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Bell Middle

Q: Is Bell Middle a good school?

Bell Middle ranks 1911 th of 2761 California middle schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.

Public Grades 6-8

1911^th

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 2,761 California Middle Schools

Better than 31% of California middle schools

Summary

Bell Middle is a public middle school serving approximately 700 students in grades 6-8 within the San Diego Unified district, operating in a high-needs environment where over 80% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

Academically, the school faces significant challenges, with its statewide ranking improving to the 31st percentile and a 2-star rating for 2024-2025; however, proficiency rates in English Language Arts (35.9%) and especially mathematics (15.03%) remain well below district and state averages. A major concern is chronic absenteeism, affecting 29.7% of students, which is notably higher than the district average and at schools like National City Middle (20.1%) and Rancho del Rey Middle (15.5%). Interestingly, within its own district, Bell Middle is one of the stronger options, outperforming nearby Millennial Technical Middle and Knox Middle.

Notable findings include that Bell Middle spends significantly more per student ($21,167) than some nearby schools in the Sweetwater Union High district that achieve better academic results, suggesting different approaches or challenges. The school shows a positive trend of improvement in its overall ranking and science scores, and English Language Arts proficiency improves as students advance from 6th to 8th grade. However, mathematics performance is a critical area needing attention, as it lags behind even demographically similar schools like Granger Junior High.

700

Students ?

21.4

Student/teacher ratio ?

$21,167

Per pupil spending ?

81.1%

Free/discounted lunch ?

620 Briarwood Rd.
San Diego, CA 92139-1399

(619) 430-1000

District: San Diego Unified

Students who attend Bell Middle usually attend:

High:

Morse High

Feeder schools for Bell Middle:

Elementary:	Audubon K-8
	Bethune K-8
	Boone Elementary
	Freese Elementary
	More...
	Fulton K-8
	Pacific View Leadership Elementary
	Paradise Hills Elementary
	Penn Elementary
	Perry Elementary
	Zamorano Elementary

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

53.9%

Asian:

20.4%

African American:

13.1%

See top rated California middle schools

Compare Bell Middle to nearby middle schools!

At a glance

▲ Ranking trend: Improving — 23rd percentile in 2013 → 31st in 2025

Strengths

✓Ranking is trending up — up 8 percentile points since 2013

Worth a look

!Test scores below the California average (25% vs 41% meeting standards)

!High chronic absenteeism (30% vs 19% California)

!Some student groups rank well below the school's overall statewide standing

Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?

This school25%

District avg49%

California avg41%

1,911^th of 2,761

California public middle schools ?

Bottom 31%▼ down 7 pts since 2015

From bottom 38% (2015) to bottom 31% (2025)

See the entire ranking list of California Middle Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

18^th of 23Middle Schools in the San Diego Unified

577^th of 1,543San Diego Unified among California districts

Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)

Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	27.5	1911 of 2761	30.8%	★★☆☆☆
2024	24.5	2054 of 2783	26.2%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	26.1	1975 of 2781	29.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	20.6	2196 of 2740	19.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	26.7	1933 of 2715	28.8%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	28.3	1713 of 2480	30.9%	★★☆☆☆
2017	22.7	1945 of 2508	22.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2016	26.0	1794 of 2497	28.2%	★☆☆☆☆
2015	32.7	1544 of 2477	37.7%	★★☆☆☆
2013	26.2	1834 of 2379	22.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2012	28.7	1674 of 2259	25.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2011	27.8	1706 of 2236	23.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2010	38.6	1351 of 2179	38.0%	★★☆☆☆
2009	20.2	1739 of 2063	15.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2008	26.1	1537 of 2005	23.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2007	22.0	1605 of 1999	19.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2006	25.8	1348 of 1804	25.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2005	34.0	1125 of 1777	36.7%	★★☆☆☆
2004	34.4	1096 of 1769	38.0%	★★☆☆☆

African American

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	27.5	456 of 609	25.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	20.8	543 of 627	13.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	31.5	422 of 613	31.2%	★★☆☆☆
2022	24.3	516 of 637	19.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	31.6	436 of 643	32.2%	★★☆☆☆
2018	35.2	377 of 600	37.2%	★★☆☆☆

Disabled

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2022	29.1	1088 of 1531	28.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	23.6	1272 of 1491	14.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	26.0	1090 of 1369	20.4%	★☆☆☆☆

English Language Learner

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2024	36.4	881 of 1478	40.4%	★★☆☆☆
2023	30.8	1183 of 1521	22.2%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	23.2	1513 of 1540	1.8%	☆☆☆☆☆
2019	33.3	951 of 1442	34.0%	★★☆☆☆
2018	45.0	517 of 1364	62.1%	★★★☆☆

Female

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	21.0	2029 of 2533	19.9%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	22.3	2008 of 2551	21.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	25.8	1842 of 2531	27.2%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	21.5	2008 of 2509	20.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	27.7	1696 of 2380	28.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	25.6	1653 of 2262	26.9%	★☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	26.3	1777 of 2395	25.8%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	21.2	1976 of 2388	17.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	20.6	2000 of 2374	15.8%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	15.1	2176 of 2359	7.8%	☆☆☆☆☆
2019	18.1	1948 of 2213	12.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	12.6	1956 of 2072	5.6%	☆☆☆☆☆

Homeless

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	47.3	218 of 477	54.3%	★★★☆☆
2024	35.4	244 of 394	38.1%	★★☆☆☆
2023	53.2	119 of 320	62.8%	★★★☆☆
2022	36.0	212 of 336	36.9%	★★☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	32.5	1663 of 2542	34.6%	★★☆☆☆
2024	27.6	1880 of 2579	27.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	33.8	1599 of 2531	36.8%	★★☆☆☆
2022	23.4	1971 of 2458	19.8%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	34.8	1499 of 2369	36.7%	★★☆☆☆
2018	36.2	1381 of 2230	38.1%	★★☆☆☆

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	34.4	1555 of 2534	38.6%	★★☆☆☆
2024	26.8	1803 of 2552	29.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	26.8	1792 of 2538	29.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	20.9	2010 of 2527	20.5%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	25.4	1777 of 2407	26.2%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	30.9	1502 of 2273	33.9%	★★☆☆☆

Military Connected

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	24.1	150 of 194	22.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	23.2	151 of 197	23.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	14.6	172 of 193	10.9%	★☆☆☆☆

Multi-racial

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	14.5	624 of 726	14.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	13.4	620 of 701	11.6%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	20.9	546 of 677	19.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	15.8	554 of 665	16.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	15.6	476 of 554	14.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	20.1	394 of 462	14.7%	★☆☆☆☆

Special Education

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	33.6	992 of 1566	36.7%	★★☆☆☆
2024	25.0	1277 of 1552	17.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	27.3	1166 of 1531	23.8%	★☆☆☆☆

White

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2024	30.2	1060 of 1537	31.0%	★★☆☆☆

How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)

Homeless (2025)54th percentile+24 vs school

English Language Learner (2024)40th percentile+14 vs school

Male (2025)39th percentile+8 vs school

Special Education (2025)37th percentile+6 vs school

Low Socio Economic Status (2025)35th percentile+4 vs school

White (2024)31st percentile+5 vs school

Disabled (2022)29th percentile+9 vs school

Hispanic (2025)26th percentile-5 vs school

African American (2025)25th percentile-6 vs school

Military Connected (2025)23rd percentile-8 vs school

Female (2025)20th percentile-11 vs school

Multi-racial (2025)14th percentile-17 vs school

By subject vs California (2024-2025) ?

English Language Arts/Literacy36%-13 vs state

Science26%-7 vs state

Mathematics15%-22 vs state

★

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Schools Near Bell Middle

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Immunizations Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				CAST Science (2025)			Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy (2025)					Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics (2025)					% Completely Immunized (2022)	% DTP (2022)	Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	CAST Science 5th Grade	CAST Science 8th Grade	CAST Science All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics All Grades	% Completely Immunized KG	% DTP KG	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
Bell Middle	Public	6-8	620 Briarwood Rd.	San Diego	92139	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 430-1000	700	33	21.4	81.1%	26 (3.7%)	92 (13.1%)	377 (53.9%)	143 (20.4%)	4 (0.6%)	5 (0.7%)	53 (7.6%)	27.5	1911^th of 2761 public middle schools	30.8%		24.5	2054^th of 2783 public middle schools	26.2%	143		25.7	25.7		26.2	40.7	41.3	35.9		12.4	17.5	15.5	15.0			$21,167	$3,526	$17,641
Granger Junior High	Public	7-9	2101 Granger Ave.	National City	91950	San Diego County	Sweetwater Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 472-6000	724	33	21.9	76.4%	26 (3.6%)	12 (1.7%)	514 (71.0%)	146 (20.2%)	2 (0.3%)	5 (0.7%)	17 (2.3%)	43	1390^th of 2761 public middle schools	49.7%		41.4	1414^th of 2783 public middle schools	49.2%	24		26.5	26.5			40.5	36.5	38.3			30.8	35.9	33.6
Sci Technical Engr Arts and Math Academy at La Presa	Public	5-8	1001 Leland St.	Spring Valley	91977	San Diego County	La Mesa-Spring Valley	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 668-5720	800	45	17.8	79.8%	70 (8.8%)	74 (9.3%)	558 (69.8%)	48 (6.0%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.4%)	46 (5.8%)	36.3	1605^th of 2761 public middle schools	41.9%		43.5	1358^th of 2783 public middle schools	51.2%	247		22.7	22.7		31.6	41.0	38.0	36.9		18.7	32.8	32.2	27.9			$19,929	$1,934	$17,995
Knox Middle	Public	6-8	1098 South 49th St.	San Diego	92113	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 344-5500	488	24	20.6	95.7%	5 (1.0%)	80 (16.4%)	355 (72.7%)	25 (5.1%)	3 (0.6%)	6 (1.2%)	14 (2.9%)	18.6	2281^st of 2761 public middle schools	17.4%		19	2300^th of 2783 public middle schools	17.4%	19		12.1	12.1		33.9	28.5	31.9	31.3		15.6	10.3	10.9	12.2			$22,685	$5,226	$17,459
KIPP Adelante Preparatory Academy	Public, Charter	5-8	426 Euclid Ave.	San Diego	92114	San Diego County	KIPP Adelante Preparatory Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 233-3242	314	17	18.4	91.7%	1 (0.3%)	27 (8.6%)	270 (86.0%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.0%)	10 (3.2%)	31.2	1792^nd of 2761 public middle schools	35.1%		43.7	1350^th of 2783 public middle schools	51.5%	442	15.6	22.9	21.2	28.1	25.3	42.6	42.2	36.5	25.0	9.0	32.0	14.3	19.6			$18,362	$1,823	$16,539
Bonita Vista Middle	Public	7-8	650 Otay Lakes Rd.	Chula Vista	91910	San Diego County	Sweetwater Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 397-2200	972	40	24.3	39.4%	106 (10.9%)	27 (2.8%)	705 (72.5%)	84 (8.6%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.6%)	44 (4.5%)	58.1	948^th of 2761 public middle schools	65.7%		65.9	770^th of 2783 public middle schools	72.3%	178		36.0	36.0			42.7	50.1	46.3			40.0	40.4	40.2
Lemon Grove Academy for the Sciences and Humanities	Public	6-8	7866 Lincoln St.	Lemon Grove	91945	San Diego County	Lemon Grove	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 825-5628	516	26	20.2	80.4%	45 (8.7%)	59 (11.4%)	340 (65.9%)	30 (5.8%)	9 (1.7%)	4 (0.8%)	29 (5.6%)	31.4	1784^th of 2761 public middle schools	35.4%		32	1732^nd of 2783 public middle schools	37.8%	52		21.7	21.7			37.1	38.0	37.6			22.2	21.0	21.6	97.5	97.5	$20,711	$2,902	$17,809
Millennial Technical Middle	Public	6-8	1110 Carolina Ln.	San Diego	92102	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 362-4650	378	22	17.2	88.9%	6 (1.6%)	63 (16.7%)	260 (68.8%)	21 (5.6%)	1 (0.3%)	6 (1.6%)	21 (5.6%)	18.2	2304^th of 2761 public middle schools	16.6%		21.6	2193^rd of 2783 public middle schools	21.2%	111		10.6	10.6		34.9	37.1	17.5	29.8		14.9	12.0	10.0	12.3			$23,055	$4,564	$18,491
National City Middle	Public	7-8	1701 D Ave.	National City	91950	San Diego County	Sweetwater Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 336-2600	709	28	25.5	79.4%	15 (2.1%)	4 (0.6%)	628 (88.6%)	48 (6.8%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	12 (1.7%)	37	1578^th of 2761 public middle schools	42.8%		31.7	1744^th of 2783 public middle schools	37.3%	166		17.7	17.7			39.0	40.8	39.9			34.2	23.6	28.9
Hilltop Middle	Public	7-8	44 East J St.	Chula Vista	91910	San Diego County	Sweetwater Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 498-2700	866	39	22.3	52.2%	62 (7.2%)	12 (1.4%)	738 (85.2%)	24 (2.8%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	27 (3.1%)	29.2	1853^rd of 2761 public middle schools	32.9%		32.6	1723^rd of 2783 public middle schools	38.1%	130		17.8	17.8			40.9	34.2	37.5			24.6	15.9	20.3

Frequently Asked Questions about Bell Middle

What district is Bell Middle in?

San Diego Unified

What is the racial makeup of Bell Middle?

Students at Bell Middle are 54% Hispanic, 20% Asian, 13% African American, 8% Two or more races, 4% White.

How many students attend Bell Middle?

In the 2024-25 school year, 700 students attended Bell Middle.

Is Bell Middle a good school?

Bell Middle ranks 1911^th of 2761 California middle schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.

What high school do graduates of Bell Middle attend?

Students who attend Bell Middle usually go on to attend Morse High

Rate Bell Middle!

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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.