Southwest Middle

Summary:

Southwest Middle is a public middle school located in San Diego, California, serving grades 7-8 with a total enrollment of 441 students. The school is part of the Sweetwater Union High School District, which is ranked 745 out of 1,568 districts in California and has a 3-star rating from SchoolDigger.

Southwest Middle faces significant challenges, particularly in terms of chronic absenteeism, academic performance, and equity concerns. The school has consistently high chronic absenteeism rates, ranging from 27.0% in 2020-2021 to 32.7% in 2021-2022, which is significantly higher than the nearby schools. Academically, Southwest Middle's performance, as measured by Smarter Balanced Assessments and CAST Science tests, is consistently lower than the Sweetwater Union High School District and the state of California averages. For example, in 2023-2024, only 33.55% of Southwest Middle students were proficient or better in English Language Arts/Literacy, compared to 49.93% for the district and 47.04% for the state. In Mathematics, the proficiency rate was just 14.59%, compared to 27.89% for the district and 35.54% for the state. Additionally, the school's performance varies significantly across different student subgroups, with English Language Learners performing relatively well, but other subgroups, such as White students and students with disabilities, performing much worse.

When compared to other middle schools in the Sweetwater Union High School District, Bonita Vista Middle, Rancho del Rey Middle, Chula Vista Middle, Hilltop Middle, Vista Del Mar, Castle Park Middle, San Ysidro Middle, Montgomery Middle, and Mar Vista Academy, Southwest Middle consistently performs worse across a range of metrics, including test scores, chronic absenteeism, and student subgroup performance. This suggests that Southwest Middle may be facing unique challenges that the Sweetwater Union High School District should investigate and address.


Detail:

Public 7-8

 2710 Iris St.
       San Diego, CA  92154-3338


(619) 628-4000

District: Sweetwater Union High

SchoolDigger Rank:
2100th of 2,777 California Middle Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures:  $9,453 Help


Students who attend Southwest Middle usually attend:

High:    Southwest Senior High

Feeder schools for Southwest Middle:

Elementary:    George Nicoloff Elementary

Student/teacher ratio:  19.7 Help
Number of students:  483

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
91.9%
White:
3.3%
Asian:
2.1%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  72.3% Help


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Performance Trends
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Compare Details Southwest Middle ranks worse than 75.6% of middle schools in California. It also ranks 10th among 11 ranked middle schools in the Sweetwater Union High School District. (See more...)
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Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 23.5. (See more...)
Help
Chronic absenteeism in a school refers to a situation where students repeatedly miss school, with the threshold often defined as missing 10% or more of school days for any reason, excused or unexcused.
Student Body
Help
Compare Details Racial makeup is: Hispanic (91.9%), White (3.3%), Asian (2.1%). (See more...)
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Compare Details 72.3% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)
Teachers
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Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Southwest Middle is 19.7, which is the 3rd best among 11 middle schools in the Sweetwater Union High School District. (See more...)
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Compare Southwest Middle employs 24.4 full-time teachers.
Finance
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Compare Details The average total spent per student at Southwest Middle is $9,453, which is the 2nd highest among 11 middle schools in the Sweetwater Union High School District.
Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Southwest Middle:

SchoolDigger ranks Southwest Middle 2100th of 2777 California public middle schools. (See Southwest Middle in the ranking list.)

Middle School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:


English Language Learner students:
Special Education students:
Low Socio Economic Status students:
Female students:
Male students:
Hispanic students:
White students:


Sweetwater Union High:

SchoolDigger ranks Sweetwater Union High 745th of 1568 California school districts. (See district ranking list.)


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Rank History for Southwest Middle

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Compare

Rank History for all students at Southwest Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2004 24.10 1339th 1769 24.3%
2005 19.95 1447th 1777 18.6%
2006 25.28 1365th 1804 24.3%
2007 27.47 1465th 1999 26.7%
2008 25.12 1561st 2005 22.1%
2009 34.07 1359th 2063 34.1%
2010 33.25 1493rd 2179 31.5%
2011 42.42 1294th 2236 42.1%
2012 27.39 1723rd 2259 23.7%
2013 17.88 2063rd 2379 13.3%
2015 14.86 2192nd 2477 11.5%
2016 15.36 2193rd 2497 12.2%
2017 16.06 2181st 2508 13.0%
2018 14.10 2203rd 2480 11.2%
2019 20.68 2157th 2715 20.6%
2021 15.99 800th 894 10.5%
2022 14.26 2482nd 2740 9.4%
2023 17.51 2406th 2802 14.1%
2024 23.50 2100th 2777 24.4%
See the entire list of California Middle School Rankings!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Southwest Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 37.52 693rd 1364 49.2%
2019 45.12 539th 1442 62.6%
2021 35.22 252nd 363 30.6%
2022 35.99 931st 1540 39.5%
2023 42.04 689th 1529 54.9%
2024 56.10 326th 1477 77.9%
See the entire list of Best California Middle Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Southwest Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2023 34.97 915th 1538 40.5%
2024 28.80 1138th 1550 26.6%
See the entire list of Best California Middle Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Southwest Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 19.12 1930th 2230 13.5%
2019 28.24 1755th 2369 25.9%
2021 23.57 602nd 721 16.5%
2022 18.04 2180th 2458 11.3%
2023 20.38 2154th 2549 15.5%
2024 26.50 1923rd 2575 25.3%
See the entire list of Best California Middle Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Southwest Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 12.33 2087th 2262 7.7%
2019 16.02 2073rd 2380 12.9%
2021 16.82 659th 738 10.7%
2022 14.89 2269th 2509 9.6%
2023 15.31 2294th 2547 9.9%
2024 27.48 1777th 2546 30.2%
See the entire list of Best California Middle Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Disabled students at Southwest Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 26.71 1061st 1369 22.5%
2019 26.18 1161st 1491 22.1%
2021 26.67 297th 354 16.1%
2022 19.17 1467th 1531 4.2%
See the entire list of Best California Middle Schools for Disabled Students!

Rank History for Male students at Southwest Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 15.10 2049th 2273 9.9%
2019 24.44 1822nd 2407 24.3%
2021 16.81 686th 763 10.1%
2022 14.33 2321st 2527 8.2%
2023 20.05 2096th 2558 18.1%
2024 19.46 2105th 2547 17.4%
See the entire list of Best California Middle Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Southwest Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 16.51 1851st 2072 10.7%
2019 24.98 1708th 2213 22.8%
2022 18.74 2058th 2359 12.8%
2023 22.53 1926th 2391 19.4%
2024 29.62 1657th 2383 30.5%
See the entire list of Best California Middle Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for White students at Southwest Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2019 21.83 1268th 1602 20.8%
2022 1.64 1552nd 1555 0.2%
2023 3.17 1536th 1552 1.0%
2024 5.45 1486th 1535 3.2%
See the entire list of Best California Middle Schools for White Students!

Data source: test scores: California Department of Education, rankings: SchoolDigger.com

As you review the school rankings data, please be aware that some of the information from certain demographics is missing. The reason for this omission is that the data has been redacted from the source data itself due to low population samples in these specific demographic groups.

Redacting data from low population samples is a necessary step to ensure the reliability and accuracy of the results, as small sample sizes may not be representative of the broader population. Additionally, this measure helps protect the privacy of individuals belonging to these demographic groups.

Southwest Middle Test Scores
Tests: 
  
Grades: 
  
Years: 
  
Group by: 
District Scores:
State Scores:    
  
Subgroup: 





Data source: California Department of Education

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Enrollment information for Southwest Middle

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Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
1988 236 38 164 696 8 n/a n/a 0 1142
1989 193 50 166 765 7 n/a n/a 0 1181
1990 200 45 166 864 6 n/a n/a 0 1281
1991 165 49 158 893 10 n/a n/a 0 1275
1992 145 52 153 956 6 n/a n/a 0 1312
1993 118 62 139 1014 6 n/a n/a 0 1339
1994 106 59 134 1049 2 n/a n/a 0 1350
1995 79 63 120 910 2 n/a n/a 0 1174
1996 79 63 120 910 2 n/a n/a 0 1174
1997 60 66 103 935 2 n/a n/a 0 1166
1998 55 61 105 986 1 n/a n/a 0 1208
1999 45 67 92 1013 2 n/a n/a 0 1219
2000 53 57 97 983 2 n/a n/a 0 1192
2001 40 33 78 991 3 n/a n/a 0 1145
2002 28 35 53 741 1 n/a n/a 0 858
2003 28 35 53 741 1 n/a n/a 0 858
2004 32 33 51 776 7 n/a n/a 0 899
2005 32 35 41 760 3 n/a n/a 0 871
2006 15 37 39 747 3 n/a n/a 0 841
2007 10 28 27 710 2 n/a n/a 0 777
2008 10 27 17 744 1 n/a n/a 0 799
2009 12 22 23 712 0 2 0 0 771
2010 5 13 19 664 0 2 8 0 711
2011 5 13 9 598 0 1 9 0 635
2012 10 10 9 553 1 1 11 0 595
2013 12 18 7 593 1 1 9 0 641
2014 9 12 5 616 3 0 9 0 654
2015 10 10 5 639 2 0 9 0 675
2016 7 13 9 651 2 0 9 0 691
2017 5 6 11 600 0 0 9 0 631
2018 18 4 17 591 1 2 17 0 650
2019 57 8 12 602 3 2 7 0 691
2020 57 11 8 554 0 1 9 0 640
2021 50 5 8 475 1 1 9 0 549
2022 35 8 4 394 3 1 17 0 462
2023 33 11 6 381 1 0 9 0 441
2024 16 7 10 444 0 0 6 0 483

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Enrollment/Ethnicity

For more information about how the Department of Education defines ethnicity, see Defining Race and Ethnicity Data, National Center for Education Statistics

Students eligible for free or discounted lunch at Southwest Middle

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 1142 46.3 24.6 n/a
1989 1181 47.3 24.9 n/a
1990 1281 47.9 26.7 n/a
1991 1275 49.4 25.8 n/a
1992 1312 50.2 26.1 35.7
1993 1339 60.2 22.2 44.7
1994 1350 59.2 22.8 57.3
1995 1174 49.8 23.6 72.6
1996 1174 49.8 23.6 72.6
1997 1166 50.8 23.0 69.2
1998 1208 52.2 23.1 68.8
1999 1219 53.4 22.8 61
2000 1192 54.6 21.8 21.7
2001 1145 54.6 21.0 82.9
2002 858 42.3 20.3 99.7
2003 858 42.3 20.3 99.7
2004 899 40.7 22.1 83.6
2005 871 41.9 20.8 80.9
2006 841 41.1 20.5 79.2
2007 777 40.3 19.3 79.7
2008 799 46.8 17.1 63.2
2009 771 40.7 15.8 81.1
2010 711 42.3 16.7 84.7
2011 635 n/a n/a 83.6
2012 595 34.5 17.2 n/a
2013 641 32.8 19.5 81.1
2014 654 35.0 18.6 89.8
2015 675 33.0 20.4 86.4
2016 691 30.0 23.0 83.9
2017 631 29.6 21.3 77.8
2018 650 29.8 21.8 91.5
2019 691 31.9 21.6 85.8
2020 640 n/a n/a 83.3
2021 549 24.3 22.5 72.5
2022 462 23.4 19.7 75.3
2023 441 20.8 21.1 78.2
2024 483 24.4 19.7 72.3

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Students eligible for discounted/free lunch:

The National School Lunch Program (NSLP) provides low-cost or free meals to students in U.S. public and nonprofit private schools based on household income. Those with incomes below 130% of the poverty line receive free lunch, while those between 130% and 185% qualify for reduced-price lunch. The percentage of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch serves as a marker for poverty, as it reflects the socioeconomic status of families in a given school or district. A higher FRPL rate typically indicates a higher concentration of low-income families, suggesting that the school or district may face additional challenges in providing adequate resources and support for student success.

Student/Teacher Ratio Southwest Middle

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 1142 46.3 24.6 n/a
1989 1181 47.3 24.9 n/a
1990 1281 47.9 26.7 n/a
1991 1275 49.4 25.8 n/a
1992 1312 50.2 26.1 35.7
1993 1339 60.2 22.2 44.7
1994 1350 59.2 22.8 57.3
1995 1174 49.8 23.6 72.6
1996 1174 49.8 23.6 72.6
1997 1166 50.8 23.0 69.2
1998 1208 52.2 23.1 68.8
1999 1219 53.4 22.8 61
2000 1192 54.6 21.8 21.7
2001 1145 54.6 21.0 82.9
2002 858 42.3 20.3 99.7
2003 858 42.3 20.3 99.7
2004 899 40.7 22.1 83.6
2005 871 41.9 20.8 80.9
2006 841 41.1 20.5 79.2
2007 777 40.3 19.3 79.7
2008 799 46.8 17.1 63.2
2009 771 40.7 15.8 81.1
2010 711 42.3 16.7 84.7
2011 635 n/a n/a 83.6
2012 595 34.5 17.2 n/a
2013 641 32.8 19.5 81.1
2014 654 35.0 18.6 89.8
2015 675 33.0 20.4 86.4
2016 691 30.0 23.0 83.9
2017 631 29.6 21.3 77.8
2018 650 29.8 21.8 91.5
2019 691 31.9 21.6 85.8
2020 640 n/a n/a 83.3
2021 549 24.3 22.5 72.5
2022 462 23.4 19.7 75.3
2023 441 20.8 21.1 78.2
2024 483 24.4 19.7 72.3

Data source: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Dept of Education.

About Student-Teacher Ratio

Student/teacher ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of students by the total number of full-time equivalent teachers. Please note that a smaller student/teacher ratio does not necessarily translate to smaller class size. In some instances, schools hire teachers part time, and some teachers are hired for specialized instruction with very small class sizes. These and other factors contribute to the student/teacher ratio. Note: For private schools, Student/teacher ratio may not include Pre-Kindergarten.
Finances

Per Pupil Expenditures for Southwest Middle

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YearTotal Expenditures Per Pupil
2018 $9,453

Data source: California Department of Education
Pre and Post Pandemic Data

Impact of COVID-19 on Southwest Middle

The coronavirus has had a profound impact on education in America. Learning shifted online overnight, attendance numbers dwindled, and enrollment decreased. SchoolDigger.com is making it easier for you to better assess how COVID-19 has impacted your school. Through the collection of pre-pandemic (2019) and current data, SchoolDigger.com is sharing test scores, enrollment numbers and school demographics from schools across the country – and we make it easy to see how impacted schools compare locally and statewide.

Rankings

Rank
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Rank
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Ranks 2157th of 2715 Middle schoolsRanks 2406th of 2802 Middle schools
 6.4%

Test Scores

% proficient
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
% proficient
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
7th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Southwest Middle)31.125.1
 5.9%
   7th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Sweetwater Union High)53.747.9
 5.8%
   7th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (California)51.447.4
 3.9%
7th Grade Mathematics (Southwest Middle)18.311.5
 6.8%
   7th Grade Mathematics (Sweetwater Union High)36.931.2
 5.6%
   7th Grade Mathematics (California)37.933.2
 4.7%
8th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Southwest Middle)33.229.1
 4.2%
   8th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Sweetwater Union High)50.445
 5.5%
   8th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (California)49.445.7
 3.8%
8th Grade Mathematics (Southwest Middle)18.67.5
 11.1%
   8th Grade Mathematics (Sweetwater Union High)33.325.8
 7.5%
   8th Grade Mathematics (California)36.629.9
 6.7%
8th Grade Science (Southwest Middle)11.59.6
 1.9%
   8th Grade Science (Sweetwater Union High)29.424.2
 5.2%
   8th Grade Science (California)30.828.8
 2.1%

Student Body

Number of students
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
Number of students
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
Total Students691441
 36.2%
African American811
 37.5%
American Indian31
 66.7%
Asian126
 50%
Hispanic602381
 36.7%
Pacific Islander20
 100%
White5733
 42.1%
Two or More Races79
 28.6%
% Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients85.8%78.2%
 7.6%


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Frequently Asked Questions about Southwest Middle

Students who attend Southwest Middle usually go on to attend Southwest Senior High

Students at Southwest Middle are 92% Hispanic, 3% White, 2% Asian, 1% African American, 1% Two or more races.

In the 2023-24 school year, 483 students attended Southwest Middle.

Southwest Middle ranks in the bottom 24.4% of California middle schools.


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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.





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