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Horace Ensign Intermediate

Q: Is Horace Ensign Intermediate a good school?

Horace Ensign Intermediate ranks 411 th of 2761 California middle schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 4 stars out of 5.

Public Grades 7-8

411^th

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 2,761 California Middle Schools

Better than 85% of California middle schools

Summary

Horace Ensign Intermediate is a well-regarded public middle school serving about 875 students in grades 7 and 8 in Newport Beach, part of the Newport-Mesa Unified school district, where it consistently ranks in the top 15% of all California middle schools.

What makes Ensign particularly noteworthy is its strong academic performance while serving a diverse student body; nearly half of its students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a higher percentage than many higher-ranked nearby schools like Fulton (Harry C.) Middle or Rancho San Joaquin Middle. The school's test scores in English, Math, and Science are significantly above state averages, and it shows exceptional effectiveness in supporting students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. However, the school faces a challenge with chronic absenteeism, which, while improving, is higher than at most comparison schools.

Compared to other schools in its own district, such as Charles W. Tewinkle Middle, Ensign achieves much stronger results with similar resources, suggesting a very effective school culture and instruction. While schools in neighboring districts like Irvine Unified may have higher overall rankings, Ensign stands out for its consistent, decade-long success and its ability to deliver excellent education to all of its students.

875

Students ?

20.9

Student/teacher ratio ?

$23,991

Per pupil spending ?

47.2%

Free/discounted lunch ?

2000 Cliff Dr.
Newport Beach, CA 92663-5223

(949) 515-6910

District: Newport-Mesa Unified

Students who attend Horace Ensign Intermediate usually attend:

High:

Newport Harbor High

Feeder schools for Horace Ensign Intermediate:

Elementary:	Heinz Kaiser Elementary
	Mariners Elementary
	Newport Elementary
	Newport Heights Elementary
	More...
	Whittier Elementary
	Woodland Elementary

Racial breakdown:

White:

49.4%

Hispanic:

41.6%

Two or more races:

6.9%

See top rated California middle schools

Compare Horace Ensign Intermediate to nearby middle schools!

At a glance

▲ Ranking trend: Improving — 80th percentile in 2013 → 85th in 2025

Strengths

✓Test scores above the California average (53% vs 41% meeting standards)

✓Ranks in the top 15% of California middle schools

✓Ranking is trending up — up 5 percentile points since 2013

Worth a look

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

!Listening scores 10 pts below the California average

Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?

This school53%

District avg51%

California avg41%

411^th of 2,761

California public middle schools ?

Top 15%▲ up 4 pts since 2015

From top 19% (2015) to top 15% (2025)

See the entire ranking list of California Middle Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

1^st of 2Middle Schools in the Newport-Mesa Unified

437^th of 1,543Newport-Mesa 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	83.2	411 of 2761	85.1%	★★★★☆
2024	86.6	353 of 2783	87.3%	★★★★☆
2023	90.7	263 of 2781	90.5%	★★★★★
2022	88.8	299 of 2740	89.1%	★★★★☆
2019	86.2	344 of 2715	87.3%	★★★★☆
2018	83.8	367 of 2480	85.2%	★★★★☆
2017	81.9	414 of 2508	83.5%	★★★★☆
2016	77.2	505 of 2497	79.8%	★★★★☆
2015	78.5	463 of 2477	81.3%	★★★★☆
2013	74.6	470 of 2379	80.2%	★★★★☆
2012	77.4	367 of 2259	83.8%	★★★★☆
2011	78.6	321 of 2236	85.6%	★★★★☆
2010	73.9	457 of 2179	79.0%	★★★★☆
2009	77.1	347 of 2063	83.2%	★★★★☆
2008	65.3	590 of 2005	70.6%	★★★★☆
2007	70.4	477 of 1999	76.1%	★★★★☆
2006	67.2	496 of 1804	72.5%	★★★★☆
2005	68.7	469 of 1777	73.6%	★★★★☆
2004	61.5	570 of 1769	67.8%	★★★☆☆

Asian

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2024	64.6	313 of 743	57.9%	★★★☆☆
2022	74.4	185 of 733	74.8%	★★★★☆
2019	79.3	117 of 745	84.3%	★★★★☆
2018	77.5	135 of 700	80.7%	★★★★☆

Disabled

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2022	64.2	344 of 1531	77.5%	★★★★☆
2019	62.7	369 of 1491	75.3%	★★★★☆
2018	66.1	291 of 1369	78.7%	★★★★☆

English Language Learner

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2024	42.5	635 of 1478	57.0%	★★★☆☆
2023	41.8	699 of 1521	54.0%	★★★☆☆
2022	45.0	602 of 1540	60.9%	★★★☆☆
2019	62.1	277 of 1442	80.8%	★★★★☆
2018	45.7	499 of 1364	63.4%	★★★☆☆

Female

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	79.2	459 of 2533	81.9%	★★★★☆
2024	84.6	359 of 2551	85.9%	★★★★☆
2023	89.0	266 of 2531	89.5%	★★★★☆
2022	87.1	297 of 2509	88.2%	★★★★☆
2019	85.5	312 of 2380	86.9%	★★★★☆
2018	85.1	305 of 2262	86.5%	★★★★☆

Hispanic

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	67.6	583 of 2395	75.7%	★★★★☆
2024	78.2	359 of 2388	85.0%	★★★★☆
2023	87.8	178 of 2374	92.5%	★★★★★
2022	78.9	313 of 2359	86.7%	★★★★☆
2019	67.1	543 of 2213	75.5%	★★★★☆
2018	61.4	631 of 2072	69.5%	★★★☆☆

Homeless

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	68.7	96 of 477	79.9%	★★★★☆
2024	86.5	22 of 394	94.4%	★★★★★

Low Socio Economic Status

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	73.4	466 of 2542	81.7%	★★★★☆
2024	88.2	212 of 2579	91.8%	★★★★★
2023	90.3	163 of 2531	93.6%	★★★★★
2022	81.8	273 of 2458	88.9%	★★★★☆
2019	74.3	408 of 2369	82.8%	★★★★☆
2018	74.6	387 of 2230	82.6%	★★★★☆

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	84.3	360 of 2534	85.8%	★★★★☆
2024	86.5	322 of 2552	87.4%	★★★★☆
2023	90.0	248 of 2538	90.2%	★★★★★
2022	88.9	275 of 2527	89.1%	★★★★☆
2019	85.2	332 of 2407	86.2%	★★★★☆
2018	80.6	401 of 2273	82.4%	★★★★☆

Military Connected

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2024	48.1	94 of 192	51.0%	★★★☆☆

Multi-racial

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	83.2	97 of 726	86.6%	★★★★☆
2024	85.3	71 of 701	89.9%	★★★★★
2023	83.3	86 of 677	87.3%	★★★★☆
2022	74.7	154 of 665	76.8%	★★★★☆
2019	68.2	180 of 554	67.5%	★★★☆☆

Special Education

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	73.3	234 of 1566	85.1%	★★★★☆
2024	70.6	274 of 1552	82.3%	★★★★☆
2023	82.2	148 of 1531	90.3%	★★★★★

White

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	82.4	193 of 1520	87.3%	★★★★☆
2024	83.8	166 of 1537	89.2%	★★★★☆
2023	87.5	114 of 1543	92.6%	★★★★★
2022	87.9	100 of 1555	93.6%	★★★★★
2019	89.1	99 of 1602	93.8%	★★★★★
2018	83.1	189 of 1496	87.4%	★★★★☆

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)87th percentile~ school

Multi-racial (2025)87th percentile~ school

Male (2025)86th percentile~ school

Special Education (2025)85th percentile~ school

Female (2025)82nd percentile-3 vs school

Low Socio Economic Status (2025)82nd percentile-3 vs school

Homeless (2025)80th percentile-5 vs school

Disabled (2022)78th percentile-12 vs school

Hispanic (2025)76th percentile-9 vs school

Asian (2024)58th percentile-29 vs school

English Language Learner (2024)57th percentile-30 vs school

Military Connected (2024)51st percentile-36 vs school

By subject vs California (2024-2025) ?

English Language Arts/Literacy66%+18 vs state

Mathematics54%+17 vs state

Science44%+12 vs state

Writing20%+3 vs state

Listening15%-10 vs state

Overall7%-3 vs state

Reading7%~ state avg

★

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Schools Near Horace Ensign Intermediate

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 7th Grade	CSA Spanish Overall 8th Grade	CSA Spanish Overall All Grades	CSA Spanish Listening 7th Grade	CSA Spanish Listening 8th Grade	CSA Spanish Listening All Grades	CSA Spanish Writing 7th Grade	CSA Spanish Writing 8th Grade	CSA Spanish Writing All Grades	CSA Spanish Reading 7th Grade	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
Horace Ensign Intermediate	Public	7-8	2000 Cliff Dr.	Newport Beach	92663	Orange County	Newport-Mesa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 515-6910	875	42	20.9	47.2%	432 (49.4%)	3 (0.3%)	364 (41.6%)	14 (1.6%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	60 (6.9%)	83.2	411^th of 2761 public middle schools	85.1%		86.6	353^rd of 2783 public middle schools	87.3%	58	6.5	6.7	6.5	16.1	13.3	15.2	25.8	6.7	19.6	0.0	20.0	6.5	44.2	44.2		68.8	64.0	66.4		56.8	51.0	53.9	$23,991	$1,831	$22,160
Isaac L. Sowers Middle	Public	6-8	9300 Indianapolis Ave.	Huntington Beach	92646	Orange County	Huntington Beach City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 962-7738	771	32	24.2	25.0%	451 (58.5%)	3 (0.4%)	120 (15.6%)	96 (12.5%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	99 (12.8%)	91.9	228^th of 2761 public middle schools	91.7%		89.1	296^th of 2783 public middle schools	89.4%	68													58.9	58.9	69.6	79.5	68.6	72.7	66.3	58.3	68.1	64.1	$16,952	$1,038	$15,914
Charles W. Tewinkle Middle	Public	7-8	3224 California Ave.	Costa Mesa	92626	Orange County	Newport-Mesa Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 424-7965	501	33	15.3	80.8%	57 (11.4%)	4 (0.8%)	410 (81.8%)	14 (2.8%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.6%)	12 (2.4%)	42.7	1401^st of 2761 public middle schools	49.3%		43.3	1361^st of 2783 public middle schools	51.1%	40													18.9	18.9		46.3	44.5	45.4		29.0	31.5	30.3	$28,927	$2,732	$26,195
Talbert (Samuel E.) Middle	Public	6-8	9101 Brabham Dr.	Huntington Beach	92646	Orange County	Fountain Valley Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 378-4220	690	34	20.4	21.3%	325 (47.1%)	1 (0.1%)	156 (22.6%)	118 (17.1%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.3%)	87 (12.6%)	91.9	229^th of 2761 public middle schools	91.7%		92.6	217^th of 2783 public middle schools	92.2%	12													63.7	63.7	75.1	70.7	77.8	74.7	58.0	56.1	64.7	60.0	$14,422	$764	$13,658
Ethel Dwyer Middle	Public	6-8	1502 Palm Ave.	Huntington Beach	92648	Orange County	Huntington Beach City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 536-7507	884	34	25.9	37.1%	396 (44.8%)	4 (0.5%)	247 (27.9%)	112 (12.7%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	123 (13.9%)	86.2	351^st of 2761 public middle schools	87.3%		87.1	341^st of 2783 public middle schools	87.7%	10													45.9	45.9	69.6	71.5	63.4	68.2	60.2	65.4	49.5	58.5	$17,561	$1,202	$16,359
Douglas MacArthur Fundamental Intermediate	Public	6-8	600 West Alton Ave.	Santa Ana	92707	Orange County	Santa Ana Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 513-9800	1,005	45	22.4	82.0%	17 (1.7%)	1 (0.1%)	908 (90.3%)	52 (5.2%)	5 (0.5%)	5 (0.5%)	17 (1.7%)	53.1	1096^th of 2761 public middle schools	60.3%		48.9	1200^th of 2783 public middle schools	56.9%	104													27.7	27.7	50.3	47.8	52.2	50.2	34.9	30.5	36.0	33.9	$22,570	$907	$21,663
Masuda (Kazuo) Middle	Public	6-8	17415 Los Jardines West	Fountain Valley	92708	Orange County	Fountain Valley Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 378-4250	768	35	22.1	35.2%	162 (21.1%)	4 (0.5%)	159 (20.7%)	379 (49.3%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.5%)	60 (7.8%)	95.5	133^rd of 2761 public middle schools	95.2%		96.5	107^th of 2783 public middle schools	96.2%	26													60.8	60.8	77.2	81.4	71.6	76.9	74.5	75.6	71.2	73.9	$13,937	$1,020	$12,917
Fulton (Harry C.) Middle	Public	6-8	8778 El Lago St.	Fountain Valley	92708	Orange County	Fountain Valley Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 375-2816	753	34	22.1	23.1%	189 (25.1%)	1 (0.1%)	103 (13.7%)	398 (52.9%)	1 (0.1%)	5 (0.7%)	55 (7.3%)	97.1	75^th of 2761 public middle schools	97.3%		96.7	101^st of 2783 public middle schools	96.4%	26													71.2	71.2	82.8	83.3	87.7	84.5	70.0	71.9	70.3	70.7	$14,852	$793	$14,059
Rancho San Joaquin Middle	Public	7-8	4861 Michelson Dr.	Irvine	92612	Orange County	Irvine Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 936-6500	860	35	24.3	22.3%	224 (26.0%)	23 (2.7%)	105 (12.2%)	428 (49.8%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	77 (9.0%)	96.8	89^th of 2761 public middle schools	96.8%		97.6	73^rd of 2783 public middle schools	97.4%	16													73.9	73.9		78.2	78.4	78.3		72.5	76.8	74.7	$14,938	$821	$14,117
South Lake Middle	Public	7-8	655 West Yale Loop	Irvine	92614	Orange County	Irvine Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 936-6700	652	29	22.2	34.2%	205 (31.4%)	25 (3.8%)	108 (16.6%)	239 (36.7%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.3%)	72 (11.0%)	91.2	247^th of 2761 public middle schools	91.1%		92.8	211^th of 2783 public middle schools	92.4%	36													58.5	58.5		69.3	75.8	72.7		59.3	60.2	59.8	$16,577	$1,130	$15,447

Frequently Asked Questions about Horace Ensign Intermediate

How many students attend Horace Ensign Intermediate?

In the 2024-25 school year, 875 students attended Horace Ensign Intermediate.

What is the racial makeup of Horace Ensign Intermediate?

Students at Horace Ensign Intermediate are 49% White, 42% Hispanic, 7% Two or more races, 2% Asian.

What high school do graduates of Horace Ensign Intermediate attend?

Students who attend Horace Ensign Intermediate usually go on to attend Newport Harbor High

What district is Horace Ensign Intermediate in?

Newport-Mesa Unified

Is Horace Ensign Intermediate a good school?

Horace Ensign Intermediate ranks 411^th of 2761 California middle schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 4 stars out of 5.

Rate Horace Ensign Intermediate!

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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.