Bill E. Young Jr. Middle, Calipatria CA

Original Research by School Decision on Bill E. Young Jr. Middle

Bill E. Young Jr. Middle is a small middle school in Calipatria, a rural agricultural town in Imperial County in the heart of the Imperial Valley. The school serves grades five through eight in a community where the majority of residents work in farming, at the nearby state prison, or in emerging geothermal and energy sectors.

The student body is overwhelmingly Hispanic, and a large share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting the economic profile of the broader area. The school's enrollment is modest for this grade span.

On state assessments in reading and language arts, the school shows uneven performance across grades. Fifth and sixth graders demonstrate proficiency rates around the middle of the scale, while performance drops notably by eighth grade. Math proficiency is weak across all grades and drops sharply as students advance, falling to quite low levels by eighth grade. Science proficiency is similarly low, with eighth-grade performance particularly concerning. Reading scores hold up better than math or science, suggesting that English language arts instruction may be a relative strength, though overall performance remains below what would typically be considered grade-level proficiency for most grades.

Relative to other districts in Imperial County, this school's overall proficiency index sits above the midpoint, meaning it ranks in the upper half of county schools on combined proficiency measures. That positioning reflects the regional context: Imperial County faces significant economic challenges, and Calipatria itself has experienced population decline over recent decades as young people have left. The area's economy has historically relied on agriculture and the state prison, though emerging geothermal and lithium recovery ventures near the nearby Salton Sea represent potential new employment, their long-term job impact still uncertain.

The school operates within Calipatria Unified, which serves the town and surrounding area. No recent major district initiatives or facility projects were found in available sources. Housing in the zip code is modest in value, and home ownership is common, though the area struggles with poverty and high unemployment characteristic of the region.

A parent considering this school should recognize it as a neighborhood middle school in a small, close-knit rural community where many families have deep roots. The academic data, while positioned above other county schools, still shows that most students are not reaching grade-level proficiency, particularly in math and science. The gap is widest in upper grades, suggesting students may enter high school with gaps in foundational skills. A parent may want to discuss with the school what supports exist for students struggling in math and how the school addresses the performance decline from fifth to eighth grade.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 529%

School 29% · District 29%

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▲ 9 pts above county median

Grade 631%

School 31% · District 31%

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

Grade 721%

School 21% · District 21%

▼ 9 pts below state median · ▼ 4 pts below county median

Grade 813%

School 13% · District 13%

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

English language arts

Grade 545%

School 45% · District 45%

even with state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 647%

School 47% · District 47%

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

Grade 744%

School 44% · District 44%

▼ 2 pts below state median · even with county median

Grade 833%

School 33% · District 33%

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

Science

Grade 527%

School 27% · District 27%

▼ 1 pts below state median · ▲ 7 pts above county median

Grade 88%

School 8% · District 8%

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

Social studies

Grade 844%

School 44% · District 44%

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

This schoolCalipatria Unified, 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.