Summary:
ZIP code 90021 has two middle schools serving grades 6–8: Para Los Ninos Middle and CDS Secondary. In the latest year with results for both, 2024–2025, the schools’ average proficiency was about 20% in ELA, 8% in math and 9% in science, compared with state results of 49%, 37% and 33%. The most important finding is that neither school reached the state result in any of the three subjects.
Para Los Ninos Middle was the stronger school in the shared comparison year, leading CDS Secondary by 24 percentage points in ELA, 17 points in math and 18 points in science. Its proficiency was 31% in ELA, 17% in math and 18% in science; CDS recorded 8% in ELA and 0% in both math and science. Para Los Ninos was also closer to state results: its gaps were 17 points in ELA, 20 in math and 14 in science, while CDS was behind by 41, 37 and 33 points, respectively. For both schools, science was the subject closest to the state benchmark.
CDS’s results improved in 2025–2026, though it remained below state results: ELA rose from 8% to 33%, math from 0% to 14% and science from 0% to 9%. Its SchoolDigger statewide rank also moved from 1st in 2024–2025 to 21st in 2025–2026, while Para Los Ninos’s rank was 24th in 2024–2025. Para Los Ninos had 305 students and a 20.3 student-teacher ratio; CDS had 17 students and a 4.1 ratio, so its percentages may be more sensitive to small changes in test-taker numbers. Both schools reported the same low-income measure, free/reduced lunch eligible, for 2024–2025: 94% at Para Los Ninos and 82% at CDS; these figures provide context, not an explanation for results.
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