Summary:
Lowell Joint has one listed middle school, Rancho-Starbuck Intermediate, serving grades 7–8 with 687 students. In 2025–2026, it scored above California in English language arts (ELA), mathematics and science, but below the Lowell Joint district in all three. ELA was 58% at the school, compared with 49% statewide and 58% districtwide; math was 42%, versus 38% statewide and 50% districtwide; science was 37%, versus 36% statewide and 40% districtwide. Its clearest strength is ELA, while its largest district gap is in mathematics.
There is no local top-to-bottom comparison because Rancho-Starbuck is the only school in the list. Its advantage over California was 8 points in ELA, 4 points in math and 1 point in science; it trailed the district by 1, 8 and 3 points, respectively. Grade 8 ELA stands out: 59% of students were proficient, 10 points above the state rate for that grade, compared with 56% in grade 7, 6 points above the state. Chronic absenteeism was also lower than the district and state figures: 8% at Rancho-Starbuck, compared with 11% and 18%.
The school remained above state proficiency in every subject, but its advantage narrowed between 2024–2025 and 2025–2026: by 9 points in ELA, 3 in math and 5 in science. SchoolDigger’s statewide ranking moved from 566 of 2,783 schools in 2023–2024 to 791 of 2,703 in 2025–2026, and its percentile fell from 80th to 71st; SchoolDigger lists a district ranking of 190 of 968 and 4 stars. Other context includes a 23.3:1 student-teacher ratio in 2024–2025 and 57% free/reduced lunch eligible that year. These figures describe the school, but the one-school list cannot show how they compare with local peers.
Thank you for your feedback!