The top reported proficiency rate is 65% in Social studies. The lowest is 23% in Science.
Original Research by School Decision on Andrew Carnegie Middle
Andrew Carnegie Middle sits on Illinois Avenue in Orangevale, a residential, unincorporated community roughly a half-hour's drive northeast of Sacramento. The neighborhood is car-dependent and semi-rural in feel, with rolling hills, mature oaks, and large single-family lots, some still zoned for horses and small orchards. There is no traditional downtown; commercial life runs along Greenback Lane in strips of retail, restaurants, and small services. Families getting around without a car find the area genuinely difficult to navigate, and residents publicly report traveling to Sacramento or Roseville for nightlife and a broader dining scene. Orangevale is a largely built-out community, with new housing coming mostly through small infill projects on former orchard land rather than large planned developments.
Carnegie is a sixth through eighth grade public middle school within San Juan Unified. It is not a charter and is not listed as a magnet. Enrollment is moderate for a middle school serving three grades, with a large concentration of students in the upper two grades. A substantial minority of the student body qualifies for free or reduced-price meals. The racial composition is predominantly white, with Hispanic students making up the next largest group, followed by students identifying as two or more races. Data on English learner enrollment and students with IEPs was not available in what was provided.
On the 2024-25 California state assessments, Carnegie's academic picture is mixed but positions the school well above the median relative to districts in Sacramento County. In English language arts, sixth graders test at a solid majority proficient, seventh graders land just above half, and eighth graders fall noticeably below half. Math follows a steeper decline across the grades: sixth graders score near half proficient, seventh graders drop several points below that, and eighth graders drop further still, with fewer than a third reaching proficiency. The state science assessment for eighth graders shows roughly a quarter proficient. Social studies data in the payload dates back more than a decade and is not current, so it offers no useful read on where students stand today.
Taking all tested subjects and grades together, Carnegie's overall proficiency index lands in the top quartile among the districts compared in Sacramento County. That is a meaningful position, though parents who want to understand exactly what is driving the eighth-grade declines in both math and ELA would do well to ask the school directly about how it structures the transition and what acceleration or support options exist for those years.
Multi-year trend data was not available. Only the most recent year is reported, so there is no way from this data to judge whether scores are climbing, stable, or declining.
On the district side, several things are worth tracking. San Juan Unified voters passed a major facilities bond in November 2024, a general obligation measure funded by a property tax levy that will run for decades and direct substantial resources toward modernizing aging classrooms, removing hazardous materials, and repairing infrastructure. Families considering a home purchase in the district boundary should account for the additional tax levy. On the instructional side, the district adopted a new strategic plan in 2024 focused specifically on early literacy and grades 3-8 math, which maps directly onto Carnegie's grade range. The district is also in the middle of a TK-8 math curriculum adoption, with new materials moving toward implementation in the 2026-27 school year. For a school where eighth-grade math proficiency is a softer spot, the combination of a new curriculum and a district-level priority on math improvement is worth watching closely.
Graduation rate data does not apply here because Carnegie serves only middle grades. Chronic absenteeism data was not available.
Orangevale's housing market sits well above the national median but meaningfully below the California statewide median, and values have been roughly flat to slightly softer year over year. Rents have edged up modestly. For families entering the market now, the price-to-income ratio places the area in a fairly stretched range nationally, something to weigh alongside the new tax levy from Measure P.
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