Douglas Macarthur Fundamental Intermediate, Santa Ana CA

Original Research by School Decision on Douglas Macarthur Fundamental Intermediate

Douglas MacArthur Fundamental Intermediate sits in Santa Ana, an urban county seat with dense industrial zones, a working downtown, and deep roots in Mexican-American and Vietnamese communities. The school serves grades six through eight as a regular public school within Santa Ana Unified, which in late 2024 secured voter approval for a major bond to repair and modernize aging facilities across the district.

MacArthur enrolls a student body that is predominantly Hispanic, with a substantial share qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch. The school is fully suburban-urban in setting, sitting at West Alton Avenue in a city where most households will rely on cars, though downtown Santa Ana a few miles away has walkable street life and civic anchors like the public library and regional transit center.

On state testing, MacArthur's results reflect considerable challenge across the board. In English language arts, overall proficiency hovers just above half across the three grade levels served, with performance flatter in math, hovering in the low-to-mid range for sixth and eighth grades and falling to the low thirties for seventh grade. Science proficiency at eighth grade sits substantially lower. State testing data was not available for social studies at the current assessment cycle; the most recent available result, from an earlier state test administered over a decade ago, showed stronger performance at that time. The school's proficiency index places it in the bottom quartile relative to districts in Orange County, suggesting that students here are working with less demonstrated proficiency in tested academics than students at most other middle schools in the county.

A parent or resident may want to look into further with the school what academic supports are in place for students working below grade level in math, and what the school's approach is to closing the gap in science. The school's designation as "fundamental" typically indicates an emphasis on traditional structure and core academics, though specifics about program design, classroom approach, or extracurricular offerings were not available from the data provided.

Santa Ana as a place is in an active redevelopment cycle, with significant new housing and mixed-use projects underway or approved. Housing values in the zip code are above the state median and have risen modestly year over year. The community is anchored by parks, libraries, and the Regional Transportation Center downtown, and the city is home to major employers in government, healthcare, and education. Families choosing this area are living in a culturally rich, working-class urban environment that is growing and changing rapidly.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 635%

School 35% · District 20% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▼ 11 pts below county median

Grade 731%

School 31% · District 20% · ▲ 11 pts above district

even with state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Grade 836%

School 36% · District 21% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median · ▼ 12 pts below county median

English language arts

Grade 650%

School 50% · District 30% · ▲ 20 pts above district

▲ 6 pts above state median · ▼ 10 pts below county median

Grade 748%

School 48% · District 33% · ▲ 15 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Grade 852%

School 52% · District 31% · ▲ 22 pts above district

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

Science

Grade 828%

School 28% · District 15% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 2 pts above state median · ▼ 17 pts below county median

Social studies

Grade 862%

School 62% · District 38% · ▲ 24 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▼ 5 pts below county median

This schoolSanta Ana 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-income48%Higher-income59%11 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income45%Higher-income63%18 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income52%Higher-income53%1 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income31%Higher-income49%17 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income26%Higher-income52%26 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income35%Higher-income42%7 pp gap