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Teachers: what resource would make the biggest difference at Sparks Middle this year?
Community prompt from u/allk12. Replies below.
Enrollment
600
Middle
DISTRICT 422 · STATE 659
SCHOOL COMMUNITY·HACIENDA LA PUENTE UNIFIED·NCES 061632502064
Sparks Middle
15100 Giordano St., La Puente, CA 91744 · (626) 933-5001 · Los Angeles County
GRADES 06–08MIDDLE21-SUBURBTITLE IREGULAR SCHOOL600 STUDENTS
C
allk12 Grade
Scored higher than 32% 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.
- CBeats expectations How far test scores land above or below what the share of low-income students predicts for a school in this state.
- B+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
25.4:1
24 FTE teachers
DISTRICT 21.9:1 · STATE 20.7:1
Free / Reduced Lunch
78%
468 students
DISTRICT 74% · STATE 65%
Community
5
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 | 184 | 31% |
| Grade 7 | 209 | 35% |
| Grade 8 | 207 | 35% |
Student demographics
15%Diversity index
The chance that two students picked at random belong to different racial or ethnic groups.
DISTRICT 43% · 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
39.7%
CA avg 49.1% . +15.7pp since 2014
Math
20.6%
CA avg 37.7% . -1.4pp since 2014
What this means: On the CAASPP, California's statewide test, about 40 of every 100 students at this school read and write at grade level and about 21 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 16 points since 2014, while math scores are down about 1 points.
Performance levels, 2024-25
| Subject | Standard Exceeded | Standard Met | Standard Nearly Met | Standard Not Met |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English Language Arts | 9.5% | 30.2% | 26.1% | 34.1% |
| Math | 7.2% | 13.5% | 24.5% | 54.9% |
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 | 39.7% | 20.6% |
| 2023-24 | 30.7% | 15.9% |
| 2022-23 | 28.0% | 14.6% |
| 2021-22 | 35.3% | 17.5% |
| 2018-19 | 40.6% | 30.5% |
| 2017-18 | 38.5% | 34.6% |
| 2016-17 | 46.0% | 31.5% |
| 2015-16 | 43.0% | 33.0% |
| 2014-15 | 24.0% | 22.0% |
% 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
27.2%
composite math + reading, all grades
Predicted
33.8%
based on CA schools with similar FRL share
Beats by
-6.7pp
below demographic expectation
What this means: About 27% of students here test proficient in math and reading, compared with the roughly 34% 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 Sparks Middle
Sparks Middle's state test result (27.2% proficient) is higher than 1 of the 5 schools below with a result.
| School | Students | Low-income | Proficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sparks Middle this school | 600 | 78.0% | 27.2% |
| Rio del Valle Middle Oxnard | 569 | 77.9% | 27.2% |
| National City Middle National City | 709 | 79.4% | 31.4% |
| John Gutierrez Middle Salinas | 568 | 80.5% | 23.6% |
| Lakeside Middle Norwalk | 509 | 79.8% | 52.5% |
| Lake Center Middle Santa Fe Springs | 708 | 80.1% | 46.4% |
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 Sparks Middle ranks
Among middle schools| Measure | This school | In California | In Los Angeles County |
|---|---|---|---|
| State test proficiency ranked highest first | 27.2% | #826 of 1,224 | #180 of 248 |
| Math proficiency ranked highest first | 20.6% | #839 of 1,227 ▲ 87 | #192 of 248 ▲ 4 |
| Reading proficiency ranked highest first | 39.7% | #724 of 1,227 ▲ 182 | #157 of 248 ▲ 30 |
| 3-year test score change ranked biggest gain first | +3.7pp | #419 of 1,214 | #132 of 247 |
| Enrollment ranked largest first | 600 | #760 of 1,377 | #179 of 317 |
| Students per teacher ranked fewest first | 25.4:1 | #1,193 of 1,279 | #270 of 301 |
| Diversity index ranked most diverse first | 14.8% | #1,126 of 1,278 | #233 of 301 |
| Free and reduced lunch ranked highest share first | 78.0% | #584 of 1,329 | #194 of 312 |
| Enrollment change since 2017-18 ranked fastest growth first | +34.8% | #17 of 257 | #3 of 38 |
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
600
+186 (+45%) vs 2020
-19% since 1990-91, when it was 744
Student : Teacher
25.4:1
was 24.4:1
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 | 600 | 23.7 | 25.4:1 | 78% (468) |
| 2023-24 | 320 | 14.9 | 21.5:1 | 78% (248) |
| 2022-23 | 351 | 15.7 | 22.3:1 | 74% (261) |
| 2020-21 | 414 | 17 | 24.4:1 | 90% (374) |
| 2017-18 | 445 | 18.5 | 24.1:1 | 91% (404) |
| 2015-16 | 476 | 21 | 22.7:1 | 91% (434) |
| 2010-11 | 510 | N/A | N/A | 92% (470) |
| 2000-01 | 991 | 42 | 23.6:1 | 75% (741) |
| 1990-91 | 744 | 29 | 25.7:1 | N/A |
Source: NCES Common Core of Data. Rows are the federal collections on file for Sparks Middle.
Since 2017-18: students up 35% (445 to 600); teachers up 28% (18.5 to 23.7).
About Sparks Middle
Sparks Middle is a middle-grades school in La Puente, California, according to federal school records. The latest federal count shows 600 students in grades 6 through 8.
Hacienda la Puente Unified is the local district for Sparks Middle. It runs 35 schools with 16,260 students.
Sparks Middle enrolls a student body that is 92% Hispanic. The rest of enrollment is 5% Asian. Census estimates put the Hispanic share of Los Angeles County's population at about 48%. Sparks Middle has a diversity index of 15%, compared with 70% for all US public school students.
The school reported 23.7 full-time-equivalent teachers in 2024-25 and a ratio of 25.4:1. For comparison, middle schools in California average 20.7:1. Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility is 78%. Among public schools in Los Angeles County, the average eligibility rate is 70%.
allk12 grades Sparks Middle a C. The grade compares the school only with California public middle schools, because each state gives its own test.
Compared with California schools that have similar shares of low-income students, Sparks Middle's results are 6.7 points below predicted: 27.2% against 33.8%.
Census Bureau estimates for Los Angeles County show that median household income is about $90,112, roughly 36% of adults have a four-year degree or more, and about 10% of residents live below the federal poverty line. Sparks Middle is one of 2,244 public schools in Los Angeles County, which together enroll about 1,265,907 students.
The school nearest to Sparks Middle is Sparks Elementary, at a distance of about 0.2 miles. Within five miles of Sparks Middle, there are at least 8 other public schools. On average proficiency, Sparks Middle is 6th of 8 nearby schools with test data.
Sparks Middle is in a suburban area outside a principal city, within an urbanized area with a population of 250,000 or more, a location NCES labels Suburb: Large.
In 2020-21 the school reported 414 students, and in 2024-25 it reported 600. Grade changes, mergers, or boundary shifts can explain gaps this large. The ratio was 24.4:1 in 2020-21 and 25.4:1 in 2024-25.
To ask about school safety, transportation, and start times, start a discussion on this page. 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 Hacienda la Puente Unified
- Los Altos HighHigh · 1,592 students
- Glen A. Wilson HighHigh · 1,456 students
- Mesa RoblesElementary · 1,246 students
- Cedarlane AcademyElementary · 878 students
- La Puente HighHigh · 813 students
- Fairgrove AcademyElementary · 749 students
Other schools in La Puente
- Nogales HighHigh · 1,535 students
- La Puente HighHigh · 813 students
- Fairgrove AcademyElementary · 749 students
- Bassett Senior HighHigh · 747 students
- Don Julian ElementaryElementary · 544 students
- Baldwin AcademyElementary · 519 students
Other Sparks Middle schools
One other US public school is named Sparks Middle. Sparks Middle is the 2nd largest of the 2.
- Sparks Middle SchoolSPARKS, NV · 622 students
Nearby schools
- Sparks Elementary0.2 mi · 361
- Nelson Elementary0.5 mi · 291
- California Elementary0.5 mi · 317
- Fairgrove Academy0.7 mi · 749
- Sierra Vista Middle0.7 mi · 270
- Sunset0.8 mi · 27
Frequently asked questions
About Sparks MiddleWhat is the total enrollment at Sparks Middle?
Sparks Middle enrolls approximately 600 students in grades 06-08.
Is Sparks Middle an elementary, middle, or high school?
Sparks Middle is a middle school covering grades 06-08.
How many students per teacher at Sparks Middle?
Approximately 25.4:1 students per teacher at Sparks Middle.
How diverse is Sparks Middle?
Sparks Middle reports a student body of 1% White, 92% Hispanic, 0% Black, 5% Asian, 2% Two or more.
What district is Sparks Middle in?
Sparks Middle is part of Hacienda la Puente Unified.
Data sourceSchool profile facts are sourced from the NCES. Community content is posted by allk12 members.