Bunche Middle, Compton CA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Bunche Middle

Bunche Middle is a public middle school serving grades 6 through 8 in Compton, enrolling a small population of students who are almost entirely from low-income households. About nine out of ten students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The student body is predominantly Hispanic, with a smaller share of Black students and very few students of other backgrounds. Specific counts on English learners and students with disabilities were not available.

The school's state test results show proficiency levels that fall well below typical for California middle schools. In English language arts, students show modest gains across grades, with sixth grade performing lowest and seventh grade slightly above that; by eighth grade proficiency sits at roughly the same level as seventh. Math proficiency is weaker. Sixth-grade math proficiency is quite low, seventh grade improves noticeably but remains under half, and eighth grade dips again. Science testing occurred only in eighth grade and showed very low proficiency. Only one snapshot of older social studies data is available, from over a decade ago. The school did not report prior-year data that would show whether these current results represent change.

What these numbers mean in practice: Bunche's overall proficiency index places it in the bottom quarter of middle schools across Los Angeles County. A parent considering this school should understand that the academic support profile appears to need strengthening. This does not mean the school cannot serve a child well, but it does signal that students are not reaching state proficiency at typical rates, and families may want to ask directly about tutoring, intervention structures, and which students get additional academic support and when.

Bunche sits in Compton, an urban city in the heart of the Los Angeles industrial corridor, anchored by manufacturing, logistics, and warehousing. The neighborhood around the school is part of a wider urban fabric with modest walkability outside the downtown core. Housing in the area is relatively affordable compared to the broader county, with families able to rent or purchase at lower cost than county medians, though recent development is pushing affordability further out. The district itself is in the midst of large facilities investment: voters recently approved a new bond to fund a new Dominguez High School, and the district has already opened a modernized Compton High School and a new career-pathway high school using the P-TECH model, where students can earn both a diploma and a tuition-free associate degree. These investments signal district-wide change, though they center on high school rather than middle grades.

The school has limited public program information available. Parents should reach out to the school directly to ask about core academic supports, elective offerings, sports, clubs, and the specific mix of students and teaching approaches that would shape a child's daily experience there.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 623%

School 23% · District 44% · ▼ 20 pts below district

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

Grade 739%

School 39% · District 43% · ▼ 4 pts below district

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

Grade 826%

School 26% · District 40% · ▼ 13 pts below district

▼ 2 pts below state median · ▼ 3 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 636%

School 36% · District 50% · ▼ 14 pts below district

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

Grade 747%

School 47% · District 57% · ▼ 11 pts below district

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

Grade 845%

School 45% · District 53% · ▼ 8 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 88%

School 8% · District 19% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median · ▼ 16 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 838%

School 38% · District 30% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▼ 11 pts below state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

This schoolCompton 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.