Oak Creek Intermediate, Oakhurst CA

Original Research by School Decision on Oak Creek Intermediate

Oak Creek Intermediate is a middle school serving grades six through eight in Oakhurst, a small Sierra Nevada foothill community that functions as a gateway to Yosemite National Park. The school sits on a rural campus on Indian Springs Road, away from the commercial Highway 41/49 corridor that anchors the town.

The student body is small, with enrollment just under two hundred. A substantial majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, and the population is predominantly white, with meaningful representation of Hispanic and American Indian students. The school's special populations data, including English learner and IEP counts, was not available.

State test results from the most recent year show proficiency that lags state averages across subjects. In English language arts, proficiency across all three grades sits in the low-to-mid range, with seventh and eighth grade roughly double the rate of sixth grade. Mathematics proficiency is notably lower, with all grades showing weak performance. Eighth-grade science proficiency, the only science grade tested, is similarly low. The school's overall proficiency index positions it above the midpoint among districts in Madera County, though this reflects a low county baseline rather than strength in absolute terms. Only one prior year of data appears in the record, and it comes from 2012-13, so trend information is not available.

Oakhurst itself is a mixed economy: the town relies on visitor services and seasonal tourism, with substantial employment in food service, hospitality, and health care. Many jobs are lower-wage, while housing costs run relatively high for the region and area incomes. Homeownership is common, and the population skews older, with a strong reported sense of community identity alongside feelings of isolation. The town is car-oriented and spread out; pedestrian infrastructure and walkability are identified as planning goals rather than existing conditions. Schools are sited on rural campuses rather than in a compact town center.

Housing values in the area have declined modestly year-over-year. The cost of housing relative to median household income is elevated compared to the nation. The local economy is steady but not growing rapidly, and residents describe a tension between high cost of living and prevalence of lower-income work.

No data was available on the school's discipline practices, staffing, attendance, course access, or special program offerings beyond the standard middle school curriculum. District-level changes or new initiatives that would shape the school environment were not found in available public sources.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 617%

School 17% · District 18% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 14 pts below state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 724%

School 24% · District 30% · ▼ 6 pts below district

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

Grade 823%

School 23% · District 25% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median · even with county median

English language arts

Grade 631%

School 31% · District 32% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

Grade 744%

School 44% · District 41% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 844%

School 44% · District 42% · ▲ 2 pts above district

even with state median · ▲ 5 pts above county median

Science

Grade 829%

School 29% · District 28% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Social studies

Grade 851%

School 51% · District 52% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

This schoolBass Lake Joint Union 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-income30%Higher-income33%3 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income42%Higher-income55%13 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income39%Higher-income55%17 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income17%Higher-income17%0 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income21%Higher-income36%16 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income18%Higher-income35%18 pp gap