Mesa Verde Middle, Moorpark CA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Mesa Verde Middle

Mesa Verde Middle serves grades six through eight in Moorpark, a residential Ventura County suburb with a historic downtown and an active parks system. The school draws families from a mixed-income community where housing values reflect broader regional market conditions and a population that continues to shift demographically.

On state testing, Mesa Verde's profile shows strength in English language arts and particular challenge in mathematics and science. Across all grades, students in ELA hover near or slightly above a majority reaching proficiency, with the highest performance in sixth grade. Mathematics proficiency is considerably lower, declining as students progress through the middle grades, reaching its lowest point in eighth grade. Science, measured only at the eighth-grade level, shows the weakest results across the school's tested subjects. These patterns are consistent with broader trends in middle school mathematics instruction and suggest the school may want to examine its approach in these areas; a parent may want to look into this further with the school. When measured against other districts in Ventura County, Mesa Verde's overall proficiency index places it above the median, a positive positioning that reflects the relative strength of its ELA results offsetting weaker performance in math and science.

The student body is economically and ethnically diverse. About a third of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The enrollment is roughly evenly split between Hispanic and white students, with smaller numbers of Asian students and other groups represented. The school has no available data on English learner or special education populations, a gap that parents seeking that information should ask the school about directly.

Moorpark Unified, the district that operates Mesa Verde, faces structural budget pressure from declining enrollment and lower attendance rates. For the current year the district approved a budget against higher projected expenditures, drawing down reserves to cover a deficit. This fiscal reality constrains the district's ability to expand programs or staffing and is a permanent feature of the landscape for families considering the school. Within that constraint, the district does offer distinctive structure at the elementary level through a Schools of Choice model in which students can apply to attend elementary schools with particular curricular emphases; that flexibility does not extend to middle school, where students attend their assigned campus.

The town itself is growing steadily but modestly after a period of rapid development, with multiple large residential projects in planning or early construction. High Street, the historic downtown core, is undergoing renewed investment in walkability and streetscape, and the Metrolink station provides regional commuter rail access. Day-to-day life centers on an extensive park system, the public library, and local transit, though Moorpark remains primarily car-oriented beyond the downtown corridor.

See more original research from School Decision →

Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 644%

School 44% · District 42% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 14 pts above state median · ▲ 11 pts above county median

Grade 740%

School 40% · District 39% · ▲ 1 pts above district

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

Grade 833%

School 33% · District 33%

▲ 5 pts above state median · even with county median

English language arts

Grade 657%

School 57% · District 58% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Grade 754%

School 54% · District 53% · ▲ 2 pts above district

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

Grade 850%

School 50% · District 50%

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

Science

Grade 830%

School 30% · District 32% · ▼ 3 pts below district

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

Social studies

Grade 872%

School 72% · District 69% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 15 pts above county median

This schoolMoorpark 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-income42%Higher-income64%22 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income23%Higher-income70%46 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income23%Higher-income64%41 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income27%Higher-income52%25 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income14%Higher-income53%39 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income14%Higher-income43%29 pp gap