Westlake Middle, Oakland CA - Test Scores & Data

Original Research by School Decision on Westlake Middle

Westlake Middle serves grades six through eight in downtown Oakland, drawing a student body that is predominantly Black and Hispanic and facing steep academic headwinds. The school sits in a densely urban setting where much of daily life clusters around Lake Merritt and the downtown core, with BART and AC Transit providing transit access. It is a regular public school within Oakland Unified, not a charter or magnet.

The state proficiency data shows very low achievement across the board. In English language arts, proficiency ranges from about one in seven students in sixth grade to about one in five by eighth grade. Math proficiency is substantially lower, hovering around one in ten students across all three grades. Science proficiency in eighth grade sits at about one in eight. These are among the lowest results in Alameda County's school districts. A parent should understand that students here are working within an environment where the majority are not meeting grade-level standards in core subjects.

Enrollment is small for a middle school, with roughly three hundred students distributed fairly evenly across the three grades. A substantial majority qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The racial composition is predominantly Black students, with a sizable Hispanic population and small numbers of Asian, multiracial, and white students. Data on special education and English learner populations were not available.

Oakland itself is a patchwork of distinct neighborhoods, from a vertical downtown core centered on Lake Merritt to classic residential grids of Craftsman homes and 1920s bungalows to hillside areas. The city is very walkable in its core districts; downtown has high foot traffic and a mix of civic institutions, dining, and nightlife. Housing costs are above state median values and have declined modestly in recent months. The city's employment base centers on health care and government, though Kaiser Permanente has been shrinking its downtown office footprint.

Oakland Unified information about district-wide changes or priorities was not publicly available in the search, so we did not include it rather than speculate.

The school's small enrollment, central location, and intensely underresourced academic performance means it serves a population with substantial needs and limited headroom for improvement. It is not a school where students are tracking toward typical middle-school proficiency. A family considering this school should meet with administrators, ask about tutoring or intervention supports, and understand what specific academic pathways or enrichment the building offers beyond standard instruction. The locale itself has walkable amenities and strong transit, but the academic reality is one parents will want to examine closely.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 610%

School 10% · District 21% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 21 pts below state median · ▼ 22 pts below county median

Grade 78%

School 8% · District 25% · ▼ 17 pts below district

▼ 22 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

Grade 89%

School 9% · District 21% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▼ 19 pts below state median · ▼ 24 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 614%

School 14% · District 30% · ▼ 16 pts below district

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 31 pts below county median

Grade 715%

School 15% · District 35% · ▼ 20 pts below district

▼ 30 pts below state median · ▼ 35 pts below county median

Grade 821%

School 21% · District 34% · ▼ 13 pts below district

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

Science

Grade 812%

School 12% · District 21% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▼ 13 pts below state median · ▼ 18 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 821%

School 21% · District 30% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▼ 28 pts below state median · ▼ 29 pts below county median

This schoolOakland 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 8Lower-income17%Higher-income39%21 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 8Lower-income8%Higher-income14%6 pp gap