Summary:
This analysis covers one middle school, Gold Trail Middle School, serving grades 4-8 in Placerville within the Gold Trail Union Elementary district.
Gold Trail Middle School shows notable strengths, particularly in its younger grades, where fourth graders perform exceptionally well in English and math, and its overall science scores outpace the state average. The school also maintains a chronic absenteeism rate better than the state, indicating good student engagement. However, a clear pattern emerges where academic performance declines significantly as students progress to the 8th grade, with math showing the most pronounced drop. This trend is an important area for families to consider when evaluating how the school supports students through these transitional years.
Over the past three years, the school's statewide ranking has fallen from the 76th to the 47th percentile, a notable decline that suggests it has faced post-pandemic recovery challenges. With moderate per-student spending and a student-teacher ratio of about 21-to-1, the school's resources are comparable to many others. For parents, Gold Trail Middle School presents a mixed profile: strong foundational results and science performance, but with clear challenges in maintaining that success into the upper grades and reversing recent ranking trends.
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