Best Middle Schools in Zip Code 92277

ZIP code 92277 has two middle schools in Morongo Unified: La Contenta Middle serves grades 7–8, and Twentynine Palms Junior High serves grades 6–8. In 2025–26, both schools scored below statewide results in all-grades ELA, math and science; science was their strongest subject relative to the state, while math was the largest shared weakness. Across the two schools, the average was 22 points below the state in math, compared with 20 points in ELA and 10 in science. The most important finding is that math is the widest common gap from state results.

La Contenta Middle stands out in all-grades ELA and math, scoring 32% and 17%, compared with 26% and 15% at Twentynine Palms Junior High—leads of 6 and 3 points. But Twentynine Palms Junior High has the higher all-grades science result, 27% versus 26%. Grade-level results reverse the overall ELA and math picture: La Contenta Middle leads in grade 7 by 15 points in ELA and 8 in math, while Twentynine Palms Junior High leads in grade 8 by 6 points in ELA and 5 in math. Since the schools serve different grade spans, their all-grades results are not fully like-for-like.

Across the two schools, average scores fell from 2024–25 to 2025–26 by 7 points in ELA and 1 point in math, while science was nearly flat; statewide results rose in all three subjects, widening the average gaps. SchoolDigger’s statewide percentile rankings also declined: La Contenta Middle went from 33 to 25 between 2023–24 and 2025–26, while Twentynine Palms Junior High fell from 44 to 18. Other differences offer context, not an explanation for scores: in 2024–25, the student-teacher ratios were 19.5 and 20.3, respectively, and free/reduced lunch eligible students made up 70% at La Contenta Middle and 65% at Twentynine Palms Junior High. Chronic absenteeism in 2025–26 was higher at both schools than statewide: 34% at La Contenta Middle and 30% at Twentynine Palms Junior High, versus 18% statewide.