Summary:
Santa Clara Unified has four middle schools—Juan Cabrillo, Marian A. Peterson, Buchser and Dolores Huerta—and all serve grades 6–8. In 2025–2026, their equal-school average was above the state in ELA, math and science, with the strongest average advantage in science: 12 points, compared with 8 in ELA and 6 in math. The standout overall is Peterson, the only school above the district in all three subjects.
Peterson led every subject, with 64% proficient in ELA, 60% in math and 63% in science; it topped the next-highest school by 4, 16 and 12 points, respectively. Huerta had the lowest all-grades math and science results, at 31% and 29%, and was 7 points below the state in each. Its ELA result was also lowest overall, at 50%, but grade-level results add important context: seventh-grade ELA was 61%, 10 points above the state and 1 point above the district. SchoolDigger’s 2025–2026 statewide rankings also place Peterson highest (324th of 2,703; 88th percentile) and Huerta lowest (1,217th; 55th percentile).
Recent changes favor Buchser: from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, its results rose 5 points in ELA, 3 in math and 14 in science. Cabrillo fell in all three subjects, while Peterson’s science improved 8 points even as its ELA declined 3. SchoolDigger’s statewide percentile rose 6 points for Buchser, while it fell 6 for Cabrillo and 7 for Huerta; Peterson remained high, moving from the 89th to the 88th percentile. Ratios range from 17.2 students per teacher at Cabrillo to 21.3 at Peterson. The schools’ 2024–2025 free/reduced lunch eligible shares range from 22% at Peterson to 37% at Huerta; these are useful background observations, not explanations for score differences.
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