El Portal Middle, Escalon CA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on El Portal Middle

El Portal Middle School serves grades six through eight in Escalon, a small Central Valley city surrounded by agricultural land, with a compact downtown and residential neighborhoods spreading outward. The school draws students from across the district, which includes four elementary schools, a high school, a continuation high school, and a charter academy.

The school has an enrollment of roughly six hundred students, fairly evenly distributed across the three grades. A majority of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, reflecting economic circumstances in the area. The student body is predominantly Hispanic and white, with smaller Asian, Black, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and American Indian or Alaska Native populations, plus students identifying as two or more races.

Academic performance on California state assessments shows proficiency rates that run below the midpoint for districts in San Joaquin County. In English language arts across all grades, around a third of students meet proficiency standards, with performance notably stronger in seventh grade than in sixth or eighth. Mathematics proficiency is lower, at around one quarter of students overall, with a clear progression upward: sixth grade shows the lowest proficiency, seventh grade edges higher, and eighth grade reaches its highest point, though still well below half. Science proficiency in eighth grade, the only grade tested, sits at around one fifth. The school has only one year of state test data available, so trends cannot be tracked. A prior assessment from 2013 showed about half of eighth graders proficient in social studies.

These achievement levels place El Portal below the midpoint among the county's middle and high schools on an overall proficiency index. A parent may want to look into further detail with the school about what academic supports, intervention structures, and instructional approaches are in place to help students progress.

The city and district context matters for understanding the school's role. Escalon is managing steady growth within an urban boundary, with new residential development active and a downtown revitalization effort underway. Housing values in the area are moderate relative to much of California but above the national median. The local economy is anchored by nut processing, particularly walnut facilities, alongside retail trade and manufacturing; the broader county is built on transportation and logistics. Civic life centers on a small downtown with library, parks, and local commercial spaces within walking distance. Schools sit integrated into neighborhoods rather than isolated on separate campuses.

At the district level, voters rejected a school facilities bond in November 2024, meaning planned facility upgrades remain unfunded; the district may bring another bond to the ballot in 2026. The district has also launched a Spanish-English dual-language immersion program at Collegeville Elementary, creating a bilingual pathway option and an alternative school trajectory for families who choose it. El Portal receives students from the traditional elementary schools and serves as the standard middle school for the district.

The school is a regular public middle school with no specialized magnet or charter status. It is located at First Street in downtown Escalon, accessible to families by car, foot, or district transportation. The housing stock around the school mixes early twentieth-century homes with ranch-style, contemporary, and newer development, supporting a suburban residential character typical of small Central Valley cities.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 617%

School 17% · District 17%

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

Grade 726%

School 26% · District 26%

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 836%

School 36% · District 36%

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▲ 14 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 625%

School 25% · District 25%

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

Grade 743%

School 43% · District 43%

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

Grade 831%

School 31% · District 31%

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

Science

Grade 821%

School 21% · District 21%

▼ 4 pts below state median · ▲ 2 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 849%

School 49% · District 48% · ▲ 1 pts above district

even with state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

This schoolEscalon 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-income17%Higher-income36%20 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income38%Higher-income49%11 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income26%Higher-income38%12 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income6%Higher-income30%24 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income21%Higher-income32%10 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income26%Higher-income51%25 pp gap