Rivera Middle, Pico Rivera CA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Rivera Middle

Rivera Middle is a regular public middle school serving grades six through eight in Pico Rivera, a working-and-middle-income city about thirteen miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. The school enrolls a small-to-moderate number of students, most of them Hispanic/Latino, and serves a high-poverty student body. Most families qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. Data on special populations such as students with disabilities and English learners was not available.

State testing results show proficiency well below the midpoint for Los Angeles County districts. In English language arts, proficiency across the grade band sits in the low range, with the seventh-grade cohort performing slightly better than sixth and eighth grades. Mathematics proficiency is lower still, improving modestly from sixth to eighth grade but remaining consistently weak. Science proficiency, measured only at eighth grade, is particularly low. These results place Rivera Middle in the bottom quartile of the county's middle schools on overall proficiency. A parent may want to look into the school directly about instructional supports, intervention programs, or specific strategies the school is using to address foundational skill gaps in math and science.

One older data point from social studies, collected more than a decade ago under a prior state assessment, showed majority proficiency; that metric is no longer current and should not be relied on to characterize present performance.

The school is located in Pico Rivera, a predominantly Hispanic/Latino, postwar residential-and-industrial city that has blended single-family homes with commercial strips and manufacturing facilities since the 1950s. The area sits between two river corridors and hosts major retailers and employers alongside smaller manufacturers. The city is currently pursuing transit-oriented development and has an active parks and library system. Housing values in the area are above the state median, and rental costs reflect the broader Los Angeles region. The city is working on pedestrian and cycling infrastructure, though it remains car-oriented overall.

Rivera Middle feeds into El Rancho Unified, the district that serves this city. The district has recently expanded career-connected learning pathways at the high school level through biomedical science and engineering coursework, and it has established a guaranteed-admission partnership with the University of La Verne for El Rancho High School graduates who meet criteria, a lasting college access benefit. The district did close Ellen Ochoa Prep Academy, a college-preparatory magnet high school, in 2022, removing a specialized school option that had offered advanced coursework and small classes.

For a family considering Rivera Middle, the key reality is that proficiency in core subjects is significantly below county norms, and the student body is nearly all low-income. The school's academic trajectory and support systems for addressing these gaps would be essential conversations to have directly with school leadership before enrolling.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 619%

School 19% · District 23% · ▼ 5 pts below district

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

Grade 723%

School 23% · District 25% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 828%

School 28% · District 27% · ▲ 2 pts above district

even with state median · ▼ 1 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 630%

School 30% · District 33% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Grade 731%

School 31% · District 39% · ▼ 7 pts below district

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

Grade 829%

School 29% · District 32% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 818%

School 18% · District 20% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▼ 8 pts below state median · ▼ 6 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 857%

School 57% · District 53% · ▲ 4 pts above district

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

This schoolEl Rancho 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.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 6Lower-income26%Higher-income58%33 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income31%Higher-income39%8 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income26%Higher-income48%21 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income15%Higher-income42%27 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income21%Higher-income39%18 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income26%Higher-income48%22 pp gap