Camerado Springs Middle, Cameron Park CA

Original Research by School Decision on Camerado Springs Middle

Camerado Springs Middle sits in Cameron Park, an unincorporated suburban community in the Sierra Nevada foothills east of Sacramento that functions as a commuter town. The school serves about this area as a regular public middle school for grades six through eight within the Buckeye Union Elementary School District, which spans El Dorado Hills, Cameron Park, and Shingle Springs. The district has grown substantially beyond its neighborhood schools in recent years through the operation of several charter schools, most notably a large independent-study homeschool program that serves students across multiple counties.

The student body at Camerado Springs is predominantly white, with Hispanic students forming the next largest group and a smaller scatter of other backgrounds. About a quarter of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, suggesting the school draws from a community with mixed economic circumstances. Enrollment is relatively stable, with the sixth-grade class somewhat larger than the seventh and eighth grades.

On the most recent state testing, proficiency results show mixed performance across subjects and grade levels. In English language arts, the school performed strongest in seventh grade, with proficiency substantially above the mid-range. Sixth and eighth grade ELA proficiency fell to about the midpoint or below. Mathematics proficiency was lower across all three grades, ranging from the low-to-mid fifties to the low sixties in seventh grade. Science testing, available only for eighth grade, showed proficiency near the low sixties. The school's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile among the districts in El Dorado County, reflecting reasonably solid results, though the variation by grade and subject suggests different pockets of strength and areas where more students struggle with grade-level material.

The housing market in Cameron Park consists primarily of owner-occupied single-family homes, much of it built in the 1970s through 2000s, giving neighborhoods a consistent, established character. Home values are modest relative to much of California but have declined slightly in recent years, while rents have increased modestly. The area functions as a car-dependent suburb where daily errands and employment are spread out, though the community does maintain a focal point around Cameron Park Lake with trails, recreation, and a recognizable retail cluster called the Town Center. Public transit connects residents to Sacramento and regional destinations via El Dorado Transit.

The community itself is experiencing roughly flat population after decades of rapid growth as a Sacramento commuter destination. Recent housing development includes a small new wildfire-hardened neighborhood that opened in 2025. Much larger proposed growth to the southwest could eventually bring hundreds of new homes and two new schools to the area, though these projects have been in planning for over a decade and remain in environmental review. This context matters for families considering the school: the community and the school are neither rapidly expanding nor declining, but settling into a mature suburban steady state.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 654%

School 54% · District 68% · ▼ 14 pts below district

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

Grade 764%

School 64% · District 68% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▲ 34 pts above state median · ▲ 25 pts above county median

Grade 857%

School 57% · District 66% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 657%

School 57% · District 71% · ▼ 14 pts below district

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

Grade 778%

School 78% · District 78% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 32 pts above state median · ▲ 23 pts above county median

Grade 862%

School 62% · District 73% · ▼ 12 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 859%

School 59% · District 65% · ▼ 5 pts below district

▲ 34 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 876%

School 76% · District 79% · ▼ 3 pts below district

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 19 pts above county median

This schoolBuckeye 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-income41%Higher-income62%21 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income57%Higher-income83%26 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income41%Higher-income67%26 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income36%Higher-income59%22 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income43%Higher-income69%26 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income43%Higher-income60%17 pp gap