1
What's the vibe like in the hallways at Orcutt Junior High right now?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
464
Middle
DISTRICT 464 · STATE 659
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·ORCUTT UNION ELEMENTARY·NCES 062871004465
Orcutt Junior High
608 Pinal St., Santa Maria, CA 93455 · (805) 938-8700 · Santa Barbara County
GRADES 07–08MIDDLE22-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL464 STUDENTS
C+
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 39% of California public middle schools
- BTest scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- CBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- DThree-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
22.5:1
21 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 23.0:1 · STATE 20.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
55%
255 students
DISTRICT 67% · 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 | 235 | 51% |
| Grade 8 | 229 | 49% |
Student demographics
60%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 57% · 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
43.0%
CA avg 49.1% . -13.0pp since 2014
Math
37.6%
CA avg 37.7% . -15.4pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 43 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 38 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 13 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 15 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 15.0% | 28.0% | 27.8% | 29.2% |
| Math | 19.4% | 18.2% | 29.0% | 33.4% |
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 | 43.0% | 37.6% |
| 2023-24 | 45.5% | 35.4% |
| 2022-23 | 46.1% | 36.7% |
| 2021-22 | 55.3% | 33.7% |
| 2018-19 | 54.6% | 46.0% |
| 2017-18 | 55.0% | 50.1% |
| 2016-17 | 53.9% | 50.4% |
| 2015-16 | 63.0% | 60.0% |
| 2014-15 | 56.0% | 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
40.3%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
47.3%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-7.0pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 40% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 47% 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 Orcutt Junior High
Orcutt Junior High's state test result (40.3% proficient) is higher than 2 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orcutt Junior High this school | 464 | 55.0% | 40.3% |
| Washington Cloverdale | 393 | 57.5% | 20.7% |
| San Jose Middle Novato | 559 | 55.8% | 41.3% |
| Vandenberg Middle Vandenberg Air Force Base | 565 | 52.0% | 31.1% |
| Castaic Middle Castaic | 451 | 50.8% | 47.3% |
| Rio Bravo-Greeley Elementary Bakersfield | 466 | 50.9% | 47.4% |
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 Orcutt Junior High ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Santa Barbara County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 40.3% | #508 of 1,224 | #4 of 15 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 37.6% | #447 of 1,227 ▼ 3 | #4 of 15 ▲ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 43.0% | #640 of 1,227 ▼ 110 | #6 of 15 ▼ 2 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -4.2pp | #91 of 1,214 | #3 of 15 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 464 | #982 of 1,377 | #11 of 15 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 22.5:1 | #895 of 1,279 | #13 of 14 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 60.3% | #427 of 1,278 | #2 of 14 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 55.0% | #893 of 1,329 | #12 of 15 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -18.0% | #403 of 930 | #4 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
464
-21 (-4%) vs 2020
-14% since 1990-91, when it was 542
Student : Teacher
22.5:1
was 23.1:1
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 | 464 | 20.6 | 22.5:1 | 55% (255) |
| 2023-24 | 480 | 21.5 | 22.3:1 | 42% (201) |
| 2022-23 | 468 | 22.3 | 21.0:1 | 34% (158) |
| 2020-21 | 485 | 21 | 23.1:1 | 28% (138) |
| 2017-18 | 566 | 24.8 | 22.8:1 | 32% (180) |
| 2015-16 | 520 | 23 | 22.6:1 | 32% (166) |
| 2010-11 | 449 | N/A | N/A | 29% (130) |
| 2000-01 | 621 | 30 | 20.7:1 | 22% (137) |
| 1990-91 | 542 | 25 | 21.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Orcutt Junior High.
Since 2017-18: students down 18% (566 to 464); teachers down 17% (24.8 to 20.6).
About Orcutt Junior High
Orcutt Junior High is a middle school with a street address in Santa Maria, California. The school teaches grades 7 through 8 and enrolls 464 students. That puts enrollment 30% below the 659-student average for middle schools in California.
Orcutt Junior High is part of a district of 10 schools: Orcutt Union Elementary, with 4,911 students.
About 54% of the student body at Orcutt Junior High is Hispanic. The remaining students are 31% White, 10% multiracial, and 3% Asian. Its diversity index, the chance that two randomly chosen students belong to different racial or ethnic groups, is 60%.
Based on 20.6 full-time-equivalent teachers, Orcutt Junior High has a ratio of 22.5:1. The average for middle schools in California, 20.7:1, is lower. Orcutt Junior High counts 55% of students as eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Compared with the 68% average for public schools in Santa Barbara County, the school's rate is lower.
Among California public middle schools, Orcutt Junior High outscored 39%, which works out to a C+ on the allk12 Grade.
BeatsExpectations compares each school's average proficiency rate across its state test results with a prediction based on free or reduced-price lunch eligibility. For Orcutt Junior High, the prediction is 47.3% and the result is 40.3%.
American Community Survey estimates for Santa Barbara County show that median household income comes to about $98,161, roughly 37% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 9%. The county's public schools total 129, with about 66,191 students.
Orcutt Junior High is less than a tenth of a mile from Orcutt Academy Charter, its nearest public school. Orcutt Junior High has at least 8 other public schools within five miles. Nearby schools average 44.8% on proficiency, and Orcutt Junior High is below that at 40.3%.
Under the NCES locale system, Orcutt Junior High is Suburb: Mid-size.
In 2020-21, Orcutt Junior High enrolled 485 students. By 2024-25, that number had fallen to 464.
This community page is for conversations about open houses, carpools, and field trips. Teachers and staff are welcome to share updates too.
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 Orcutt Union Elementary
- Orcutt Academy CharterCombined · 812 students
- Joe Nightingale ElementaryElementary · 695 students
- Patterson Road ElementaryElementary · 662 students
- Pine Grove ElementaryElementary · 569 students
- Alice Shaw ElementaryElementary · 530 students
- Ralph Dunlap ElementaryElementary · 502 students
Other schools in Santa Maria
- Santa Maria HighHigh · 3,143 students
- Pioneer Valley HighHigh · 3,080 students
- Ernest Righetti HighHigh · 2,416 students
- JIMENEZ ROBERTO AND DR. FRANCISCO ELEMENTARYElementary · 1,177 students
- Bruce (Robert) ElementaryElementary · 1,050 students
- Alvin ElementaryElementary · 998 students
Nearby schools
- Orcutt Academy Charter0.0 mi · 812
- Delta High0.5 mi · 291
- Patterson Road Elementary0.7 mi · 662
- Olive Grove Charter - Orcutt/Santa Maria1.2 mi · 153
- Pine Grove Elementary1.3 mi · 569
- Family Partnership Charter1.4 mi · 372
Frequently asked questions
About Orcutt Junior HighHow many students attend Orcutt Junior High?
Orcutt Junior High enrolls approximately 464 students in grades 07-08.
What grades does Orcutt Junior High serve?
Orcutt Junior High serves grades 07-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Orcutt Junior High?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Orcutt Junior High is approximately 22.5:1 (21 FTE teachers).
What is the student diversity at Orcutt Junior High?
Student demographics at Orcutt Junior High are roughly 31% White, 54% Hispanic, 2% Black, 3% Asian, 10% Two or more.
Who oversees Orcutt Junior High?
Orcutt Junior High is overseen by Orcutt Union Elementary in Santa Barbara County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.