Middle Schools in Fowler Elementary District

Fowler Elementary District has two middle schools, both serving grades 6–8: Santa Maria Middle School and Western Valley Middle School. The schools serve 591 and 553 students, respectively. Both are below state proficiency rates in every reported comparison, with average gaps of 22 percentage points in ELA, 26 points in math, and 22 points in grade 8 science; the largest average shortfall is in math.

Santa Maria stands out in all-grade ELA and math, while Western Valley has lower results in both. Santa Maria has 21% proficiency in ELA and 11% in math, compared with Western Valley’s 17% and 4%—gaps of 4 and 7 points. Still, neither is close to the state rates of 41% in ELA and 33% in math. The comparison shifts in some grades: Santa Maria’s grade 6 ELA result of 28% is the highest reported school-grade result, while Western Valley leads in grade 8 ELA, 16% to 13%, and grade 8 science, 9% to 8%. Both schools’ grade 8 science results are far below the state’s 30%.

SchoolDigger’s statewide percentile rankings improved by 2025–26 for both schools compared with 2023–24: Santa Maria rose from the 2nd to the 8th percentile, and Western Valley from the 1st to the 2nd. However, SchoolDigger gave both schools zero stars in each of the three years shown, and the ranking changes do not establish a trend in proficiency scores. Western Valley has a lower student–teacher ratio than Santa Maria, 19.7 versus 22.7, but lower all-grade ELA and math results; its stronger grade 8 results show that the comparison varies by grade and subject. With only two schools and some grade-level math results suppressed, these figures do not establish why results differ.