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William Sheppard Middle

Q: Is William Sheppard Middle a good school?

William Sheppard Middle ranks 1957 th of 2761 California middle schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 1 star out of 5.

Public Grades 6-8

1957^th

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 2,761 California Middle Schools

Better than 29% of California middle schools

Summary

William Sheppard Middle is a public school serving 451 students in grades 6-8 in San Jose, operating within the Alum Rock Union Elementary district, which ranks in the bottom 14% of all California districts.

Academically, the school performs below state averages, with about 33% of students proficient in English and 20% in Math and Science for the 2024-2025 year. However, it shows some strengths compared to nearby district schools like Joseph George Middle and Renaissance at Mathson, particularly in Science proficiency and managing chronic student absenteeism, which has improved significantly to 15.3%.

The school's context is challenging, as all schools in its district rank in the bottom third of the state. Notably, nearby charter schools such as KIPP Heartwood Academy achieve much higher academic results with similar student populations, though they also have higher per-student spending. Schools in the neighboring, higher-performing Berryessa Union Elementary district, like Sierramont Middle, also show dramatically different outcomes. Recent data suggests William Sheppard Middle may be stabilizing after a period of decline, showing a slight uptick in its statewide ranking.

451

Students ?

17.3

Student/teacher ratio ?

$23,457

Per pupil spending ?

71.4%

Free/discounted lunch ?

480 Rough and Ready Rd.
San Jose, CA 95133-2422

(408) 928-8800

District: Alum Rock Union Elementary

Feeder schools for William Sheppard Middle:

Elementary:	Ben Painter Elementary
	Millard McCollam Elementary
	Russo/McEntee Academy

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

59.6%

Asian:

34.8%

White:

2.0%

See top rated California middle schools

Compare William Sheppard Middle to nearby middle schools!

At a glance

▼ Ranking trend: Declining — 35th percentile in 2013 → 29th in 2025

Worth a look

!Test scores below the California average (25% vs 41% meeting standards)

!Ranking has slipped — down 6 percentile points since 2013

!Some student groups rank well below the school's overall statewide standing

Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?

This school25%

District avg23%

California avg41%

1,957^th of 2,761

California public middle schools ?

Bottom 29%▲ up 3 pts since 2015

See the entire ranking list of California Middle Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

2^nd of 5Middle Schools in the Alum Rock Union Elementary

1324^th of 1,543Alum Rock Union Elementary among California districts

Statewide rank percentile over time (100 = the top-ranked school in the state; click a legend item to add a student group)

Show full rank history (all student groups)

All Students

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	25.9	1957 of 2761	29.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	23.0	2127 of 2783	23.6%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	23.9	2095 of 2781	24.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	29.0	1823 of 2740	33.5%	★★☆☆☆
2019	38.0	1520 of 2715	44.0%	★★☆☆☆
2018	35.5	1505 of 2480	39.3%	★★☆☆☆
2017	39.2	1417 of 2508	43.5%	★★☆☆☆
2016	42.2	1313 of 2497	47.4%	★★☆☆☆
2015	25.1	1824 of 2477	26.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2013	35.9	1546 of 2379	35.0%	★★☆☆☆
2012	43.5	1261 of 2259	44.2%	★★☆☆☆
2011	41.1	1332 of 2236	40.4%	★★☆☆☆
2010	47.0	1112 of 2179	49.0%	★★☆☆☆
2009	52.3	921 of 2063	55.4%	★★★☆☆
2008	43.3	1083 of 2005	46.0%	★★☆☆☆
2007	39.8	1119 of 1999	44.0%	★★☆☆☆
2006	45.8	893 of 1804	50.5%	★★★☆☆
2005	38.6	1027 of 1777	42.2%	★★☆☆☆
2004	34.4	1097 of 1769	38.0%	★★☆☆☆

Asian

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	24.7	578 of 739	21.8%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	15.0	634 of 743	14.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	12.3	626 of 715	12.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	21.7	594 of 733	19.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	31.7	546 of 745	26.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	21.9	581 of 700	17.0%	★☆☆☆☆

Disabled

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2022	24.2	1293 of 1531	15.5%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	27.9	1093 of 1491	26.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	20.7	1294 of 1369	5.5%	☆☆☆☆☆

English Language Learner

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2024	38.2	797 of 1478	46.1%	★★☆☆☆
2023	31.0	1168 of 1521	23.2%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	28.7	1309 of 1540	15.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	30.6	1082 of 1442	25.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	24.8	1267 of 1364	7.1%	☆☆☆☆☆

Female

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	27.0	1798 of 2533	29.0%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	20.3	2082 of 2551	18.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	19.0	2117 of 2531	16.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	21.4	2013 of 2509	19.8%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	32.9	1524 of 2380	36.0%	★★☆☆☆
2018	32.7	1493 of 2262	34.0%	★★☆☆☆

Hispanic

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	13.8	2204 of 2395	8.0%	☆☆☆☆☆
2024	13.5	2231 of 2388	6.6%	☆☆☆☆☆
2023	16.0	2154 of 2374	9.3%	☆☆☆☆☆
2022	14.3	2202 of 2359	6.7%	☆☆☆☆☆
2019	18.9	1920 of 2213	13.2%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	19.5	1769 of 2072	14.6%	★☆☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	23.9	1997 of 2542	21.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	23.3	2050 of 2579	20.5%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	23.5	2022 of 2531	20.1%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	28.5	1753 of 2458	28.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	42.9	1245 of 2369	47.4%	★★☆☆☆
2018	43.4	1161 of 2230	47.9%	★★☆☆☆

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	24.1	1909 of 2534	24.7%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	26.4	1817 of 2552	28.8%	★☆☆☆☆
2023	29.5	1673 of 2538	34.1%	★★☆☆☆
2022	36.4	1443 of 2527	42.9%	★★☆☆☆
2019	41.4	1268 of 2407	47.3%	★★☆☆☆
2018	37.7	1324 of 2273	41.8%	★★☆☆☆

Special Education

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	22.9	1358 of 1566	13.3%	★☆☆☆☆
2024	20.8	1436 of 1552	7.5%	☆☆☆☆☆
2023	25.4	1239 of 1531	19.1%	★☆☆☆☆

How student groups rank statewide ? (each group's percentile vs the same group at other schools — higher is better; the +/- beside each compares the group with this school's overall percentile)

English Language Learner (2024)46th percentile+23 vs school

Female (2025)29th percentile~ school

Male (2025)25th percentile-4 vs school

Asian (2025)22nd percentile-7 vs school

Low Socio Economic Status (2025)21st percentile-8 vs school

Disabled (2022)16th percentile-18 vs school

Special Education (2025)13th percentile-16 vs school

Hispanic (2025)8th percentile-21 vs school

By subject vs California (2024-2025) ?

English Language Arts/Literacy33%-16 vs state

Mathematics20%-17 vs state

Science19%-14 vs state

★

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Schools Near William Sheppard Middle

Choose columns to see: Summary School Students/Teachers Ranking Test Scores Finance All

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				CAST Science (2025)			Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy (2025)					Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics (2025)					Per Pupil Expenditures (2024)
Name	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	Enrollment	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Average Standard Score (2025)	Statewide Rank (2025)	State Percentile (2025)	SchoolDigger Rating (2025)	Average Standard Score (2024)	Statewide Rank (2024)	State Percentile (2024)	Rank Change from Previous Year	CAST Science 5th Grade	CAST Science 8th Grade	CAST Science All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy All Grades	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 5th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 6th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 7th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics 8th Grade	Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics All Grades	Per Pupil Expenditures Total	Sub-total from Federal Funds	Sub-total from State/Local Funds
William Sheppard Middle	Public	6-8	480 Rough and Ready Rd.	San Jose	95133	Santa Clara County	Alum Rock Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 928-8800	451	26	17.3	71.4%	9 (2.0%)	3 (0.7%)	269 (59.6%)	157 (34.8%)	1 (0.2%)	4 (0.9%)	8 (1.8%)	25.9	1957^th of 2761 public middle schools	29.1%		23	2127^th of 2783 public middle schools	23.6%	170		19.1	19.1		32.1	30.8	35.8	32.9		22.1	17.5	20.4	19.9	$23,457	$2,887	$20,570
Piedmont Middle	Public	6-8	955 Piedmont Rd.	San Jose	95132	Santa Clara County	Berryessa Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 923-1945	591	26	22.7	34.0%	21 (3.6%)	7 (1.2%)	206 (34.9%)	315 (53.3%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.7%)	38 (6.4%)	71.7	641^st of 2761 public middle schools	76.8%		70.7	676^th of 2783 public middle schools	75.7%	35		39.5	39.5		61.7	65.1	61.6	62.8		39.6	45.1	37.7	40.8	$16,937	$1,054	$15,883
Joseph George Middle	Public	6-8	277 Mahoney Dr.	San Jose	95127	Santa Clara County	Alum Rock Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 928-7600	384	22	17.5	82.6%	6 (1.6%)	2 (0.5%)	326 (84.9%)	40 (10.4%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (2.3%)	10.2	2605^th of 2761 public middle schools	5.7%		15	2480^th of 2783 public middle schools	10.9%	125		9.9	9.9		22.4	19.1	14.4	18.3		10.7	5.6	5.7	7.3	$24,218	$3,144	$21,074
Renaissance at Mathson	Public	6-8	2050 Kammerer Ave.	San Jose	95116	Santa Clara County	Alum Rock Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 928-6800	326	21	15.7	84.4%	3 (0.9%)	3 (0.9%)	270 (82.8%)	43 (13.2%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.9%)	4 (1.2%)	21.4	2172^nd of 2761 public middle schools	21.3%		19.8	2268^th of 2783 public middle schools	18.5%	96		21.2	21.2		25.0	26.0	33.7	28.2		9.4	18.5	19.1	15.6	$22,756	$3,052	$19,704
ACE Empower Academy	Public, Charter	5-8	625 South Sunset Ave.	San Jose	95116	Santa Clara County	ACE Empower Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 729-3920	189	8	23.5	93.1%	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	183 (96.8%)	6 (3.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	9.2	2640^th of 2761 public middle schools	4.4%		10.8	2640^th of 2783 public middle schools	5.1%		5.9	3.9	4.4	11.8	5.7	13.4	17.7	12.2	11.8	11.3	10.5	11.8	11.2	$20,415	$3,453	$16,962
Sierramont Middle	Public	6-8	3155 Kimlee Dr.	San Jose	95132	Santa Clara County	Berryessa Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 923-1955	742	31	23.9	24.8%	36 (4.9%)	5 (0.7%)	151 (20.4%)	514 (69.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.4%)	33 (4.4%)	91.4	243^rd of 2761 public middle schools	91.2%		91.9	231^st of 2783 public middle schools	91.7%	12		58.9	58.9		69.8	73.7	72.5	72.0		60.6	63.2	61.9	61.9	$17,672	$972	$16,700
ACE Inspire Academy	Public, Charter	5-8	1155 East Julian St.	San Jose	95116	Santa Clara County	ACE Inspire Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 295-6008	205	8	25.0	86.8%	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	199 (97.1%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.0%)	19	2270^th of 2761 public middle schools	17.8%		14.3	2498^th of 2783 public middle schools	10.2%	228	7.1	12.7	11.7	14.3	11.3	16.7	25.4	17.6	7.1	30.7	9.3	22.2	20.2	$17,992	$1,669	$16,323
Sunrise Middle	Public, Charter	5-8	1149 East Julian St.	San Jose	95116	Santa Clara County	Sunrise Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 659-4785	301	14	20.8	85.7%	11 (3.7%)	0 (0.0%)	266 (88.4%)	9 (3.0%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (4.3%)	40.4	1485^th of 2761 public middle schools	46.2%		33.9	1676^th of 2783 public middle schools	39.8%	191	0.0	16.7	14.7		25.0	47.8	31.5	34.8	25.0	32.3	40.0	37.1	36.0	$17,051	$1,492	$15,559
KIPP Heartwood Academy	Public, Charter	5-8	1250 South King Rd.	San Jose	95122	Santa Clara County	KIPP Heartwood Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 926-5477	423	24	17.4	73.5%	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	274 (64.8%)	137 (32.4%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	6 (1.4%)	90.8	259^th of 2761 public middle schools	90.6%		91.8	234^th of 2783 public middle schools	91.6%	25	55.0	56.6	55.8	71.0	67.9	77.2	65.7	70.4	62.0	58.5	66.3	69.7	64.0	$38,372	$2,906	$35,466
Kipp Prize Preparatory Academy	Public, Charter	5-8	1250 South King Rd.	San Jose	95122	Santa Clara County	Kipp Prize Preparatory Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 251-5600	416	19	21.9	80.8%	5 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	330 (79.3%)	79 (19.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	61	883^rd of 2761 public middle schools	68.0%		79.1	500^th of 2783 public middle schools	82.0%	383	24.5	30.9	27.5	40.6	58.9	49.5	52.1	50.3	33.0	50.5	35.4	30.9	37.7	$37,274	$2,888	$34,386

Frequently Asked Questions about William Sheppard Middle

What is the racial makeup of William Sheppard Middle?

Students at William Sheppard Middle are 60% Hispanic, 35% Asian, 2% White, 2% Two or more races.

What district is William Sheppard Middle in?

Alum Rock Union Elementary

Is William Sheppard Middle a good school?

William Sheppard Middle ranks 1957^th of 2761 California middle schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 1 star out of 5.

How many students attend William Sheppard Middle?

In the 2024-25 school year, 451 students attended William Sheppard Middle.

Rate William Sheppard Middle!

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SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMERS: Not all boundaries are included. We make every effort to ensure that boundaries are up-to-date. But it's important to note that these are approximations and are for general informational purposes only. To verify legal descriptions of boundaries or school locations, contact your local tax assessor's office and/or school district.