1
Honest take: what's the hardest part about being a student at Placerita Junior High?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
940
Middle
DISTRICT 1,020 · STATE 659
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·WILLIAM S. HART UNION HIGH·NCES 064251006960
Placerita Junior High
25015 North Newhall Ave., Newhall, CA 91321 · (661) 259-1551 · Los Angeles County
GRADES 07–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL940 STUDENTS
A-
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 84% of California public middle schools
- A-Test scores Share of students meeting the state standard in reading, math, and other tested subjects, 2023-24 and 2024-25.
- A-Beats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- A-Three-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
21.3:1
44 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 22.3:1 · STATE 20.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
54%
504 students
DISTRICT 31% · 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 | 462 | 49% |
| Grade 8 | 478 | 51% |
Student demographics
50%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 67% · 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
62.0%
CA avg 49.1% . +0.0pp since 2014
Math
47.4%
CA avg 37.7% . +6.4pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 62 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 47 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 up about 6 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 27.1% | 34.9% | 21.5% | 16.5% |
| Math | 22.1% | 25.3% | 24.4% | 28.2% |
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 | 62.0% | 47.4% |
| 2023-24 | 61.3% | 45.2% |
| 2022-23 | 60.4% | 42.9% |
| 2021-22 | 63.8% | 33.8% |
| 2018-19 | 71.7% | 51.3% |
| 2017-18 | 65.0% | 47.4% |
| 2016-17 | 65.3% | 45.6% |
| 2015-16 | 66.0% | 44.0% |
| 2014-15 | 62.0% | 41.0% |
% 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
54.0%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
48.1%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
+5.9pp
above demographic expectation
What this means: About 54% 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 Placerita Junior High
Placerita Junior High's state test result (54.0% proficient) is higher than 5 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Placerita Junior High this school | 940 | 53.6% | 54.0% |
| Robert L. McCaffrey Middle Galt | 779 | 53.7% | 43.9% |
| Balboa Middle Ventura | 845 | 58.8% | 39.0% |
| Vista Innovation and Design Academy Vista | 834 | 58.2% | 39.4% |
| Moore Middle Redlands | 988 | 57.3% | 43.4% |
| Paul L. Cato Middle Bakersfield | 694 | 53.6% | 41.5% |
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 Placerita Junior High ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Los Angeles County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 54.0% | #295 of 1,224 | #63 of 248 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 47.4% | #306 of 1,227 ▲ 13 | #64 of 248 ▼ 1 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 62.0% | #301 of 1,227 ▼ 24 | #64 of 248 ▼ 4 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +5.9pp | #254 of 1,214 | #85 of 247 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 940 | #264 of 1,377 | #68 of 317 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 21.3:1 | #681 of 1,279 | #155 of 301 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 50.0% | #655 of 1,278 | #100 of 301 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 53.6% | #905 of 1,329 | #248 of 312 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked steepest decline first | -13.8% | #544 of 930 | #141 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
940
-87 (-8%) vs 2020
-19% since 1990-91, when it was 1,157
Student : Teacher
21.3:1
was 22.8:1
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 | 940 | 44.1 | 21.3:1 | 54% (504) |
| 2023-24 | 920 | 49.2 | 18.7:1 | 41% (380) |
| 2022-23 | 888 | 45.8 | 19.4:1 | 44% (392) |
| 2020-21 | 1,027 | 45 | 22.8:1 | 46% (477) |
| 2017-18 | 1,091 | 45.7 | 23.9:1 | 46% (503) |
| 2015-16 | 1,053 | 43 | 24.5:1 | 32% (341) |
| 2010-11 | 1,048 | N/A | N/A | 25% (258) |
| 2000-01 | 1,414 | 59 | 24.0:1 | 14% (205) |
| 1990-91 | 1,157 | 48 | 24.1:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Placerita Junior High.
Since 2017-18: students down 14% (1,091 to 940); teachers down 4% (45.7 to 44.1).
About Placerita Junior High
Placerita Junior High serves students in Newhall, California, as a medium-sized middle school. Enrollment is 940 students in 2024-25, and the school serves grades 7 through 8. The average for middle schools in California is about 659 students, so this school is 43% above average.
William S. Hart Union High is the local district for Placerita Junior High. It runs 16 schools with 20,465 students.
A majority of students at Placerita Junior High, 65%, are Hispanic. Beyond that, enrollment is 28% White, 4% Asian, and 3% multiracial. The Hispanic share of the county population is lower, at 48%. By the diversity index, Placerita Junior High comes in at 50%.
Its 44.1 full-time-equivalent teachers give the school a ratio of 21.3:1. Middle schools in California have a similar average ratio of 20.7:1. The school's lunch program data list 54% of students as eligible for free or reduced-price meals. That is 16 points below the 70% average for public schools in Los Angeles County.
Measured against California public middle schools, Placerita Junior High receives an A-. The grade weighs proficiency most heavily, then how results compare with what the school's low-income share predicts, then the three-year change.
Placerita Junior High sits between the top and bottom 10% of California schools on BeatsExpectations, with an actual average proficiency rate on state tests of 54.0% and a predicted 48.1%.
Census Bureau estimates for Los Angeles County show that median household income is about $90,112, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher is 36%, and about 10% of people live in poverty. A total of 2,244 public schools operate in Los Angeles County, serving about 1,265,907 students.
William S. Hart High is located about 0.3 miles from Placerita Junior High. Within five miles are at least 8 other public schools. On proficiency, Placerita Junior High is behind the 55.7% nearby average, ranking 4th of 8.
NCES lists the school's locale as Suburb: Large. That means it sits in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more.
From 2020-21 to 2024-25, Placerita Junior High went from 1,027 students to 940. The ratio of students to teachers went from 22.8:1 to 21.3:1 over the same years.
Conversations here can range across science fairs, picture day, and bus routes. Posting is open to anyone connected to the school.
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 William S. Hart Union High
- Saugus HighHigh · 2,317 students
- Valencia HighHigh · 2,286 students
- Golden Valley HighHigh · 1,980 students
- Canyon HighHigh · 1,952 students
- William S. Hart HighHigh · 1,941 students
- West Ranch HighHigh · 1,777 students
Other schools in Newhall
- William S. Hart HighHigh · 1,941 students
- Valley View Community ElementaryElementary · 526 students
- Newhall ElementaryElementary · 493 students
- Peachland Avenue ElementaryElementary · 463 students
- Dr. J. Michael McGrath ElementaryElementary · 414 students
- Wiley Canyon ElementaryElementary · 388 students
Nearby schools
- William S. Hart High0.3 mi · 1,941
- Learning Post Academy (Alternative)0.4 mi · 322
- Old Orchard Elementary0.6 mi · 520
- Newhall Elementary0.7 mi · 493
- Meadows Elementary0.8 mi · 729
- Peachland Avenue Elementary0.9 mi · 463
Frequently asked questions
About Placerita Junior HighHow many students attend Placerita Junior High?
Placerita Junior High enrolls approximately 940 students in grades 07-08.
What grades does Placerita Junior High serve?
Placerita Junior High serves grades 07-08.
What is the student-teacher ratio at Placerita Junior High?
The student-to-teacher ratio at Placerita Junior High is approximately 21.3:1 (44 FTE teachers).
What is the racial breakdown of students at Placerita Junior High?
At Placerita Junior High, the student body is approximately 28% White, 65% Hispanic, 1% Black, 4% Asian, 3% Two or more.
What district is Placerita Junior High in?
Placerita Junior High is part of William S. Hart Union High.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.