Summary:
ZIP code 92868 has three Orange Unified schools serving 1,189 students: Portola Middle for grades 7–8 and West Orange Elementary and Sycamore Elementary for kindergarten through grade 6. In 2025–2026, the three-school average was 44% proficient in English language arts (ELA), 33% in math and 28% in science—about 6, 5 and 8 percentage points below California, respectively. The most important finding is that results vary substantially by school, particularly in science.
West Orange stands out: it was the only school above the state in all three subjects, with 51% in ELA, 39% in math and 39% in science. Compared with the other two schools’ average, West Orange led by 11 points in ELA, 9 in math and 17 in science. At the other end, Portola had the lowest ELA and math results: 36% in ELA, 11 points below the other schools’ average, and 28% in math, 7 points below. Sycamore had the lowest science score at 18%, 14 points below the other schools’ average. Among the elementary schools, strengths also vary by grade: Sycamore led grade 4 math by 13 points, while West Orange led grade 3 math by 27 points.
Recent changes were mixed. From 2024–2025 to 2025–2026, West Orange’s science score rose 16 points, while Portola’s ELA fell 3 points and Sycamore’s math fell 6. Across the schools, average ELA was essentially unchanged, math rose about 1 point and science rose 6. SchoolDigger’s percentile ranking increased from 23 to 39 for Portola, while West Orange’s fell from 65 to 60 and Sycamore’s from 57 to 44. Ratios in 2024–2025 ranged from 20.9 students per teacher at Portola to 27.6 at West Orange; the higher-scoring school had the higher ratio. All three reported free/reduced lunch eligible figures for 2024–2025: 92% at Portola, 82% at West Orange and 89% at Sycamore. These are differences in school context, not evidence that any one factor explains test results.
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