Enrollment
245
Middle
DISTRICT 217 · STATE 659
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·MOUNTAIN EMPIRE UNIFIED·NCES 062610013049
Mountain Empire Junior High
3305 Buckman Springs Rd., Pine Valley, CA 91962 · (619) 326-6662 · San Diego County
GRADES 07–08MIDDLE42-RURALTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL245 STUDENTS
Student : Teacher
21.2:1
12 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 20.5:1 · STATE 20.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
60%
148 students
DISTRICT 63% · STATE 65%
Community
0
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 | 118 | 48% |
| Grade 8 | 127 | 52% |
Student demographics
47%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 51% · 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
19.8%
CA avg 49.1% . -16.2pp since 2014
Math
8.3%
CA avg 37.7% . -31.7pp 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 8 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 16 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 32 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 4.0% | 15.9% | 22.9% | 57.3% |
| Math | 3.5% | 4.8% | 19.6% | 72.2% |
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 | 19.8% | 8.3% |
| 2023-24 | 20.7% | 8.6% |
| 2022-23 | 20.2% | 9.7% |
| 2021-22 | 20.0% | 5.5% |
| 2020-21 | 26.0% | 4.9% |
| 2018-19 | 24.1% | 12.9% |
| 2017-18 | 29.2% | 13.9% |
| 2016-17 | 43.1% | 17.2% |
| 2015-16 | 39.0% | 23.0% |
| 2014-15 | 36.0% | 40.0% |
% 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
14.4%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
44.1%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-29.8pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 14% of students here test proficient in math and reading, below the roughly 44% 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 Mountain Empire Junior High
Mountain Empire Junior High's state test result (14.4% proficient) is higher than 0 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mountain Empire Junior High this school | 245 | 60.4% | 14.4% |
| Dairyland Elementary Chowchilla | 216 | 58.3% | 45.3% |
| Healdsburg Junior High Healdsburg | 293 | 64.8% | 37.9% |
| Winters Middle Winters | 367 | 60.5% | 20.1% |
| Quantum Academy Escondido | 289 | 54.3% | 46.5% |
| Waterloo Elementary Stockton | 339 | 65.2% | 37.8% |
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 Mountain Empire Junior High ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In California | In San Diego County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 14.4% | #1,158 of 1,224 | #90 of 92 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 8.3% | #1,179 of 1,227 ▼ 32 | #91 of 92 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 19.8% | #1,169 of 1,227 ▼ 33 | #89 of 92 ▲ 1 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +1.3pp | #712 of 1,214 | #44 of 91 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 245 | #1,247 of 1,377 | #98 of 104 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 21.2:1 | #652 of 1,279 | #49 of 100 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 47.4% | #712 of 1,278 | #70 of 100 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 60.4% | #829 of 1,329 | #48 of 102 |
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
245
+121 (+98%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
21.2:1
was 24.8:1
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 | 245 | 11.6 | 21.2:1 | 60% (148) |
| 2023-24 | 298 | 11.7 | 25.5:1 | 63% (187) |
| 2022-23 | 114 | 6.4 | 17.8:1 | 73% (83) |
| 2020-21 | 124 | 5 | 24.8:1 | 61% (76) |
| 2017-18 | 146 | 6.4 | 23.0:1 | 77% (113) |
| 2015-16 | 53 | 2 | 26.5:1 | 55% (29) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Mountain Empire Junior High.
Since 2017-18: students up 68% (146 to 245); teachers up 82% (6.4 to 11.6).
About Mountain Empire Junior High
Mountain Empire Junior High is a small middle school in California, located in Pine Valley. The school's enrollment of 245 students covers grades 7 through 8. Statewide, middle schools in California average about 659 students each.
Mountain Empire Junior High is one of 8 schools in Mountain Empire Unified, which enrolls 1,738 students in total.
Hispanic students are the majority at Mountain Empire Junior High, with 69% of enrollment. After that, the student body is 22% White, 4% multiracial, and 4% Native American. Among all residents of San Diego County, the Hispanic share is about 35%. Pick two students at random and there is a 47% chance they belong to different racial or ethnic groups; that figure is the school's diversity index.
The teaching staff at Mountain Empire Junior High is 11.6 full-time-equivalent teachers, and the ratio is 21.2:1. That matches the 20.7:1 average for middle schools in California fairly closely. About 60% of students, or 148, qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.
BeatsExpectations compares each school's average proficiency rate on state tests with a prediction based on free or reduced-price lunch eligibility. Mountain Empire Junior High posts 14.4% against a 44.1% prediction, a bottom-10% result in California.
San Diego County has about 3,288,774 residents, and the median household income is $106,268, 43% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 7% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Besides Mountain Empire Junior High, San Diego County has 765 other public schools.
The closest public school, Mountain Empire High, is less than a tenth of a mile from Mountain Empire Junior High. There are 5 other public schools within ten miles. Among the 6 closest schools with test data, this one included, Mountain Empire Junior High ranks 4th on average proficiency.
The National Center for Education Statistics classifies the school's location as Rural: Distant, meaning it is in rural territory some distance from an urban area.
Between 2020-21 and 2024-25, reported enrollment went from 124 to 245. Such a large difference may reflect a change in the grades served. By 2024-25, the school had 21.2 students per teacher, compared with 24.8 in 2020-21.
If you have questions about enrollment questions, class placement, and PTA news at Mountain Empire Junior High, you can post them here. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
San Diego County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
3,288,774
Census ACS
Median income
$106,268
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
43%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
7%
Below federal line
Schools in county
766
467,437 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Mountain Empire Unified
- Mountain Empire HighHigh · 412 students
- Campo ElementaryElementary · 359 students
- Potrero ElementaryElementary · 300 students
- Clover Flat ElementaryElementary · 190 students
- Descanso ElementaryElementary · 188 students
- Hillside Junior/Senior HighHigh · 31 students
Other schools in Pine Valley
- Mountain Empire HighHigh · 412 students
- JCS - Pine ValleyCombined · 184 students
- Hillside Junior/Senior HighHigh · 31 students
- Sunrise High (Continuation)High · 13 students
- Cottonwood Community DayHigh
- Mountain Empire Special Education PreschoolElementary
Nearby schools
- Mountain Empire High0.0 mi · 412
- Sunrise High (Continuation)6.3 mi · 13
- Hillside Junior/Senior High6.3 mi · 31
- Campo Elementary6.3 mi · 359
- JCS - Pine Valley6.4 mi · 184
- Potrero Elementary11.0 mi · 300
Frequently asked questions
About Mountain Empire Junior HighWhat is the total enrollment at Mountain Empire Junior High?
Mountain Empire Junior High enrolls approximately 245 students in grades 07-08.
What grades does Mountain Empire Junior High serve?
Mountain Empire Junior High serves grades 07-08.
How many teachers does Mountain Empire Junior High have?
Mountain Empire Junior High employs 12 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 21.2:1.
How diverse is Mountain Empire Junior High?
Mountain Empire Junior High reports a student body of 22% White, 69% Hispanic, 1% Asian, 4% Two or more.
Who oversees Mountain Empire Junior High?
Mountain Empire Junior High is overseen by Mountain Empire Unified in San Diego County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.