Sunny Brae Middle, Arcata CA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Sunny Brae Middle

Sunny Brae Middle serves students in grades six through eight in Arcata, a small college town on California's North Coast. The school sits within the Arcata Elementary School District, which operates across a handful of sites and has been navigating recent fiscal pressures and infrastructure investments that matter to families considering the area.

The school's academic profile shows uneven performance across subjects. In English language arts, students performed notably better in seventh grade, where proficiency ran substantially higher than in sixth or eighth grade. Math proficiency was lower across all three grades, with eighth graders posting the weakest results. Eighth-grade science proficiency also sat below half. When these results are averaged together, the school's overall proficiency index sits above the midpoint among the districts in Humboldt County, a modest but real positioning that reflects middling rather than strong performance. A parent may want to look into how the school explains the gap between ELA results in seventh grade and performance in other grades and subjects, and what supports exist for students struggling in math.

The student body is about two-thirds the size typical for a middle school. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating meaningful economic hardship in the enrollment. The racial composition is predominantly white, with Hispanic students making up roughly a quarter of the enrollment, and smaller numbers of students from other backgrounds. Data on English learners and students receiving special education services were not available, so a parent interested in those populations would want to ask the school directly.

Arcata itself is shaped by Cal Poly Humboldt, which dominates the local employment landscape and gives the town a college-oriented, environmentally conscious character. The town is described as walkable and bike-friendly. Housing values in the area have declined modestly over the past year, and median rent sits below the estimated monthly mortgage payment, suggesting renting is more affordable than buying for many families. These economic dynamics matter alongside the school district's recent decisions: in March 2024 voters approved a bond measure to modernize school facilities, and in November 2024 they extended a parcel tax to fund arts, music, smaller classes, and social-emotional supports. However, in March 2025 the district announced staffing cuts to address a budget shortfall driven by enrollment below historical levels, lapsed COVID-era funding, and rising special-education costs. The reductions included full-time and part-time teaching positions and student support roles, changes that could affect class sizes and available services.

Sunny Brae is a regular public school with no specialized magnet or charter designation. It draws from the local attendance area and offers the standard middle school curriculum. For families in Arcata looking at traditional middle school options with accessible community character but modest academic performance and staff reductions on the horizon, this is the available neighborhood choice.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 633%

School 33% · District 33%

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▲ 10 pts above county median

Grade 736%

School 36% · District 36%

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Grade 828%

School 28% · District 28%

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 633%

School 33% · District 33%

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Grade 762%

School 62% · District 62%

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 845%

School 45% · District 45%

even with state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

Science

Grade 832%

School 32% · District 32%

▲ 6 pts above state median · even with county median

Social studies

Grade 873%

School 73% · District 72% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 29 pts above county median

This schoolArcata Elementary, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 6Lower-income23%Higher-income45%22 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income47%Higher-income80%33 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income33%Higher-income59%26 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income26%Higher-income41%14 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income21%Higher-income57%36 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income24%Higher-income34%11 pp gap