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What's the biggest difference between Paul L. Cato Middle and what you expected?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
694
Middle
DISTRICT 731 · STATE 659
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·BAKERSFIELD CITY·NCES 060363013744
Paul L. Cato Middle
4115 Vineland Rd., Bakersfield, CA 93306 · (661) 631-5245 · Kern County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE11-CITYTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL694 STUDENTS
B
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 57% 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.
- 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
22.6:1
31 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 21.3:1 · STATE 20.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
54%
372 students
DISTRICT 88% · 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 | 153 | 22% |
| Grade 7 | 263 | 38% |
| Grade 8 | 278 | 40% |
Student demographics
45%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 30% · 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
49.1%
CA avg 49.1% . +7.1pp since 2014
Math
32.9%
CA avg 37.7% . +4.9pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 49 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 33 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 7 points since 2014, while math scores are up about 5 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 17.4% | 31.7% | 25.6% | 25.3% |
| Math | 15.0% | 17.9% | 27.7% | 39.4% |
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 | 49.1% | 32.9% |
| 2023-24 | 50.3% | 32.3% |
| 2022-23 | 47.6% | 30.9% |
| 2021-22 | 40.9% | 25.6% |
| 2018-19 | 48.0% | 26.5% |
| 2017-18 | 50.0% | 30.9% |
| 2016-17 | 46.5% | 36.4% |
| 2015-16 | 46.0% | 29.0% |
| 2014-15 | 42.0% | 28.0% |
% 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
41.5%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
48.1%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-6.7pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 41% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 48% 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 Paul L. Cato Middle
Paul L. Cato Middle's state test result (41.5% proficient) is higher than 3 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paul L. Cato Middle this school | 694 | 53.6% | 41.5% |
| Rancho-Starbuck Intermediate Whittier | 687 | 57.2% | 53.7% |
| Brownell Middle Gilroy | 672 | 56.3% | 38.8% |
| Reginald M. Benton Middle La Mirada | 718 | 55.2% | 42.2% |
| Alpine Vista Middle Tulare | 617 | 48.3% | 25.7% |
| John Muir Middle San Jose | 722 | 54.2% | 36.6% |
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 Paul L. Cato Middle ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Kern County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 41.5% | #484 of 1,224 | #9 of 46 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 32.9% | #541 of 1,227 ▼ 36 | #8 of 46 ▲ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 49.1% | #510 of 1,227 ▼ 74 | #12 of 46 no change |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +7.8pp | #158 of 1,214 | #5 of 46 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 694 | #610 of 1,377 | #21 of 48 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 22.6:1 | #907 of 1,279 | #43 of 46 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 44.7% | #756 of 1,278 | #19 of 46 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 53.6% | #906 of 1,329 | #41 of 46 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -26.9% | #161 of 930 | #3 of 28 |
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
694
-180 (-21%) vs 2020
Student : Teacher
22.6:1
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 | 694 | 30.8 | 22.6:1 | 54% (372) |
| 2023-24 | 654 | 27.8 | 23.5:1 | 68% (446) |
| 2022-23 | 629 | 24.6 | 25.6:1 | 57% (358) |
| 2020-21 | 874 | 35 | 25.0:1 | 77% (671) |
| 2017-18 | 949 | 36.1 | 26.3:1 | 74% (699) |
| 2015-16 | 944 | 36 | 26.2:1 | 72% (679) |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Paul L. Cato Middle.
Since 2017-18: students down 27% (949 to 694); teachers down 15% (36.1 to 30.8).
About Paul L. Cato Middle
Paul L. Cato Middle is a medium-sized middle-grades school. Its address is in Bakersfield, California. Students in grades 6 through 8 attend, and enrollment is 694 students.
The Bakersfield City system has 44 schools and 28,365 students.
At 72%, Hispanic students outnumber all other groups at Paul L. Cato Middle combined. Other students are 19% White, 4% Asian, and 3% Black. By comparison, Kern County residents are about 57% Hispanic. The chance that two students picked at random at Paul L. Cato Middle belong to different racial or ethnic groups, known as the diversity index, is 45%.
The school's student-to-teacher ratio is about 22.6:1, with 30.8 full-time-equivalent teachers. The average ratio among middle schools in California is 20.7:1, lower than at this school. Students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch make up 54% of enrollment. For comparison, public schools in Kern County average 76%.
The allk12 Grade for Paul L. Cato Middle is B. Compared with California public middle schools, the school scored higher than 57% on a mix of test scores, poverty-adjusted results, and recent trend.
The allk12 BeatsExpectations score for Paul L. Cato Middle is -6.7 points: 41.5% actual, 48.1% predicted.
Federal survey data for Kern County show that median household income is about $70,210, a bachelor's degree or higher is held by about 19% of adults, and the share of residents below the poverty line is 15%. A total of 279 public schools operate in Kern County, serving about 197,431 students.
The nearest public school is Dr. Douglas K. Fletcher Elementary, at less than a tenth of a mile. There are at least 8 other public schools within five miles. By average proficiency, Paul L. Cato Middle is 2nd among 9 schools close by.
Locale data from NCES put Paul L. Cato Middle inside a principal city with a population of 250,000 or more (City: Large).
Between 2020-21 and 2024-25, the student count dropped from 874 to 694. Students per teacher fell from 25.0 in 2020-21 to 22.6 in 2024-25.
Posts about school safety, transportation, and start times are welcome on this page. Questions from prospective families are welcome too.
Kern County at a glance
View full county profilePopulation
915,075
Census ACS
Median income
$70,210
Household, ACS
Bachelor's+
19%
Adults 25+
Poverty rate
15%
Below federal line
Schools in county
279
197,431 students
Quick facts
Related schools
Other schools in Bakersfield City
- Curran MiddleMiddle · 973 students
- Colonel Howard Nichols ElementaryElementary · 960 students
- Voorhies ElementaryElementary · 915 students
- Walter Stiern MiddleMiddle · 891 students
- Horace Mann ElementaryElementary · 870 students
- Bessie E. Owens ElementaryElementary · 867 students
Other schools in Bakersfield
- Bakersfield HighHigh · 3,069 students
- Ridgeview HighHigh · 2,575 students
- Highland HighHigh · 2,530 students
- Stockdale HighHigh · 2,398 students
- Liberty HighHigh · 2,369 students
- East Bakersfield HighHigh · 2,331 students
Nearby schools
- Dr. Douglas K. Fletcher Elementary0.1 mi · 705
- Cesar E. Chavez Elementary0.8 mi · 621
- Walter Stiern Middle1.2 mi · 891
- Hort Elementary1.5 mi · 590
- Dr. Juliet Thorner Elementary1.6 mi · 813
- Orangewood Elementary1.7 mi · 617
Frequently asked questions
About Paul L. Cato MiddleHow many students attend Paul L. Cato Middle?
Paul L. Cato Middle enrolls approximately 694 students in grades 06-08.
What age range does Paul L. Cato Middle serve?
Paul L. Cato Middle serves students from grade 06 through grade 08.
How many students per teacher at Paul L. Cato Middle?
Approximately 22.6:1 students per teacher at Paul L. Cato Middle.
What is the student diversity at Paul L. Cato Middle?
Student demographics at Paul L. Cato Middle are roughly 19% White, 72% Hispanic, 3% Black, 4% Asian, 1% Two or more.
Who oversees Paul L. Cato Middle?
Paul L. Cato Middle is overseen by Bakersfield City in Kern County.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.