Summary:
South Pasadena Unified has one middle school, South Pasadena Middle, serving grades 6–8 and enrolling 1,096 students. Its most important distinction is that its 2025–2026 results were well above California’s in all three reported subjects: by 34 percentage points in ELA, 42 in math, and 44 in science.
South Pasadena Middle is both the highest- and lowest-scoring school in this list because it is the only school included, so there is no local school-to-school comparison. In 2025–2026, 84% of students met or exceeded standards in ELA, compared with 49% statewide; in math, the figures were 81% versus 38%; and in science, 80% versus 36%. The school’s largest advantage was in science, while ELA showed the smallest gap. Grade-level results also show larger school-state margins in grade 8 than grade 6: 38 versus 32 points in ELA, and 47 versus 41 points in math.
Scores increased in all three subjects from 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, with the clearest gain in science: the school rose 6 points, compared with 3 points statewide. Math increased by 1 point at the school and statewide, while ELA was essentially unchanged. SchoolDigger gives the school five stars and ranks it 46th of 2,703 California schools, in the 98th percentile. Its 2025–2026 chronic absenteeism rate was 4%, compared with 5% for the district and 18% statewide. For context, its student-teacher ratio was 23.9 in 2024–2025, and 15% of students were free/reduced lunch eligible that school year. Grade 7 results were a small exception to the school’s generally higher district comparisons: it was just below the district in both ELA and math.
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