Summary:
Garden Grove Unified has 10 middle schools, all serving grades 7–8, with 5,500 students total—an average of 550 per school, ranging from 453 to 717. In 2025–2026, the unweighted school averages were 62% in ELA, 52% in math, and 46% in science, compared with state results of 49%, 38%, and 36%. All 10 schools were above the state in ELA, while 8 were above it in math and 8 in science. The most important takeaway is that above-state averages mask a wide divide between schools.
Sarah McGarvin Intermediate led all three subjects, with 80% proficiency in ELA, 75% in math, and 66% in science; it was ahead of runner-up Hilton D. Bell Intermediate by 3, 6, and 6 percentage points, respectively. Izaak Walton Intermediate had the lowest ELA and science results, at 50% and 29%, while Stephen R. Fitz Intermediate was lowest in math, at 37%. SchoolDigger ranked McGarvin 100th of 2,703 California schools (96th percentile, five stars) and Bell 171st (94th percentile, five stars); Walton had the lowest SchoolDigger percentile in this group, at 59.
Average scores rose from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026 by 2 points in ELA, 4 in math, and 3 in science. The average school advantage over the state grew by 1 point in ELA and 3 in math, while the science gap was essentially unchanged. Results did not rise everywhere: Bell declined in all three subjects, while Fitz had the group’s largest gains in math and science, at 12 and 11 points. The reported low-income measure, free/reduced lunch eligible, ranged in 2024–2025 from 42% at Bell to 94% at Leroy L. Doig Intermediate. Doig was above the state in all three subjects, and Donald S. Jordan Intermediate, where 86% were eligible, scored above the district in all three; these figures offer context, not an explanation for results.
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