Summary:
Huntington Beach City Elementary has two middle schools serving grades 6–8: Ethel Dwyer Middle enrolls 884 students, and Isaac L. Sowers Middle enrolls 771. In 2025–2026, the schools’ equal-weighted average proficiency was 71% in English language arts, 61% in math, and 57% in science, compared with state rates of 49%, 38%, and 36%. The most important takeaway is that both schools substantially exceed state results, while Sowers’ clearest advantage over Dwyer is in math and science, not ELA.
Sowers leads the 2025–2026 all-grades results in all three subjects: its advantage over Dwyer is 1 percentage point in ELA, 7 in math, and 10 in science. Dwyer is the lower-scoring school overall, but still exceeds the state by 16 to 21 points across the three subjects. Grade-level results add some nuance: Dwyer is ahead by 4 points in sixth-grade ELA and 1 point in seventh-grade math, while Sowers leads by 13 points in eighth-grade math and 10 points in eighth-grade science. So the overall lead is Sowers’, but the comparison varies by grade and subject.
Across 2024–2025 and 2025–2026, the schools’ average science proficiency rose 5 points, while average ELA was essentially unchanged and math dipped by less than 1 point; the average math advantage over the state narrowed by 1 point. Dwyer’s science result rose 6 points, while Sowers’ ELA result fell 1 point. SchoolDigger places the district at rank 82 of 968, in the 92nd percentile with five stars; its school-level percentiles across the three listed years range from 89th to 92nd for Sowers and 87th to 89th for Dwyer. As context, in 2024–2025, free/reduced lunch eligible students made up 37% at Dwyer and 25% at Sowers; student-teacher ratios were 25.9 and 24.2, respectively. In 2025–2026, chronic absenteeism was 15% at Dwyer and 9% at Sowers, compared with 8% districtwide and 18% statewide.
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