Summary:
Santa Monica-Malibu Unified has three middle schools—Lincoln Middle, John Adams Middle, and Malibu Middle—all serving grades 6–8. In 2025–2026, each school’s proficiency rates in English language arts (ELA), math, and science exceeded the state rates. Still, results differed considerably across the three schools, with the biggest separation in science: Lincoln’s rate was 22 percentage points above Adams’.
Lincoln Middle stands out at the top in every subject, with 79% proficient in ELA, 68% in math, and 65% in science. John Adams Middle had the lowest rates—65%, 50%, and 43%, respectively—while Malibu Middle fell between them in ELA and science, at 73% and 49%; its 51% math rate was just above Adams’. SchoolDigger also ranks Lincoln highest among the three: 141st of 2,703 schools (95th percentile), compared with Malibu at 389th (86th percentile) and Adams at 501st (81st percentile).
Recent changes were mixed: ELA proficiency rose at all three schools, by 1 percentage point at Lincoln, 2 at Adams, and 6 at Malibu. Math rose at Lincoln and Adams by 5 and 1 points, respectively, but fell 2 points at Malibu. Science jumped 12 points at Lincoln, while declining 1 point at Adams and 7 at Malibu; meanwhile, the state rate rose 3 points, so the schools’ average lead in science narrowed. School characteristics offer context, not an explanation: in 2024–2025, free/reduced lunch eligible shares were 30% at Lincoln, 44% at Adams, and 21% at Malibu. Student–teacher ratios were 20.6 at Lincoln, 18.1 at Adams, and 13.5 at Malibu, so Lincoln’s strongest results came despite having the highest ratio and largest enrollment.
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