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If you had an hour of school board time for Pajaro Middle, what would you bring up?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
398
Middle
DISTRICT 506 · STATE 659
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·PAJARO VALLEY UNIFIED·NCES 062949004547
Pajaro Middle
250 Salinas Rd., Watsonville, CA 95076 · (831) 728-6238 · Monterey County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE23-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL398 STUDENTS
D
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 5% of California public middle schools
- FTest 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.
- 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
21.6:1
18 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 21.5:1 · STATE 20.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
96%
384 students
DISTRICT 81% · STATE 65%
Community
1
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 | 128 | 32% |
| Grade 7 | 123 | 31% |
| Grade 8 | 147 | 37% |
Student demographics
2%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 27% · 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% . -0.2pp since 2014
Math
5.9%
CA avg 37.7% . -8.1pp 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 6 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 down about 8 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 3.6% | 16.1% | 30.5% | 49.7% |
| Math | 2.0% | 3.9% | 20.8% | 73.3% |
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% | 5.9% |
| 2023-24 | 16.7% | 8.5% |
| 2022-23 | 18.2% | 8.3% |
| 2021-22 | 24.0% | 8.7% |
| 2018-19 | 23.8% | 7.0% |
| 2017-18 | 21.0% | 8.0% |
| 2016-17 | 22.4% | 11.1% |
| 2015-16 | 25.0% | 13.0% |
| 2014-15 | 20.0% | 14.0% |
% 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
12.7%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
23.0%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-10.3pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 13% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 23% 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 Pajaro Middle
Pajaro Middle's state test result (12.7% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 3 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pajaro Middle this school | 398 | 96.5% | 12.7% |
| Willard Intermediate Santa Ana | 390 | 97.2% | 10.4% |
| Orchard Academies 2C Bell | 395 | 97.7% | 30.1% |
| Vista Heritage Global Academy Santa Ana | 369 | 97.0% | N/A |
| Alliance College-Ready Middle Academy 8 Los Angeles | 396 | 93.7% | N/A |
| Walnut Park Mid B Sci Tech Engr and Math Acad Walnut Park | 365 | 94.8% | 31.5% |
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 Pajaro Middle ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Monterey County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 12.7% | #1,183 of 1,224 | #18 of 18 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 5.9% | #1,209 of 1,227 ▼ 59 | #18 of 18 no change |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 19.8% | #1,170 of 1,227 ▲ 12 | #17 of 18 ▲ 1 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest drop first | -3.5pp | #131 of 1,214 | #3 of 18 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 398 | #1,087 of 1,377 | #16 of 19 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 21.6:1 | #736 of 1,279 | #15 of 18 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 2.5% | #1,261 of 1,278 | #17 of 18 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 96.5% | #63 of 1,329 | #1 of 18 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -18.4% | #389 of 930 | #6 of 17 |
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
398
-60 (-13%) vs 2020
-7% since 1990-91, when it was 427
Student : Teacher
21.6:1
was 24.1:1
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 | 398 | 18.4 | 21.6:1 | 96% (384) |
| 2023-24 | 286 | 14.1 | 20.4:1 | 97% (276) |
| 2022-23 | 440 | 21.4 | 20.6:1 | 98% (433) |
| 2020-21 | 458 | 19 | 24.1:1 | 93% (425) |
| 2017-18 | 488 | 12 | 40.7:1 | 95% (465) |
| 2015-16 | 440 | 16 | 27.5:1 | 92% (406) |
| 2010-11 | 417 | N/A | N/A | 88% (368) |
| 2000-01 | 482 | 27 | 17.9:1 | 77% (371) |
| 1990-91 | 427 | 18 | 23.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Pajaro Middle.
Since 2017-18: students down 18% (488 to 398); teachers up 53% (12 to 18.4).
About Pajaro Middle
Pajaro Middle is a public small middle-grades school in Watsonville, California. The school teaches grades 6 through 8 and enrolls 398 students. The school is 40% below the average for middle schools in California.
Pajaro Valley Unified has a total of 33 schools and 16,482 students, Pajaro Middle among them.
The share of Hispanic students at Pajaro Middle is 98%. The county population is about 62% Hispanic. On the diversity index, which measures the chance that two random students are from different groups, Pajaro Middle scores 2%.
The school lists 18.4 full-time-equivalent teachers and a student-to-teacher ratio of 21.6:1. Compared with the 20.7:1 average for middle schools in California, this school's ratio is higher. Free or reduced-price lunch covers 96% of the student body. It compares with 76% for public schools in Monterey County.
On the allk12 Grade, Pajaro Middle lands at D, ahead of 5% of California public middle schools.
Pajaro Middle posts an average proficiency rate across its state test results of 12.7%, compared with a predicted 23.0%. It is not in the top or bottom 10% of California schools on BeatsExpectations.
In the wider Monterey County area, median household income comes to about $97,230, 28% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and about 10% of people live in poverty. Monterey County's 153 public schools enroll about 73,845 students and include Pajaro Middle.
Ceiba College Preparatory Academy is about 0.7 miles away, making it the nearest public school. Other public schools within five miles number at least 8. Ranked by average proficiency, Pajaro Middle places 3rd out of 6 schools in its immediate area.
In the federal locale system, Pajaro Middle is coded Suburb: Small, for schools in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population under 100,000.
In 2020-21, Pajaro Middle enrolled 458 students. By 2024-25, that number had fallen to 398. The ratio was 24.1:1 in 2020-21 and 21.6:1 in 2024-25.
Use the discussion section to ask about homework, tutoring, and testing dates at Pajaro Middle. Current and former families are welcome to add their experience.
Monterey County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
437,613
Census ACS
Median income
$97,230
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
28%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
10%
Below federal line
Schools in county
153
73,845 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Pajaro Valley Unified
- Watsonville HighHigh · 2,215 students
- Pajaro Valley HighHigh · 1,293 students
- Aptos HighHigh · 1,274 students
- Alianza CharterElementary · 626 students
- Rolling Hills MiddleMiddle · 588 students
- Aptos Junior HighMiddle · 587 students
Other schools in Watsonville
- Watsonville HighHigh · 2,215 students
- Pajaro Valley HighHigh · 1,293 students
- Alianza CharterElementary · 626 students
- Rolling Hills MiddleMiddle · 588 students
- Cesar E. Chavez MiddleMiddle · 548 students
- Bradley ElementaryElementary · 520 students
Nearby schools
- Ceiba College Preparatory Academy0.7 mi · 501
- Linscott Charter0.8 mi · 258
- Watsonville Prep0.9 mi · 488
- Watsonville High1.0 mi · 2,215
- PVUSD Virtual Academy1.0 mi · 43
- Radcliff Elementary1.1 mi · 409
Frequently asked questions
About Pajaro MiddleHow many students attend Pajaro Middle?
Pajaro Middle enrolls approximately 398 students in grades 06-08.
What grades does Pajaro Middle serve?
Pajaro Middle serves grades 06-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Pajaro Middle?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Pajaro Middle is approximately 21.6:1 (18 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Pajaro Middle?
At Pajaro Middle, the student body is approximately 1% White, 98% Hispanic, 0% Asian, 0% Two or more.
Is Pajaro Middle public or private?
Pajaro Middle is a public K-12 school, overseen by Pajaro Valley Unified.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.