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Martin Luther King Middle

Public Grades 6-8

201^st

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 2,761 California Middle Schools

Better than 93% of California middle schools

Summary

Martin Luther King Middle is a highly-regarded public middle school serving about 850 students in grades 6 through 8 within the Berkeley Unified School District, consistently ranking in the top 10% of all California middle schools.

The school demonstrates strong academic results, with proficiency rates in English, Math, and Science that are significantly higher than the state average. Within its own district, it is a top performer, though it ranks just behind Willard Middle and ahead of Longfellow Arts and Technology Middle. The analysis shows the school is particularly effective for several student groups, though there is an acknowledged need to strengthen support for others to ensure all students thrive. It's noteworthy that the school achieves these results with a slightly higher student-to-teacher ratio and lower per-student spending than some of its Berkeley peers.

When compared to middle schools in neighboring districts like Oakland Unified or West Contra Costa Unified, MLK Middle's academic performance stands out dramatically. For example, it far outpaces schools like Westlake Middle or Lovonya DeJean Middle. While nearby schools in very affluent districts like Piedmont Middle may score higher, MLK Middle provides a high-quality education within a more economically diverse community, highlighting the strength of the Berkeley Unified system.

851

Students ?

18.0

Student/teacher ratio ?

$22,280

Per pupil spending ?

32.5%

Free/discounted lunch ?

1781 Rose St.
Berkeley, CA 94703-1048

(510) 644-6280

District: Berkeley Unified

Students who attend Martin Luther King Middle usually attend:

High:

Berkeley High

Feeder schools for Martin Luther King Middle:

Elementary:	Berkeley Arts Magnet at Whittier
	Rosa Parks Environmental Science
	Ruth Acty Elementary
	Thousand Oaks Elementary

Racial breakdown:

White:

42.3%

Hispanic:

20.3%

Two or more races:

15.5%

See top rated California middle schools

Compare Martin Luther King Middle to nearby middle schools!

At a glance

▲ Ranking trend: Improving — 77th percentile in 2013 → 93rd in 2025

Strengths

✓Test scores above the California average (68% vs 41% meeting standards)

✓Ranks in the top 7% of California middle schools

✓Ranking is trending up — up 16 percentile points since 2013

Worth a look

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

Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?

This school68%

District avg68%

California avg41%

201^st of 2,761

California public middle schools ?

Top 7%▲ up 4 pts since 2015

From top 12% (2015) to top 7% (2025)

See the entire ranking list of California Middle Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

2^nd of 3Middle Schools in the Berkeley Unified

171^st of 1,543Berkeley Unified 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	92.9	201 of 2761	92.7%	★★★★★
2024	94.0	184 of 2783	93.4%	★★★★★
2023	95.0	152 of 2781	94.5%	★★★★★
2022	92.5	210 of 2740	92.3%	★★★★★
2019	92.2	211 of 2715	92.2%	★★★★★
2018	93.4	168 of 2480	93.2%	★★★★★
2017	91.2	217 of 2508	91.3%	★★★★★
2016	86.6	300 of 2497	88.0%	★★★★☆
2015	87.2	289 of 2477	88.3%	★★★★☆
2013	72.0	537 of 2379	77.4%	★★★★☆
2012	73.5	492 of 2259	78.2%	★★★★☆
2011	72.5	480 of 2236	78.5%	★★★★☆
2010	73.3	478 of 2179	78.1%	★★★★☆
2009	59.2	767 of 2063	62.8%	★★★☆☆
2008	65.6	583 of 2005	70.9%	★★★★☆
2007	62.8	626 of 1999	68.7%	★★★☆☆
2006	58.9	650 of 1804	64.0%	★★★☆☆
2005	59.8	609 of 1777	65.7%	★★★☆☆
2004	62.3	559 of 1769	68.4%	★★★☆☆

African American

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	49.5	276 of 609	54.7%	★★★☆☆
2024	52.4	250 of 627	60.1%	★★★☆☆
2023	60.7	196 of 613	68.0%	★★★☆☆
2022	44.7	307 of 637	51.8%	★★★☆☆
2019	49.0	284 of 643	55.8%	★★★☆☆
2018	52.8	245 of 600	59.2%	★★★☆☆

Asian

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	56.1	389 of 739	47.4%	★★☆☆☆
2024	51.8	417 of 743	43.9%	★★☆☆☆
2023	60.9	319 of 715	55.4%	★★★☆☆
2022	50.0	424 of 733	42.2%	★★☆☆☆
2019	29.5	562 of 745	24.6%	★☆☆☆☆
2018	45.2	453 of 700	35.3%	★★☆☆☆

Disabled

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2022	83.6	145 of 1531	90.5%	★★★★★
2019	86.6	118 of 1491	92.1%	★★★★★
2018	77.7	189 of 1369	86.2%	★★★★☆

English Language Learner

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2024	65.4	206 of 1478	86.1%	★★★★☆
2023	68.3	190 of 1521	87.5%	★★★★☆
2022	79.2	114 of 1540	92.6%	★★★★★
2019	64.8	248 of 1442	82.8%	★★★★☆
2018	81.9	132 of 1364	90.3%	★★★★★

Female

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	91.9	201 of 2533	92.1%	★★★★★
2024	95.0	129 of 2551	94.9%	★★★★★
2023	95.5	114 of 2531	95.5%	★★★★★
2022	90.1	235 of 2509	90.6%	★★★★★
2019	91.6	185 of 2380	92.2%	★★★★★
2018	92.5	157 of 2262	93.1%	★★★★★

Hispanic

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	80.6	308 of 2395	87.1%	★★★★☆
2024	84.0	236 of 2388	90.1%	★★★★★
2023	92.8	107 of 2374	95.5%	★★★★★
2022	87.6	173 of 2359	92.7%	★★★★★
2019	92.6	99 of 2213	95.5%	★★★★★
2018	95.4	63 of 2072	97.0%	★★★★★

Low Socio Economic Status

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	70.2	531 of 2542	79.1%	★★★★☆
2024	74.2	451 of 2579	82.5%	★★★★☆
2023	73.0	454 of 2531	82.1%	★★★★☆
2022	64.9	619 of 2458	74.8%	★★★★☆
2019	72.3	446 of 2369	81.2%	★★★★☆
2018	73.4	413 of 2230	81.5%	★★★★☆

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	91.8	208 of 2534	91.8%	★★★★★
2024	91.4	221 of 2552	91.3%	★★★★★
2023	93.6	161 of 2538	93.7%	★★★★★
2022	93.2	173 of 2527	93.2%	★★★★★
2019	91.8	205 of 2407	91.5%	★★★★★
2018	93.2	157 of 2273	93.1%	★★★★★

Multi-racial

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	86.9	59 of 726	91.9%	★★★★★
2024	85.2	73 of 701	89.6%	★★★★☆
2023	87.2	51 of 677	92.5%	★★★★★
2022	79.8	109 of 665	83.6%	★★★★☆
2019	75.2	130 of 554	76.5%	★★★★☆
2018	72.8	126 of 462	72.7%	★★★★☆

Special Education

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	84.5	138 of 1566	91.2%	★★★★★
2024	79.1	185 of 1552	88.1%	★★★★☆
2023	78.8	182 of 1531	88.1%	★★★★☆

White

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	93.9	24 of 1520	98.4%	★★★★★
2024	94.3	23 of 1537	98.5%	★★★★★
2023	93.0	27 of 1543	98.3%	★★★★★
2022	91.6	52 of 1555	96.7%	★★★★★
2019	91.7	49 of 1602	96.9%	★★★★★
2018	93.0	27 of 1496	98.2%	★★★★★

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)

White (2025)98th percentile+6 vs school

Female (2025)92nd percentile~ school

Multi-racial (2025)92nd percentile~ school

Male (2025)92nd percentile~ school

Special Education (2025)91st percentile~ school

Disabled (2022)91st percentile~ school

Hispanic (2025)87th percentile-6 vs school

English Language Learner (2024)86th percentile-7 vs school

Low Socio Economic Status (2025)79th percentile-14 vs school

African American (2025)55th percentile-38 vs school

Asian (2025)47th percentile-45 vs school

By subject vs California (2024-2025) ?

English Language Arts/Literacy72%+24 vs state

Mathematics66%+29 vs state

Science61%+28 vs state

★

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Schools Near Martin Luther King Middle

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

School													Students/Teachers											Ranking (2025)				Ranking (2024)				CSA Spanish Overall (2025)		CSA Spanish Listening (2025)		CSA Spanish Writing (2025)		CSA Spanish Reading (2025)		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	CSA Spanish Overall 8th Grade	CSA Spanish Overall All Grades	CSA Spanish Listening 8th Grade	CSA Spanish Listening All Grades	CSA Spanish Writing 8th Grade	CSA Spanish Writing All Grades	CSA Spanish Reading 8th Grade	CSA Spanish Reading All Grades	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
Martin Luther King Middle	Public	6-8	1781 Rose St.	Berkeley	94703	Alameda County	Berkeley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 644-6280	851	47	18.0	32.5%	360 (42.3%)	90 (10.6%)	173 (20.3%)	90 (10.6%)	1 (0.1%)	4 (0.5%)	132 (15.5%)	92.9	201^st of 2761 public middle schools	92.7%		94	184^th of 2783 public middle schools	93.4%	17									61.1	61.1	72.5	72.9	71.7	72.3	65.2	66.4	65.9	65.8	$22,280	$622	$21,658
Longfellow Arts and Technology Middle	Public	6-8	1701 San Pablo Ave.	Berkeley	94702	Alameda County	Berkeley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 644-6360	462	32	14.5	44.6%	132 (28.6%)	79 (17.1%)	150 (32.5%)	38 (8.2%)	4 (0.9%)	1 (0.2%)	56 (12.1%)	83.4	403^rd of 2761 public middle schools	85.4%		73.3	626^th of 2783 public middle schools	77.5%	223									45.4	45.4	66.3	61.2	55.0	61.3	60.8	63.2	58.8	61.0	$25,214	$1,199	$24,015
Albany Middle	Public	6-8	1259 Brighton Ave.	Albany	94706	Alameda County	Albany City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 558-3600	911	47	19.5	30.7%	203 (22.3%)	41 (4.5%)	164 (18.0%)	304 (33.4%)	4 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	191 (21.0%)	94.7	164^th of 2761 public middle schools	94.1%		95.2	143^rd of 2783 public middle schools	94.9%	21									59.7	59.7	79.6	79.4	74.4	77.9	67.5	66.2	68.0	67.2	$19,274	$447	$18,827
Willard Middle	Public	6-8	2425 Stuart St.	Berkeley	94705	Alameda County	Berkeley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 644-6330	596	34	17.3	27.5%	265 (44.5%)	59 (9.9%)	116 (19.5%)	63 (10.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	86 (14.4%)	96.6	99^th of 2761 public middle schools	96.4%		95.1	151^st of 2783 public middle schools	94.6%	52									68.6	68.6	78.5	78.2	83.6	80.3	69.7	71.4	77.7	73.2	$23,208	$505	$22,703
Claremont Middle	Public	6-8	5750 College Ave.	Oakland	94618	Alameda County	Oakland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 879-2201	487	28	17.1	55.9%	137 (28.1%)	127 (26.1%)	81 (16.6%)	32 (6.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	107 (22.0%)	80.9	460^th of 2761 public middle schools	83.3%		78.1	524^th of 2783 public middle schools	81.2%	64									40.5	40.5	67.8	63.5	66.2	65.8	57.8	52.0	45.7	51.8	$24,906	$3,714	$21,192
Fred T. Korematsu Middle	Public	7-8	7125 Donal Ave.	El Cerrito	94530	Contra Costa County	West Contra Costa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 231-1449	708	30	23.6	38.6%	191 (27.0%)	83 (11.7%)	223 (31.5%)	128 (18.1%)	2 (0.3%)	4 (0.6%)	75 (10.6%)	58.8	933^rd of 2761 public middle schools	66.2%		61.7	845^th of 2783 public middle schools	69.6%	88	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	39.0	39.0		48.2	47.6	47.9		39.3	36.6	38.0	$6,031	$1,680	$4,351
Westlake Middle	Public	6-8	2629 Harrison St.	Oakland	94612	Alameda County	Oakland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 879-2213	279	22	12.5	91.8%	18 (6.5%)	119 (42.7%)	88 (31.5%)	21 (7.5%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.8%)	27 (9.7%)	10.6	2599^th of 2761 public middle schools	5.9%		9.5	2683^rd of 2783 public middle schools	3.6%	84									12.2	12.2	13.6	15.1	20.8	16.3	9.5	8.1	9.3	9.0	$31,316	$5,087	$26,229
Richmond Charter Academy	Public, Charter	6-8	1450 Marina Way South	Richmond	94804	Contra Costa County	Richmond Charter Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 235-2465	296	8	36.7	82.1%	7 (2.4%)	12 (4.1%)	270 (91.2%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.3%)	4 (1.4%)	34.1	1674^th of 2761 public middle schools	39.4%		43.1	1370^th of 2783 public middle schools	50.8%	304									13.8	13.8	41.9	51.6	45.3	46.3	20.4	19.4	14.7	18.2	$26,984	$1,709	$25,275
Piedmont Middle	Public	6-8	740 Magnolia Ave.	Piedmont	94611	Alameda County	Piedmont City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 594-2668	575	33	17.3	5.7%	283 (49.2%)	13 (2.3%)	62 (10.8%)	95 (16.5%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	119 (20.7%)	98.1	43^rd of 2761 public middle schools	98.4%		98.3	37^th of 2783 public middle schools	98.7%	6									72.4	72.4	87.9	86.4	79.1	84.4	83.7	84.2	76.3	81.4	$19,905	$1,217	$18,688
Lovonya DeJean Middle	Public	7-8	3400 Macdonald Ave.	Richmond	94805	Contra Costa County	West Contra Costa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 231-1430	381	19	20.3	81.9%	12 (3.1%)	51 (13.4%)	301 (79.0%)	10 (2.6%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.5%)	4 (1.0%)	6.2	2713^th of 2761 public middle schools	1.7%		7.4	2728^th of 2783 public middle schools	2.0%	15									3.7	3.7		10.1	9.9	10.0		3.9	4.2	4.1	$7,092	$2,308	$4,784

Frequently Asked Questions about Martin Luther King Middle

What high school do graduates of Martin Luther King Middle attend?

Students who attend Martin Luther King Middle usually go on to attend Berkeley High

How many students attend Martin Luther King Middle?

In the 2024-25 school year, 851 students attended Martin Luther King Middle.

What is the racial makeup of Martin Luther King Middle?

Students at Martin Luther King Middle are 42% White, 20% Hispanic, 16% Two or more races, 11% African American, 11% Asian.

What district is Martin Luther King Middle in?

Berkeley Unified

Is Martin Luther King Middle a good school?

Yes. Martin Luther King Middle ranks in the top 7.3% of California middle schools.

Rate Martin Luther King 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.