 students, from grades 7 through 8.
La Paz Intermediate is in Saddleback Valley Unified, a district with 22,646 students across 33 schools.
The most common group at La Paz Intermediate is White students, at 43%. The school is also 31% Hispanic, 12% Asian, and 12% multiracial. That is close to the 43% White share among all Orange County residents. The school's diversity index is 68%, meaning two students picked at random have a 68% chance of belonging to different racial or ethnic groups.
A ratio of 21.8:1 comes from the school's 32.7 full-time-equivalent teachers. The school has more students per teacher than the 20.7:1 average for middle schools in California. The lunch program counts 40% of students at La Paz Intermediate as eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Among public schools in Orange County, the average eligibility rate is 55%.
Measured against California public middle schools, La Paz Intermediate receives an A-. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
After adjusting for student poverty, La Paz Intermediate lands between the top and bottom 10% of California schools. Its average proficiency rate on state tests is 64.5%; the prediction is 56.3%.
In Orange County (population about 3,165,820), the median household income is $116,289, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 44% of adults, and the poverty rate is about 7%. There are 649 public schools in Orange County, enrolling about 430,458 students in all.
The nearest public school is Esperanza Education Center, at less than a tenth of a mile. Inside a five-mile radius, there are at least 8 other public schools. Among 7 nearby schools that report test results, La Paz Intermediate ranks 4th on proficiency.
NCES describes the area around La Paz Intermediate as Suburb: Large, meaning in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
Enrollment has fallen by 88 students since 2020-21, to 713. The school's ratio fell from 25.0:1 to 21.8:1 between 2020-21 and 2024-25.
Questions about school safety, transportation, and start times can be posted here. Reviews and ratings from people who know the school are welcome.
Orange County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
3,165,820
Census ACS
Median income
$116,289
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
44%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
649
430,458 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Saddleback Valley Unified
- Trabuco Hills HighHigh · 2,475 students
- El Toro HighHigh · 1,902 students
- Mission Viejo HighHigh · 1,566 students
- Laguna Hills HighHigh · 1,317 students
- Rancho Santa Margarita IntermediateMiddle · 1,153 students
- Foothill Ranch ElementaryElementary · 990 students
Other schools in Mission Viejo
- Trabuco Hills HighHigh · 2,475 students
- Capistrano Valley HighHigh · 1,991 students
- Mission Viejo HighHigh · 1,566 students
- Fred Newhart MiddleMiddle · 1,105 students
- Oxford Preparatory Academy - South Orange CountyElementary · 704 students
- Los Alisos IntermediateMiddle · 595 students
Nearby schools
- Esperanza Education Center0.1 mi · 80
- Linda Vista Magnet Elementary0.2 mi · 263
- Mission Viejo High0.3 mi · 1,566
- De Portola Elementary0.6 mi · 540
- Valencia Elementary0.9 mi · 525
- Fred Newhart Middle0.9 mi · 1,105
Frequently asked questions
About La Paz IntermediateHow large is La Paz Intermediate?
La Paz Intermediate enrolls approximately 713 students in grades 07-08.
What age range does La Paz Intermediate serve?
La Paz Intermediate serves students from grade 07 through grade 08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at La Paz Intermediate?
The student-to-teacher ratio at La Paz Intermediate is approximately 21.8:1 (33 FTE teachers).
How diverse is La Paz Intermediate?
La Paz Intermediate reports a student body of 43% White, 31% Hispanic, 1% Black, 12% Asian, 12% Two or more.
Is La Paz Intermediate public or private?
La Paz Intermediate is a public K-12 school, overseen by Saddleback Valley Unified.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.