South Pasadena Middle, South Pasadena CA

Original Research by School Decision on South Pasadena Middle

South Pasadena Middle serves a school community of about that size for middle grades across a compact residential city on the west side of the San Gabriel Valley. The school sits on Fair Oaks Avenue, one of the city's main thoroughfares, within a district known for strong academic outcomes and a small-town character.

The school's academic profile shows solid and consistent performance across tested subjects. In English language arts, students across all three grades demonstrate proficiency rates in the low-to-mid eighties, with eighth grade slightly higher than sixth. Math proficiency sits in the upper seventies to low eighties, tracking upward from sixth to eighth grade. Science proficiency in eighth grade lands somewhat lower, in the low seventies. Across all tested subjects and grades, the school's overall proficiency index places it in the top quartile among districts in Los Angeles County, a meaningful marker in a large and diverse county system.

The student body reflects South Pasadena's demographic character. A plurality of students are Asian, with substantial populations identifying as white or Hispanic, and smaller numbers identifying as multiracial or Black. About one in five students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a share well below the county median. No data on English learner or special education enrollment rates appear in the available records. The enrollment is stable and fairly even across the three grades.

South Pasadena itself is a small, tree-lined residential city with a walkable downtown core centered on Mission Street and anchored by the Metro A Line transit station. Schools occupy neighborhood campuses separate from that commercial core; the middle school is alongside residential blocks and businesses on Fair Oaks. Most homes are historic Craftsman and Spanish-revival style, split between single-family and multi-family units, with rents reflecting a strong and appreciating housing market. Renters outnumber owners. The city's major institutional employers are the school district and city government; many residents commute to job centers in Pasadena and Los Angeles. Parks, trails through the Arroyo Seco, and the cultural institutions along Mission Street shape community life.

The district's strategic priorities and recent changes were not available from public sources, so readers interested in the school's direction may want to look into the district's current initiatives directly with the school or the district office. No trend data spanning multiple years appears in the testing records, so the school's trajectory over time cannot be assessed from this data alone.

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Academic performance

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

Math

Grade 678%

School 78% · District 78%

▲ 48 pts above state median · ▲ 47 pts above county median

Grade 779%

School 79% · District 78%

▲ 49 pts above state median · ▲ 48 pts above county median

Grade 881%

School 81% · District 81%

▲ 53 pts above state median · ▲ 52 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 684%

School 84% · District 84%

▲ 40 pts above state median · ▲ 39 pts above county median

Grade 782%

School 82% · District 82%

▲ 36 pts above state median · ▲ 36 pts above county median

Grade 884%

School 84% · District 84%

▲ 40 pts above state median · ▲ 38 pts above county median

Science

Grade 873%

School 73% · District 73%

▲ 47 pts above state median · ▲ 49 pts above county median

Social studies

Grade 879%

School 79% · District 79%

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

This schoolSouth Pasadena 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-income89%41 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income68%Higher-income85%17 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income72%Higher-income87%15 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income55%Higher-income82%27 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income54%Higher-income84%30 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income71%Higher-income84%13 pp gap