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Pioneer Middle

Q: Is Pioneer Middle a good school?

Pioneer Middle ranks 1074 th of 2761 California middle schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 3 stars out of 5.

Public, Charter Grades 6-8

1074^th

SchoolDigger Rank ?

of 2,761 California Middle Schools

Better than 61% of California middle schools

Summary

Pioneer Middle is a public school serving about 550 students in grades 6 through 8 in Hanford, CA, operating within the well-regarded Pioneer Union Elementary district, which is rated in the top 30% in the state.

The school is a solid, consistent performer, particularly strong in English Language Arts where student scores outpace the state average. It stands out for its exceptional support for military-connected students and its success with several student groups. Compared to nearby schools like Liberty Middle and John F. Kennedy Junior High, Pioneer Middle maintains a lower rate of chronic student absences and does this with less spending per student than most of its neighbors, offering good value.

Areas for growth include mathematics and science, where proficiency is below state averages, a trend seen across grade levels. Performance for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds has recently declined, which the school is likely addressing. While it ranks in the middle of the pack among local schools overall, Pioneer Middle is known for its stability, effective post-pandemic recovery, and specific strengths in creating a supportive environment for many of its students.

550

Students ?

22.8

Student/teacher ratio ?

$13,224

Per pupil spending ?

45.1%

Free/discounted lunch ?

101 West Pioneer Way
Hanford, CA 93230-9677

(559) 584-0112

District: Pioneer Union Elementary

Students who attend Pioneer Middle usually attend:

High:

Sierra Pacific High

Feeder schools for Pioneer Middle:

Elementary:	Frontier Elementary
	Pioneer Elementary

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:

58.5%

White:

26.9%

Asian:

5.1%

See top rated California middle schools

Compare Pioneer Middle to nearby middle schools!

At a glance

▼ Ranking trend: Declining — 77th percentile in 2015 → 61st in 2025

Strengths

✓Above the California median (61st percentile)

Worth a look

!Ranking has slipped — down 16 percentile points since 2015

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

!Science scores 10 pts below the California average

Students meeting standards (2024-2025) ?

This school40%

District avg45%

California avg41%

1,074^th of 2,761

California public middle schools ?

Top 39%▼ down 15 pts since 2015

From top 23% (2015) to top 39% (2025)

See the entire ranking list of California Middle Schools →

★★★★★

SchoolDigger rating ?

436^th of 1,543Pioneer 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	54.1	1074 of 2761	61.1%	★★★☆☆
2024	63.1	815 of 2783	70.7%	★★★★☆
2023	65.8	764 of 2781	72.5%	★★★★☆
2022	66.1	758 of 2740	72.3%	★★★★☆
2021	50.7	387 of 894	56.7%	★★★☆☆
2019	63.3	834 of 2715	69.3%	★★★☆☆
2018	58.6	882 of 2480	64.4%	★★★☆☆
2017	63.1	819 of 2508	67.3%	★★★☆☆
2016	62.2	813 of 2497	67.4%	★★★☆☆
2015	73.0	580 of 2477	76.6%	★★★★☆
2013	68.2	645 of 2379	72.9%	★★★★☆
2012	75.2	426 of 2259	81.1%	★★★★☆
2011	64.9	684 of 2236	69.4%	★★★☆☆
2010	64.9	662 of 2179	69.6%	★★★☆☆
2009	66.7	586 of 2063	71.6%	★★★★☆
2008	64.5	610 of 2005	69.6%	★★★☆☆
2007	60.5	671 of 1999	66.4%	★★★☆☆
2006	64.9	541 of 1804	70.0%	★★★★☆
2005	52.5	755 of 1777	57.5%	★★★☆☆
2004	63.7	541 of 1769	69.4%	★★★☆☆

African American

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	70.9	128 of 609	79.0%	★★★★☆

Asian

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2024	74.8	187 of 743	74.8%	★★★★☆

Disabled

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2022	37.7	833 of 1531	45.6%	★★☆☆☆
2021	40.2	180 of 354	49.2%	★★☆☆☆
2019	16.5	1490 of 1491	0.1%	☆☆☆☆☆
2018	43.0	625 of 1369	54.3%	★★★☆☆

Female

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	49.6	1109 of 2533	56.2%	★★★☆☆
2024	56.4	897 of 2551	64.8%	★★★☆☆
2023	63.8	739 of 2531	70.8%	★★★★☆
2022	64.5	722 of 2509	71.2%	★★★★☆
2021	43.8	376 of 738	49.1%	★★☆☆☆
2019	66.1	701 of 2380	70.5%	★★★★☆
2018	62.4	733 of 2262	67.6%	★★★☆☆

Hispanic

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	58.3	806 of 2395	66.3%	★★★☆☆
2024	63.2	653 of 2388	72.7%	★★★★☆
2023	74.4	414 of 2374	82.6%	★★★★☆
2022	69.6	510 of 2359	78.4%	★★★★☆
2019	61.8	650 of 2213	70.6%	★★★★☆
2018	56.7	736 of 2072	64.5%	★★★☆☆

Low Socio Economic Status

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	41.6	1357 of 2542	46.6%	★★☆☆☆
2024	48.1	1103 of 2579	57.2%	★★★☆☆
2023	59.1	767 of 2531	69.7%	★★★☆☆
2022	75.7	389 of 2458	84.2%	★★★★☆
2021	66.1	180 of 721	75.0%	★★★★☆
2019	58.8	762 of 2369	67.8%	★★★☆☆
2018	58.5	734 of 2230	67.1%	★★★☆☆

Male

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	56.5	919 of 2534	63.7%	★★★☆☆
2024	67.4	681 of 2552	73.3%	★★★★☆
2023	65.6	699 of 2538	72.5%	★★★★☆
2022	65.7	704 of 2527	72.1%	★★★★☆
2021	56.8	291 of 763	61.9%	★★★☆☆
2019	57.0	880 of 2407	63.4%	★★★☆☆
2018	52.9	922 of 2273	59.4%	★★★☆☆

Military Connected

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	84.2	25 of 194	87.1%	★★★★☆
2024	88.4	12 of 192	93.8%	★★★★★
2023	83.5	24 of 197	87.8%	★★★★☆
2022	78.9	33 of 193	82.9%	★★★★☆

Multi-racial

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2019	25.4	441 of 554	20.4%	★☆☆☆☆

Special Education

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	43.9	709 of 1566	54.7%	★★★☆☆
2024	55.8	468 of 1552	69.8%	★★★☆☆
2023	51.2	537 of 1531	64.9%	★★★☆☆

White

Year	Avg score	Statewide rank	California percentile	Rating
2025	49.6	756 of 1520	50.3%	★★★☆☆
2024	61.5	563 of 1537	63.4%	★★★☆☆
2023	56.3	637 of 1543	58.7%	★★★☆☆
2022	60.2	587 of 1555	62.3%	★★★☆☆
2019	51.3	769 of 1602	52.0%	★★★☆☆
2018	47.8	776 of 1496	48.1%	★★☆☆☆

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)

Military Connected (2025)87th percentile+26 vs school

African American (2025)79th percentile+18 vs school

Asian (2024)75th percentile+4 vs school

Hispanic (2025)66th percentile+5 vs school

Male (2025)64th percentile+3 vs school

Female (2025)56th percentile-5 vs school

Special Education (2025)55th percentile-6 vs school

White (2025)50th percentile-11 vs school

Low Socio Economic Status (2025)47th percentile-14 vs school

Disabled (2022)46th percentile-27 vs school

Multi-racial (2019)20th percentile-49 vs school

By subject vs California (2024-2025) ?

English Language Arts/Literacy56%+7 vs state

Mathematics32%-6 vs state

Science23%-10 vs state

★

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Schools Near Pioneer 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 4th Grade	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 4th Grade	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
Pioneer Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	101 West Pioneer Way	Hanford	93230	Kings County	Pioneer Union Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 584-0112	550	24	22.8	45.1%	148 (26.9%)	23 (4.2%)	322 (58.5%)	28 (5.1%)	5 (0.9%)	3 (0.5%)	21 (3.8%)	54.1	1074^th of 2761 public middle schools	61.1%		63.1	815^th of 2783 public middle schools	70.7%	259		22.6	22.6			60.4	58.2	50.2	55.9			35.9	32.5	27.5	31.7	$13,224	$1,198	$12,026
Woodrow Wilson Junior High	Public	7-8	601 West Florinda St.	Hanford	93230	Kings County	Hanford Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 585-3870	505	28	18.0	76.2%	71 (14.1%)	21 (4.2%)	383 (75.8%)	10 (2.0%)	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	15 (3.0%)	54.2	1069^th of 2761 public middle schools	61.3%		52.3	1097^th of 2783 public middle schools	60.6%	28		27.9	27.9				49.6	48.5	49.0				37.0	36.2	36.6	$14,814	$1,791	$13,023
John F. Kennedy Junior High	Public	7-8	1000 East Florinda St.	Hanford	93232	Kings County	Hanford Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 585-3850	531	25	21.2	82.9%	45 (8.5%)	23 (4.3%)	431 (81.2%)	4 (0.8%)	4 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	24 (4.5%)	46.1	1291^st of 2761 public middle schools	53.2%		35.3	1612^th of 2783 public middle schools	42.1%	321		16.6	16.6				48.6	49.8	49.2				26.7	36.7	31.8	$15,497	$1,828	$13,669
Laton Middle	Public	6-8	6065 East Latonia	Laton	93242	Fresno County	Laton Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 922-4030	154	9	17.1	87.7%	15 (9.7%)	1 (0.6%)	134 (87.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.6%)	21.1	2180^th of 2761 public middle schools	21.0%		21.2	2212^th of 2783 public middle schools	20.5%	32		10.0	10.0			26.2	33.3	27.1	28.8			9.8	35.6	10.0	17.8
Parkview Middle	Public	5-8	11075 C St.	Armona	93202	Kings County	Armona Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 583-5020	443	22	20.5	83.3%	35 (7.9%)	21 (4.7%)	365 (82.4%)	11 (2.5%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	9 (2.0%)	20.8	2193^rd of 2761 public middle schools	20.6%		21.7	2190^th of 2783 public middle schools	21.3%	3	16.8	15.2	16.1		38.9	24.4	29.9	34.6	31.9		33.6	13.2	16.3	20.0	20.8
Liberty Middle	Public	7-8	1000 Liberty Dr.	Lemoore	93245	Kings County	Lemoore Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 924-6860	636	33	19.4	81.3%	94 (14.8%)	16 (2.5%)	458 (72.0%)	29 (4.6%)	4 (0.6%)	5 (0.8%)	29 (4.6%)	61.2	875^th of 2761 public middle schools	68.3%		62.9	821^st of 2783 public middle schools	70.5%	54		22.4	22.4				61.5	59.9	60.7				37.8	38.2	38.0	$13,693	$1,259	$12,434
Bridges Academy	Public	6-8	1200 West Cinnamon Dr.	Lemoore	93245	Kings County	Lemoore Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 924-6800	1	1	1.0		0 (0.0%)	1 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								(n/a)																$19,675	$570	$19,105
Ronald W. Reagan Elementary	Public, Charter	4-6	1180 Diane Ave.	Kingsburg	93631	Fresno County	Kingsburg Elementary Charter	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 897-6986	619	21	29.4	73.2%	146 (23.6%)	1 (0.2%)	436 (70.4%)	9 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	27 (4.4%)								(n/a)	28.9		28.9	51.7	48.8	47.9			49.3	43.4	28.9	31.9			34.4	$15,307	$975	$14,332
Island Community Day	Public, Charter	4-8	1776 Sixth Avenue Dr.	Kingsburg	93631	Fresno County	Kingsburg Elementary Charter	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 897-1046	2	1	2.0		0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (100.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								(n/a)																$62,557	$567	$61,990
Lemoore University Elementary Charter	Public, Charter	6-8	450 Marsh Dr.	Lemoore	93245	Kings County	Lemoore Union Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 924-6890	155	7	22.1	61.9%	46 (29.7%)	2 (1.3%)	75 (48.4%)	13 (8.4%)	7 (4.5%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (7.7%)	64.8	791^st of 2761 public middle schools	71.4%		55.4	1003^rd of 2783 public middle schools	64.0%	212		30.9	30.9			59.5	71.2	61.8	64.6			32.4	44.2	26.4	34.5	$5,141	$570	$4,571

Frequently Asked Questions about Pioneer Middle

What is the racial makeup of Pioneer Middle?

Students at Pioneer Middle are 59% Hispanic, 27% White, 5% Asian, 4% African American, 4% Two or more races.

What high school do graduates of Pioneer Middle attend?

Students who attend Pioneer Middle usually go on to attend Sierra Pacific High

What district is Pioneer Middle in?

Pioneer Union Elementary

How many students attend Pioneer Middle?

In the 2024-25 school year, 550 students attended Pioneer Middle.

Is Pioneer Middle a good school?

Pioneer Middle ranks 1074^th of 2761 California middle schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 3 stars out of 5.

Rate Pioneer 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.