1
Alumni: what's one memory from Octavia E. Butler Magnet that still sticks with you?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
481
Middle
DISTRICT 495 · STATE 659
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PASADENA UNIFIED·NCES 062994004689
Octavia E. Butler Magnet
1505 North Marengo Ave., Pasadena, CA 91103 · (626) 396-5830 · Los Angeles County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE12-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL481 STUDENTS
C
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 26% of California public middle schools
- CTest 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.
- AThree-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
18.4:1
26 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 19.6:1 · STATE 20.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
70%
338 students
DISTRICT 62% · 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 6 | 156 | 32% |
| Grade 7 | 142 | 30% |
| Grade 8 | 183 | 38% |
Student demographics
44%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 62% · 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
36.9%
CA avg 49.1% . +16.9pp since 2014
Math
22.4%
CA avg 37.7% . +12.4pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 37 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 22 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 17 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 12 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 13.9% | 23.0% | 20.3% | 42.9% |
| Math | 12.6% | 9.8% | 19.3% | 58.4% |
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 | 36.9% | 22.4% |
| 2023-24 | 25.1% | 16.5% |
| 2022-23 | 25.9% | 17.2% |
| 2021-22 | 24.1% | 15.7% |
| 2018-19 | 20.9% | 13.6% |
| 2017-18 | 17.7% | 12.4% |
| 2016-17 | 15.5% | 10.2% |
| 2015-16 | 20.0% | 10.0% |
| 2014-15 | 20.0% | 10.0% |
% 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
25.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
38.4%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-13.1pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 25% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 38% 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 Octavia E. Butler Magnet
Octavia E. Butler Magnet's state test result (25.3% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Octavia E. Butler Magnet this school | 481 | 70.3% | 25.3% |
| Everett Middle San Francisco | 401 | 68.1% | 11.5% |
| Cucamonga Middle Rancho Cucamonga | 662 | 71.5% | 37.8% |
| Lick (James) Middle San Francisco | 479 | 61.8% | 17.6% |
| Grace Yokley Junior High Ontario | 606 | 66.0% | 45.8% |
| Spring Valley Academy Spring Valley | 597 | 77.4% | 27.4% |
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 Octavia E. Butler Magnet ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Los Angeles County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 25.3% | #899 of 1,224 | #196 of 248 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 22.4% | #788 of 1,227 ▲ 114 | #178 of 248 ▲ 14 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 36.9% | #803 of 1,227 ▲ 245 | #172 of 248 ▲ 51 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +9.7pp | #88 of 1,214 | #35 of 247 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 481 | #955 of 1,377 | #211 of 317 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 18.4:1 | #258 of 1,279 | #73 of 301 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 44.2% | #762 of 1,278 | #127 of 301 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 70.3% | #719 of 1,329 | #223 of 312 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -1.8% | #899 of 930 | #206 of 213 |
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
481
+6 (+1%) vs 2020
-57% since 1990-91, when it was 1,124
Student : Teacher
18.4:1
was 19.8:1
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 | 481 | 26.1 | 18.4:1 | 70% (338) |
| 2023-24 | 519 | 27.7 | 18.7:1 | 82% (426) |
| 2022-23 | 513 | 27.2 | 18.9:1 | 89% (455) |
| 2020-21 | 475 | 24 | 19.8:1 | 87% (415) |
| 2017-18 | 490 | 21 | 23.3:1 | 78% (380) |
| 2015-16 | 527 | 23 | 22.9:1 | 87% (456) |
| 2010-11 | 593 | N/A | N/A | 90% (536) |
| 2000-01 | 1,434 | 74 | 19.4:1 | 80% (1,142) |
| 1990-91 | 1,124 | 41 | 27.4:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Octavia E. Butler Magnet.
Since 2017-18: students down 2% (490 to 481); teachers up 24% (21 to 26.1).
About Octavia E. Butler Magnet
Octavia E. Butler Magnet is a public middle school in Pasadena, California. Its grade span covers grades 6 through 8, with 481 students on the rolls. That compares with an average of about 659 students for middle schools in California.
Pasadena Unified, which runs Octavia E. Butler Magnet, has 23 schools and 13,639 students.
Federal enrollment data show Octavia E. Butler Magnet is 73% Hispanic. Other groups include 10% White, 9% Black, 4% multiracial, and 3% Asian. The county population is about 48% Hispanic. On a 0 to 100 scale, the school's diversity index is 44, compared with 70 nationally.
Octavia E. Butler Magnet has a student-to-teacher ratio of 18.4:1, with 26.1 full-time-equivalent teachers. The average for middle schools in California, 20.7:1, is higher. A common income measure, free or reduced-price lunch eligibility, is 70% at Octavia E. Butler Magnet. That is in line with the 70% average for public schools in Los Angeles County.
Among California public middle schools, Octavia E. Butler Magnet outscored 26%, which works out to a C on the allk12 Grade.
The school's average proficiency rate across its state test results is 25.3%. For its free or reduced-price lunch share, the predicted value is 38.4%.
In Los Angeles County, home to about 9,808,667 people, the median household earns about $90,112 a year, roughly 36% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Public schools in Los Angeles County number 2,244, with about 1,265,907 students.
The closest school to Octavia E. Butler Magnet is Washington Elementary STEM Magnet, located about 0.1 miles away. Octavia E. Butler Magnet is one of several public schools in the area, with at least 8 others within five miles. Local comparison: Octavia E. Butler Magnet ranks 6th of 7 nearby schools, at 25.3% versus a 33.8% average.
The school's federal locale classification is City: Mid-size.
Octavia E. Butler Magnet had 475 students in 2020-21 and 481 in 2024-25, nearly the same. There were fewer students per teacher in 2024-25 (18.4:1) than in 2020-21 (19.8:1).
Octavia E. Butler Magnet has a community page on allk12 for topics such as athletics, class schedules, and weather closures. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
Los Angeles County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
9,808,667
Census ACS
Median income
$90,112
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
36%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
10%
Below federal line
Schools in county
2,244
1,265,907 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Pasadena Unified
- Marshall FundamentalHigh · 1,689 students
- Pasadena HighHigh · 1,303 students
- John Muir HighHigh · 1,206 students
- Blair HighHigh · 1,053 students
- Mary W. Jackson STEAM Multilingual Magnet ElementaryElementary · 658 students
- Sierra Madre ElementaryElementary · 652 students
Other schools in Pasadena
- Options For Youth - Duarte IncHigh · 3,369 students
- Marshall FundamentalHigh · 1,689 students
- Pasadena HighHigh · 1,303 students
- John Muir HighHigh · 1,206 students
- Blair HighHigh · 1,053 students
- Longfellow (Henry W.) ElementaryElementary · 546 students
Nearby schools
- Washington Elementary STEM Magnet0.1 mi · 428
- Alma Fuerte Public0.8 mi · 227
- Aveson School of Leaders0.8 mi · 279
- John Muir High0.9 mi · 1,206
- Madison Elementary1.0 mi · 411
- Longfellow (Henry W.) Elementary1.0 mi · 546
Frequently asked questions
About Octavia E. Butler MagnetHow many students attend Octavia E. Butler Magnet?
Octavia E. Butler Magnet enrolls approximately 481 students in grades 06-08.
Is Octavia E. Butler Magnet an elementary, middle, or high school?
Octavia E. Butler Magnet is a middle school covering grades 06-08.
How many teachers does Octavia E. Butler Magnet have?
Octavia E. Butler Magnet employs 26 FTE teachers, for a student-to-teacher ratio of 18.4:1.
What is the student diversity at Octavia E. Butler Magnet?
Student demographics at Octavia E. Butler Magnet are roughly 10% White, 73% Hispanic, 9% Black, 3% Asian, 4% Two or more.
What district is Octavia E. Butler Magnet in?
Octavia E. Butler Magnet is part of Pasadena Unified.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.