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PUC Nueva Esperanza Charter Academy

Q: Is PUC Nueva Esperanza Charter Academy a good school?

PUC Nueva Esperanza Charter Academy ranks 1648 th of 2761 California middle schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.

Public, Charter Grades 6-8

1648^th

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 2,761 California Middle Schools

Better than 40% of California middle schools

Summary

PUC Nueva Esperanza Charter Academy is a public charter middle school serving 351 students in grades 6-8 in San Fernando, CA, which has shown a steady improvement in its statewide ranking in recent years.

While the school's overall academic performance is below the state average, it is important to understand its context. The school serves a student population where over 90% are considered economically disadvantaged, and within this challenging environment, it performs notably well. For example, its English Language Arts scores are significantly higher than several nearby schools like San Fernando Middle and Francisco Sepulveda Middle that serve similar communities. A particular area of strength is its Special Education program, which ranks in the top quartile statewide. The school also achieves these results while spending less per student than many neighbors, such as Charles Maclay Middle, suggesting efficient use of resources.

Like many schools in the area, PUC Nueva Esperanza faces significant challenges with chronic student absenteeism and low proficiency in mathematics and science. However, its upward trajectory and its effectiveness with its core student groups indicate it is a competitively performing option within the PUC Nueva Esperanza Charter Academy District. When compared to other local charters like Bert Corona Charter, it performs better, though it trails the highest-performing traditional school in the region, George K. Porter Middle.

351

Students ?

21.9

Student/teacher ratio ?

$20,017

Per pupil spending ?

90%

Free/discounted lunch ?

1218 North Fourth St.
San Fernando, CA 91340-2314

(818) 256-1951

District: PUC Nueva Esperanza Charter Academy District

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

96.9%

White:

1.7%

Asian:

0.6%

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Compare PUC Nueva Esperanza Charter Academy to nearby middle schools!

At a glance

▲ Ranking trend: Improving — 24th percentile in 2019 → 40th in 2025

Strengths

✓Ranking is trending up — up 16 percentile points since 2019

Worth a look

!Test scores below the California average (30% vs 41% meeting standards)

!High chronic absenteeism (30% vs 19% California)

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

Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?

This school30%

California avg41%

1,648^th of 2,761

California public middle schools ?

Bottom 40%▲ up 16 pts since 2019

From bottom 24% (2019) to bottom 40% (2025)

See the entire ranking list of California Middle Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

957^th of 1,543PUC Nueva Esperanza Charter Academy District 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	34.9	1648 of 2761	40.3%	★★☆☆☆
2024	31.9	1734 of 2783	37.7%	★★☆☆☆
2023	27.3	1926 of 2781	30.7%	★★☆☆☆
2022	32.5	1690 of 2740	38.3%	★★☆☆☆
2021	27.4	648 of 894	27.5%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	22.9	2065 of 2715	23.9%	★☆☆☆☆

Disabled

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2022	57.7	438 of 1531	71.4%	★★★★☆
2021	39.9	183 of 354	48.3%	★★☆☆☆
2019	40.4	738 of 1491	50.5%	★★★☆☆

English Language Learner

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2024	25.2	1424 of 1478	3.7%	☆☆☆☆☆
2023	33.7	1039 of 1521	31.7%	★★☆☆☆
2022	38.6	816 of 1540	47.0%	★★☆☆☆
2021	32.4	289 of 363	20.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	32.1	1014 of 1442	29.7%	★☆☆☆☆

Female

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	31.2	1646 of 2533	35.0%	★★☆☆☆
2024	28.2	1748 of 2551	31.5%	★★☆☆☆
2023	26.2	1817 of 2531	28.2%	★☆☆☆☆
2022	37.1	1433 of 2509	42.9%	★★☆☆☆
2021	36.3	445 of 738	39.7%	★★☆☆☆
2019	25.1	1788 of 2380	24.9%	★☆☆☆☆

Hispanic

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	46.7	1127 of 2395	52.9%	★★★☆☆
2024	42.8	1204 of 2388	49.6%	★★☆☆☆
2023	36.7	1374 of 2374	42.1%	★★☆☆☆
2022	44.8	1135 of 2359	51.9%	★★★☆☆
2019	31.0	1506 of 2213	31.9%	★★☆☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	49.2	1102 of 2542	56.6%	★★★☆☆
2024	42.8	1278 of 2579	50.4%	★★★☆☆
2023	36.2	1483 of 2531	41.4%	★★☆☆☆
2022	44.2	1195 of 2458	51.4%	★★★☆☆
2021	42.7	386 of 721	46.5%	★★☆☆☆
2019	29.1	1724 of 2369	27.2%	★☆☆☆☆

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	38.1	1430 of 2534	43.6%	★★☆☆☆
2024	35.5	1483 of 2552	41.9%	★★☆☆☆
2023	28.3	1719 of 2538	32.3%	★★☆☆☆
2022	29.0	1695 of 2527	32.9%	★★☆☆☆
2021	22.2	615 of 763	19.4%	★☆☆☆☆
2019	21.3	1931 of 2407	19.8%	★☆☆☆☆

Special Education

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	59.2	427 of 1566	72.7%	★★★★☆
2024	39.1	801 of 1552	48.4%	★★☆☆☆
2023	38.8	800 of 1531	47.7%	★★☆☆☆

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)

Special Education (2025)73rd percentile+32 vs school

Disabled (2022)71st percentile+33 vs school

Low Socio Economic Status (2025)57th percentile+16 vs school

Hispanic (2025)53rd percentile+13 vs school

Male (2025)44th percentile+3 vs school

Female (2025)35th percentile-5 vs school

English Language Learner (2024)4th percentile-34 vs school

By subject vs California (2024-2025) ?

English Language Arts/Literacy42%-7 vs state

Mathematics23%-14 vs state

Science18%-15 vs state

★

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Schools Near PUC Nueva Esperanza Charter Academy

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 8th Grade	CAST Science All Grades	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 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
PUC Nueva Esperanza Charter Academy	Public, Charter	6-8	1218 North Fourth St.	San Fernando	91340	Los Angeles County	PUC Nueva Esperanza Charter Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 256-1951	351	16	21.9	90.0%	6 (1.7%)	1 (0.3%)	340 (96.9%)	2 (0.6%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	34.9	1648^th of 2761 public middle schools	40.3%		31.9	1734^th of 2783 public middle schools	37.7%	86	18.0	18.0	40.3	46.6	37.6	41.5	25.2	28.0	17.1	23.5	$20,017	$17,245	$2,772
San Fernando Middle	Public	6-8	130 North Brand Blvd.	San Fernando	91340	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 837-5400	442	28	15.5	95.7%	8 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	427 (96.6%)	6 (1.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	18.7	2279^th of 2761 public middle schools	17.5%		19.3	2282^nd of 2783 public middle schools	18.0%	3	11.0	11.0	33.0	27.9	27.5	29.2	21.2	11.0	13.0	14.6	$28,595	$5,685	$22,910
San Fernando Institute of Applied Media	Public	6-8	130 North Brand Blvd.	San Fernando	91340	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 837-5455	384	20	18.9	90.9%	7 (1.8%)	6 (1.6%)	365 (95.1%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.0%)	21.7	2159^th of 2761 public middle schools	21.8%		26	1994^th of 2783 public middle schools	28.4%	165	13.6	13.6	19.0	41.7	35.5	32.2	12.8	16.5	14.4	14.6	$21,477	$3,164	$18,313
Olive Vista Middle	Public	6-8	14600 Tyler St.	Sylmar	91342	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 833-3900	897	49	18.2	88.7%	15 (1.7%)	11 (1.2%)	856 (95.4%)	8 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (0.8%)	39.5	1501^st of 2761 public middle schools	45.6%		32.6	1721^st of 2783 public middle schools	38.2%	220	24.4	24.4	39.3	43.2	39.7	40.8	21.6	32.9	28.3	27.9	$23,086	$3,921	$19,165
PUC Inspire Charter Academy	Public, Charter	6-8	12550 Van Nuys Blvd.	Pacoima	91331	Los Angeles County	PUC Inspire Charter Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 492-1880	210	12	17.3	97.1%	1 (0.5%)	2 (1.0%)	205 (97.6%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	23.5	2077^th of 2761 public middle schools	24.8%		28	1905^th of 2783 public middle schools	31.5%	172	15.2	15.2	20.4	35.8	39.2	33.2	16.7	19.8	12.7	16.4	$22,118	$2,575	$19,543
Charles Maclay Middle	Public	6-8	12540 Pierce Ave.	Pacoima	91331	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 686-3800	238	19	12.8	98.3%	5 (2.1%)	5 (2.1%)	223 (93.7%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.7%)	16	2398^th of 2761 public middle schools	13.1%		12.9	2557^th of 2783 public middle schools	8.1%	159	7.9	7.9	25.9	36.4	27.7	30.4	9.8	7.9	9.9	9.2	$40,759	$8,615	$32,144
Pacoima Middle	Public	6-8	9919 Laurel Canyon Blvd.	Pacoima	91331	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 686-4200	823	47	17.6	91.9%	18 (2.2%)	7 (0.9%)	776 (94.3%)	10 (1.2%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (1.2%)	33.4	1697^th of 2761 public middle schools	38.5%		34.1	1666^th of 2783 public middle schools	40.1%	31	18.5	18.5	36.8	38.5	38.8	38.1	29.1	26.4	21.1	25.3	$23,070	$4,133	$18,937
George K. Porter Middle	Public	6-8	15960 Kingsbury St.	Granada Hills	91344	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 920-2050	1,009	54	18.8	74.5%	93 (9.2%)	20 (2.0%)	775 (76.8%)	101 (10.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (1.9%)	74.7	588^th of 2761 public middle schools	78.7%		68.1	721^st of 2783 public middle schools	74.1%	133	35.5	35.5	65.8	59.5	61.7	62.3	50.2	43.4	48.2	47.2	$19,733	$3,178	$16,555
PUC Lakeview Charter Academy	Public, Charter	6-8	11465 Kagel Canyon St.	Lake View Terrace	91342	Los Angeles County	PUC Lakeview Charter Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 485-0340	334	16	20.7	94.6%	8 (2.4%)	9 (2.7%)	308 (92.2%)	6 (1.8%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.6%)	35.3	1635^th of 2761 public middle schools	40.8%		30.9	1773^rd of 2783 public middle schools	36.3%	138	21.5	21.5	27.9	39.6	49.1	38.7	22.5	11.5	37.7	24.3	$28,744	$8,085	$20,659
Bert Corona Charter	Public, Charter	5-8	9400 Remick Ave.	Pacoima	91331	Los Angeles County	Bert Corona Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 834-5805	345	14	24.9	89.3%	5 (1.4%)	1 (0.3%)	335 (97.1%)	2 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	16.5	2381^st of 2761 public middle schools	13.8%		15	2479^th of 2783 public middle schools	10.9%	98	7.8	8.0	17.4	44.7	20.4	28.1	9.2	12.8	7.8	10.4	$21,434	$2,898	$18,536

Frequently Asked Questions about PUC Nueva Esperanza Charter Academy

How many students attend PUC Nueva Esperanza Charter Academy?

In the 2024-25 school year, 351 students attended PUC Nueva Esperanza Charter Academy.

What district is PUC Nueva Esperanza Charter Academy in?

PUC Nueva Esperanza Charter Academy District

What is the racial makeup of PUC Nueva Esperanza Charter Academy?

Students at PUC Nueva Esperanza Charter Academy are 97% Hispanic, 2% White.

Is PUC Nueva Esperanza Charter Academy a good school?

PUC Nueva Esperanza Charter Academy ranks 1648^th of 2761 California middle schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.

Rate PUC Nueva Esperanza Charter Academy!

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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.