Sierra Madre Middle, Sierra Madre CA

Original Research by School Decision on Sierra Madre Middle

Sierra Madre Middle serves grades six through eight in Sierra Madre, a small residential community at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains. The school is part of Pasadena Unified School District, which means the larger strategic and resource context around it reaches beyond the village itself.

The student body reflects a mix of backgrounds. About half the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating a range of family incomes. The enrollment breaks roughly into thirds across Hispanic, white, and Asian students, with smaller numbers of Black and multiracial students. The school sits at roughly six hundred students across its three grades, a modest size for a middle school.

On state assessments, proficiency patterns show strength in English language arts and relative softness in mathematics and science. In English language arts across all grades, about two-thirds of students tested at proficient or advanced levels, with seventh grade performing above the school average. In mathematics, proficiency hovers closer to three-fifths across grades six, seven, and eight, with an uptick in eighth grade. Science proficiency in eighth grade sits below both subjects, at just over half. Against other schools in Los Angeles County, the overall proficiency index places Sierra Madre in the top quartile of schools, a solid comparative standing.

The school lacks data on the share of students receiving special education services or identified as English learners, so the scope of those support populations is not visible from available records. The school also does not report chronic absenteeism or graduation rates, the latter because it serves only middle grades, the former because the data was not provided.

Sierra Madre sits in a historic, highly walkable village with a concentrated downtown core and mature neighborhoods that blend Craftsman and Spanish-style homes. The area is largely built out, with growth focused on infill rather than large new development. Housing values in the zip code are high, and rental costs as a share of income are substantial, positioning the community at the upper end of the county market. Most families in the area commute to jobs elsewhere in the Los Angeles region, and the local economy runs on small retail, professional services, and tourism tied to community events.

The broader district faces headwinds that affect what schools like Sierra Madre Middle can offer. The January 2025 Eaton Fire destroyed or severely damaged five district campuses, displacing thousands of students and triggering years of rebuilding work. Separately, declining enrollment and budget pressures have led the district to approve major cuts for the 2026-27 school year affecting librarians, teachers, arts, science, and athletics programs. A consolidation and closure process that began in 2025-26 was halted in June 2026 when the board's advisory committee declined to recommend any closures and the board moved to end the consultant contract, but the district's long history of school closures means that risk remains a consideration for families.

The school sits outside the village center; secondary students in Sierra Madre attend schools in Pasadena itself rather than in their home community. For a family considering Sierra Madre Middle, the picture is one of solid academic performance in a small, cohesive school serving a prosperous but constrained town, nested within a district managing major facility losses and budget constraints that will shape program depth in the years ahead.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 660%

School 60% · District 34% · ▲ 26 pts above district

▲ 29 pts above state median · ▲ 29 pts above county median

Grade 757%

School 57% · District 34% · ▲ 24 pts above district

▲ 27 pts above state median · ▲ 27 pts above county median

Grade 861%

School 61% · District 30% · ▲ 32 pts above district

▲ 34 pts above state median · ▲ 32 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 667%

School 67% · District 46% · ▲ 21 pts above district

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 22 pts above county median

Grade 771%

School 71% · District 47% · ▲ 24 pts above district

▲ 26 pts above state median · ▲ 26 pts above county median

Grade 867%

School 67% · District 41% · ▲ 26 pts above district

▲ 22 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

Science

Grade 855%

School 55% · District 29% · ▲ 26 pts above district

▲ 30 pts above state median · ▲ 31 pts above county median

This schoolPasadena 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-income54%Higher-income77%23 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income60%Higher-income80%20 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income48%Higher-income78%30 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income44%Higher-income71%27 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income43%Higher-income67%24 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income40%Higher-income74%34 pp gap