Summary:
ZIP code 90720 has two middle schools, both serving grades 6–8 in Los Alamitos Unified: Sharon Christa McAuliffe Middle and Oak Middle. Each enrolls about 1,000 students, and both schools scored above state results in ELA, math, and science in 2025–2026. The clearest difference between them is science: Oak scored 78% and McAuliffe 56%, a 22-point gap, while their math scores were only 3 points apart.
Oak Middle leads the pair in all three all-grades subjects, with scores of 79% in ELA, 67% in math, and 78% in science; McAuliffe scored 71%, 64%, and 56%, respectively. Both are strong statewide, but Oak has the higher scores. SchoolDigger ranks Oak 135th of 2,703 schools (95th percentile, five stars) and McAuliffe 253rd (91st percentile, five stars). Oak also leads in five of six grade-level ELA and math comparisons; the exception is seventh-grade math, where McAuliffe leads by 2 points.
Results changed differently by subject over the two reported years: McAuliffe gained 1 point in ELA, 7 in math, and 1 in science, while Oak fell 2 points in ELA and rose 2 in math and 11 in science. Across the pair, their average advantage over the state narrowed by 1 point in ELA but widened by 3 points in both math and science. Enrollment and student-teacher ratios are nearly identical: 1,018 students and a 26.1 ratio at McAuliffe, versus 998 and 26.2 at Oak. Both report free/reduced lunch eligible for 2024–2025: 22% at McAuliffe and 15% at Oak. Chronic absenteeism in 2025–2026 was 7% at McAuliffe and 5% at Oak, both below the state’s 18%. These comparisons cover only the two schools and two reported years and do not establish causes.
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