The top reported proficiency rate is 49% in Science. The lowest is 40% in English language arts.
Original Research by School Decision on Clarke N. Johnsen Jr High
Clarke N. Johnsen Jr High serves seventh and eighth graders in Tooele, a city about a half-hour southwest of Salt Lake City that mixes residential life with a heavy industrial and military employer base. The school is one of several junior highs in the Tooele District, and its enrollment of roughly that size for a two-grade building makes it a fairly substantial middle school.
The student body is predominantly white, with a Hispanic population that is the next-largest group. A modest share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch. The school sits in a community where housing costs are near the national median. Tooele itself has seen steady growth over the last couple of decades, in part because former U.S. Army Depot land was annexed into the city and redeveloped as an industrial complex. Development is constrained by tight water rights, which slows unchecked sprawl. The town retains a small downtown with a library and a handful of parks and museums, though the overall built environment is suburban and auto-oriented.
On state assessments, Johnsen’s results sit in a mixed position. The overall proficiency index across tested subjects places the school near the top among districts in Tooele County. In math, the share of students scoring proficient or above was below half. In English language arts, the proficiency rate was a bit lower than that, also below half. Science proficiency was just under half. These are middle-of-the-road figures that families exploring the school should take at face value: the school is not a high outlier in academic achievement, nor is it at the bottom of the county’s range. Parents looking for a school with strong test scores may want to speak directly with the school about what supports are in place for students who are not yet meeting the proficiency benchmark.
Because Johnsen serves only seventh and eighth grades, there is no graduation rate to report. That is a function of the grade band, not an indicator of the school’s performance. The school’s district, Tooele District, has not made any major public-facing changes in recent years that were documented in news or board materials; the district appears to be in a relatively stable administrative period.
The school’s peer environment is what one would expect from a junior high in a mid-sized exurban community. The student demographics and the town’s economic mix suggest a relatively stable, working- and middle-class population. Families who value a traditional junior high structure within a district that covers a broad county will find Johnsen to be a straightforward option. For those focused on academic outcomes, the proficiency data warrants a closer look at how the school supports students who are meeting standards and those who are not.
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