Mills Middle, Rancho Cordova CA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Mills Middle

Mills Middle is a regular public school serving grades six through eight in Rancho Cordova, a rapidly growing suburban employment and residential center in eastern Sacramento County. The school's enrollment sits at a typical size for its grade band, with a student body that is majority Hispanic, followed by substantial white, Asian, and Black populations, and a high share of students qualifying for free or reduced-price meals, reflecting the economic composition of the area.

The school's academic performance on state assessments shows substantial room for growth. In English language arts, proficiency ranges from about fifteen percent in sixth grade to just under thirty percent in eighth grade, with an overall average across grades around twenty-four percent. Math proficiency is lower, with sixth graders at about five percent, rising to sixteen percent in seventh grade and thirteen percent in eighth, for an overall average around twelve percent. Science proficiency in eighth grade sits around fifteen percent. These numbers place Mills Middle in the bottom quartile when compared with other middle schools in Sacramento County, and a parent evaluating this school should understand that these are measures of students meeting California's achievement standards, not broader indicators of school engagement or effort. The data available covers only this most recent school year, so trend information is not present to show whether performance is moving in any direction.

Rancho Cordova itself is one of the state's fastest-growing cities, a mixed suburban and employment hub where light-rail transit, business parks, and residential neighborhoods coexist. Major employers in tech, healthcare, and finance have drawn families and professionals to the area, and new development is underway across multiple large projects. Housing costs in the zip code are moderate relative to the state and national benchmarks, and the area has bike lanes and sidewalks in residential sections, though some of the older commercial corridors remain auto-oriented. The Folsom Boulevard corridor is being redeveloped around light-rail stations to create more walkable spaces.

The broader Folsom-Cordova Unified School District, Mills Middle's parent district, approved two major facility bonds in November 2024 targeting renovation and modernization of secondary school facilities, a multi-year investment that will affect properties in the Rancho Cordova portion of the district through additional property taxes. The district is also planning four new schools to serve expanding residential areas, including a specialized high school coming to Rancho Cordova. Mills Middle itself would benefit from these facility improvements as they roll out.

Mills Middle is a standard neighborhood school without specialized programs, magnet status, or charter governance. Data on special education identification rates and English learner enrollment were not available. A parent considering this school should gather information directly from the school about curriculum approach, class sizes, support for struggling learners, and any specific strengths the staff identifies, since the available data does not show those details. The academic performance numbers suggest many students are not yet meeting state standards, so understanding what instructional supports exist and how the school works with families on academic progress would be essential for any family making a placement decision here.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 66%

School 6% · District 45% · ▼ 39 pts below district

▼ 25 pts below state median · ▼ 25 pts below county median

Grade 716%

School 16% · District 47% · ▼ 31 pts below district

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

Grade 813%

School 13% · District 45% · ▼ 31 pts below district

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

English language arts

Grade 615%

School 15% · District 55% · ▼ 40 pts below district

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 27 pts below county median

Grade 725%

School 25% · District 59% · ▼ 34 pts below district

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

Grade 831%

School 31% · District 61% · ▼ 30 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 815%

School 15% · District 45% · ▼ 30 pts below district

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

Social studies

Grade 848%

School 48% · District 65% · ▼ 17 pts below district

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

This schoolFolsom-Cordova 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-income14%Higher-income28%15 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income23%Higher-income33%10 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income27%Higher-income48%21 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income6%Higher-income3%3 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income15%Higher-income20%5 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income10%Higher-income29%19 pp gap