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John Adams Middle

Q: Is John Adams Middle a good school?

John Adams Middle ranks 497 th of 2761 California middle schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 4 stars out of 5.

Public Grades 6-8

497^th

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 2,761 California Middle Schools

Better than 82% of California middle schools

Summary

John Adams Middle is a public school serving 806 students in grades 6-8 within the high-performing Santa Monica-Malibu Unified district in Santa Monica, CA.

Academically, the school consistently outperforms California state averages, with 63% of students proficient in English, 49% in math, and 44% in science. It shows particular strength in supporting specific student groups, with its African American, White, and special education students ranking in the state's top percentiles. The school also manages chronic absenteeism well at 14%, which is better than both its district and the state. However, within its own district, it lags behind nearby Lincoln Middle, which scores significantly higher across all subjects despite similar resources.

Compared to other nearby schools in different districts, John Adams presents a mixed picture. It performs similarly to some schools in the Los Angeles Unified district that serve students with greater economic need, like ICEF Vista Middle Academy. Yet, it is outperformed by others with similar student populations, such as Paul Revere Charter Middle, though that school has a much higher chronic absenteeism rate. Overall, John Adams Middle is a stable, solid-performing school that effectively serves a diverse community within a competitive educational landscape.

806

Students ?

18.1

Student/teacher ratio ?

44.4%

Free/discounted lunch ?

2425 16th St.
Santa Monica, CA 90405-2621

(310) 452-2326

District: Santa Monica-Malibu Unified

Students who attend John Adams Middle usually attend:

High:

Santa Monica High

Feeder schools for John Adams Middle:

Elementary:	Edison Elementary
	Grant Elementary
	John Muir Elementary
	Will Rogers Elementary

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

44.9%

White:

35.9%

African American:

11.2%

See top rated California middle schools

Compare John Adams Middle to nearby middle schools!

At a glance

▲ Ranking trend: Improving — 72nd percentile in 2013 → 82nd in 2025

Strengths

✓Test scores above the California average (54% vs 41% meeting standards)

✓Ranks in the top 18% of California middle schools

✓Ranking is trending up — up 10 percentile points since 2013

Worth a look

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

Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?

This school54%

District avg64%

California avg41%

497^th of 2,761

California public middle schools ?

Top 18%▲ up 4 pts since 2015

From top 22% (2015) to top 18% (2025)

See the entire ranking list of California Middle Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

3^rd of 3Middle Schools in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified

187^th of 1,543Santa Monica-Malibu 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	78.8	497 of 2761	82.0%	★★★★☆
2024	76.6	556 of 2783	80.0%	★★★★☆
2023	81.0	465 of 2781	83.3%	★★★★☆
2022	79.8	484 of 2740	82.3%	★★★★☆
2019	72.3	644 of 2715	76.3%	★★★★☆
2018	72.4	593 of 2480	76.1%	★★★★☆
2017	71.8	628 of 2508	75.0%	★★★★☆
2016	66.3	724 of 2497	71.0%	★★★★☆
2015	74.0	550 of 2477	77.8%	★★★★☆
2013	67.7	661 of 2379	72.2%	★★★★☆
2012	61.7	782 of 2259	65.4%	★★★☆☆
2011	65.8	665 of 2236	70.3%	★★★★☆
2010	66.3	634 of 2179	70.9%	★★★★☆
2009	65.1	625 of 2063	69.7%	★★★☆☆
2008	63.4	630 of 2005	68.6%	★★★☆☆
2007	57.2	736 of 1999	63.2%	★★★☆☆
2006	52.6	764 of 1804	57.6%	★★★☆☆
2005	53.8	721 of 1777	59.4%	★★★☆☆
2004	56.9	640 of 1769	63.8%	★★★☆☆

African American

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	83.7	60 of 609	90.1%	★★★★★
2024	77.6	99 of 627	84.2%	★★★★☆
2023	87.1	44 of 613	92.8%	★★★★★
2022	85.8	58 of 637	90.9%	★★★★★
2019	73.6	128 of 643	80.1%	★★★★☆
2018	61.7	189 of 600	68.5%	★★★☆☆

Asian

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	66.2	287 of 739	61.2%	★★★☆☆
2024	72.5	206 of 743	72.3%	★★★★☆
2022	75.0	175 of 733	76.1%	★★★★☆

Disabled

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2022	59.3	415 of 1531	72.9%	★★★★☆
2019	76.4	217 of 1491	85.4%	★★★★☆
2018	76.5	201 of 1369	85.3%	★★★★☆

English Language Learner

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2024	62.0	245 of 1478	83.4%	★★★★☆
2023	37.0	888 of 1521	41.6%	★★☆☆☆
2022	45.7	583 of 1540	62.1%	★★★☆☆
2019	40.9	656 of 1442	54.5%	★★★☆☆
2018	71.1	201 of 1364	85.3%	★★★★☆

Female

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	79.2	458 of 2533	81.9%	★★★★☆
2024	76.9	499 of 2551	80.4%	★★★★☆
2023	73.7	544 of 2531	78.5%	★★★★☆
2022	79.4	444 of 2509	82.3%	★★★★☆
2019	71.9	583 of 2380	75.5%	★★★★☆
2018	70.2	594 of 2262	73.7%	★★★★☆

Hispanic

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	71.7	504 of 2395	79.0%	★★★★☆
2024	71.5	486 of 2388	79.6%	★★★★☆
2023	77.2	353 of 2374	85.1%	★★★★☆
2022	77.8	337 of 2359	85.7%	★★★★☆
2019	67.3	540 of 2213	75.6%	★★★★☆
2018	69.5	465 of 2072	77.6%	★★★★☆

Low Socio Economic Status

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	58.7	815 of 2542	67.9%	★★★☆☆
2024	59.5	765 of 2579	70.3%	★★★★☆
2023	67.5	580 of 2531	77.1%	★★★★☆
2022	62.7	673 of 2458	72.6%	★★★★☆
2019	56.4	840 of 2369	64.5%	★★★☆☆
2018	61.3	666 of 2230	70.1%	★★★★☆

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	75.2	518 of 2534	79.6%	★★★★☆
2024	73.1	561 of 2552	78.0%	★★★★☆
2023	83.7	362 of 2538	85.7%	★★★★☆
2022	76.9	495 of 2527	80.4%	★★★★☆
2019	69.1	630 of 2407	73.8%	★★★★☆
2018	71.7	558 of 2273	75.5%	★★★★☆

Multi-racial

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2023	91.7	22 of 677	96.8%	★★★★★
2022	88.6	36 of 665	94.6%	★★★★★
2019	68.0	182 of 554	67.1%	★★★☆☆
2018	62.4	195 of 462	57.8%	★★★☆☆

Special Education

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	76.9	206 of 1566	86.8%	★★★★☆
2024	58.6	423 of 1552	72.7%	★★★★☆
2023	71.5	250 of 1531	83.7%	★★★★☆

White

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	85.4	142 of 1520	90.7%	★★★★★
2024	84.3	163 of 1537	89.4%	★★★★☆
2023	88.9	89 of 1543	94.2%	★★★★★
2022	83.7	172 of 1555	88.9%	★★★★☆
2019	79.0	280 of 1602	82.5%	★★★★☆
2018	81.4	229 of 1496	84.7%	★★★★☆

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)

Multi-racial (2023)97th percentile+13 vs school

White (2025)91st percentile+9 vs school

African American (2025)90th percentile+8 vs school

Special Education (2025)87th percentile+5 vs school

English Language Learner (2024)83rd percentile+3 vs school

Female (2025)82nd percentile~ school

Male (2025)80th percentile~ school

Hispanic (2025)79th percentile-3 vs school

Disabled (2022)73rd percentile-9 vs school

Low Socio Economic Status (2025)68th percentile-14 vs school

Asian (2025)61st percentile-21 vs school

By subject vs California (2024-2025) ?

English Language Arts/Literacy63%+15 vs state

Mathematics49%+11 vs state

Science44%+12 vs state

2.0

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What people are saying

by a parent
Thursday, May 5, 2011

JAMS, like all SMMUSD schools, has an amazing music program. Imagine a *middle* school with 3 bands, 3 orchestras and 3 choirs. The best of these groups would do any high school (besides SAMOHI) proud. The music program is the one bright spot in a school that, at best, isn't for everyone. Indeed, I'd give the school one star but for the music program. The highest achieving children of high-achieving parents with the luck to have developed the social skills and physical strength to navigate an unkind, ill-supervised "Lord of the Flies" social setting do well at JAMS. For the rest, there ain't much besides discouragement plus the odd bump and scrape or two. The biggest problem is the staff's bureaucratic manner. Eg, I tried to get a counselor to help me manage my 6th-grade child's homework amid a complicated block schedule and six teachers, and her response was to write a three-page CYA email to me, concluding that she declined to meet with me without "an administrator present", which struck me as odd, since *she* is an administrator! Those with little patience for pointless bureaucracy and entitled, do-it-my-way-or-take-a-hike teachers will not like this school. I plan to pull my child. Close Quote

Schools Near John Adams Middle

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Ranking:

E Elementary M Middle H High A Alternative P Private

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores 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)				Per Pupil Expenditures (2025)
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 8th Grade	CAST Science All Grades	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 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics All Grades	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
John Adams Middle	Public	6-8	2425 16th St.	Santa Monica	90405	Los Angeles County	Santa Monica-Malibu Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 452-2326	806	44	18.1	44.4%	289 (35.9%)	90 (11.2%)	362 (44.9%)	47 (5.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	15 (1.9%)	78.8	497^th of 2761 public middle schools	82.0%		76.6	556^th of 2783 public middle schools	80.0%	59	44.4	44.4	64.2	63.6	62.6	63.4	51.9	45.6	47.9	48.6
Mark Twain Middle	Public	6-8	2224 Walgrove Ave.	Los Angeles	90066	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 305-3100	974	51	19.0	57.6%	176 (18.1%)	97 (10.0%)	506 (52.0%)	73 (7.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	122 (12.5%)	71	653^rd of 2761 public middle schools	76.3%		66.1	762^nd of 2783 public middle schools	72.6%	109	35.8	35.8	65.3	58.4	51.9	58.5	57.4	43.8	38.0	46.3	$31,690	$30,078	$1,612
Lincoln Middle	Public	6-8	1501 California Ave.	Santa Monica	90403	Los Angeles County	Santa Monica-Malibu Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 393-9227	914	44	20.6	29.5%	497 (54.4%)	60 (6.6%)	174 (19.0%)	112 (12.3%)	4 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	65 (7.1%)	92.8	203^rd of 2761 public middle schools	92.6%		96	128^th of 2783 public middle schools	95.4%	75	53.4	53.4	80.1	83.3	71.5	78.3	63.4	67.7	58.4	63.1
Daniel Webster Middle	Public	6-8	11330 West Graham Pl.	Los Angeles	90064	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 235-4600	438	29	14.9	87.4%	33 (7.5%)	72 (16.4%)	307 (70.1%)	7 (1.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (4.1%)	36.9	1589^th of 2761 public middle schools	42.4%		23.1	2123^rd of 2783 public middle schools	23.7%	534	26.8	26.8	39.2	38.9	42.2	40.2	28.8	21.1	23.2	24.1	$51,761	$48,622	$3,139
Palms Middle	Public	6-8	10860 Woodbine St.	Los Angeles	90034	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 253-7600	1,081	55	19.6	71.5%	147 (13.6%)	270 (25.0%)	496 (45.9%)	85 (7.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	83 (7.7%)	67.4	732^nd of 2761 public middle schools	73.5%		72.4	643^rd of 2783 public middle schools	76.9%	89	36.2	36.2	54.9	51.0	61.8	55.9	46.5	43.4	39.1	42.9	$34,421	$32,248	$2,173
ICEF Vista Middle Academy	Public, Charter	6-8	4471 Inglewood Blvd.	Los Angeles	90066	Los Angeles County	ICEF Vista Middle Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 298-6405	194	11	18.0	96.4%	0 (0.0%)	9 (4.6%)	183 (94.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	1 (0.5%)	76	562^nd of 2761 public middle schools	79.6%		69.7	692^nd of 2783 public middle schools	75.1%	130	23.2	23.2	59.7	67.2	59.7	62.2	43.8	65.6	69.6	58.6
Marina del Rey Middle	Public	6-8	12500 Braddock Dr.	Los Angeles	90066	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 578-2700	300	22	13.4	87.3%	4 (1.3%)	115 (38.3%)	168 (56.0%)	4 (1.3%)	3 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.0%)	24.8	2016^th of 2761 public middle schools	27.0%		17.1	2393^rd of 2783 public middle schools	14.0%	377	11.3	11.3	36.1	31.5	35.6	34.2	29.0	14.0	18.3	19.3	$75,317	$69,470	$5,847
Paul Revere Charter Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	1450 Allenford Ave.	Los Angeles	90049	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 917-4800	1,715	72	23.7	31.5%	914 (53.3%)	150 (8.7%)	361 (21.0%)	107 (6.2%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.1%)	179 (10.4%)	91.5	239^th of 2761 public middle schools	91.3%		93.3	201^st of 2783 public middle schools	92.8%	38	49.7	49.7	72.4	79.1	69.4	73.7	63.8	70.5	60.9	65.2	$27,991	$27,150	$841
Emerson Community Charter	Public, Charter	6-8	1650 Selby Ave.	Los Angeles	90024	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 234-3100	454	23	19.9	57.9%	138 (30.4%)	54 (11.9%)	183 (40.3%)	30 (6.6%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	47 (10.4%)	71.3	644^th of 2761 public middle schools	76.7%		61.3	855^th of 2783 public middle schools	69.3%	211	35.6	35.6	65.4	59.5	55.6	60.1	50.0	39.9	44.0	44.3	$41,425	$39,402	$2,023
Culver City Middle	Public	6-8	4601 Elenda St.	Culver City	90230	Los Angeles County	Culver City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 842-4200	1,523	73	20.7	39.5%	389 (25.5%)	148 (9.7%)	546 (35.9%)	173 (11.4%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.3%)	262 (17.2%)	77.9	524^th of 2761 public middle schools	81.0%		77.7	534^th of 2783 public middle schools	80.8%	10	50.6	50.6	61.2	62.7	60.4	61.4	51.1	46.9	43.5	47.2	$18,458	$17,374	$1,084

Frequently Asked Questions about John Adams Middle

What district is John Adams Middle in?

Santa Monica-Malibu Unified

How many students attend John Adams Middle?

In the 2024-25 school year, 806 students attended John Adams Middle.

What high school do graduates of John Adams Middle attend?

Students who attend John Adams Middle usually go on to attend Santa Monica High

What is the racial makeup of John Adams Middle?

Students at John Adams Middle are 45% Hispanic, 36% White, 11% African American, 6% Asian, 2% Two or more races.

Is John Adams Middle a good school?

John Adams Middle ranks 497^th of 2761 California middle schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 4 stars out of 5.

Rate John Adams 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.