Vaca Pena Middle

Summary:

Vaca Pena Middle is a public middle school located in Vacaville, California, serving grades 7-8 with a student population of 689. The school faces several challenges that contribute to its underperformance compared to the Vacaville Unified School District and the state of California.

Academically, Vaca Pena Middle consistently underperforms on standardized tests, with only 28.53% of students proficient or better in ELA End of Course assessments, compared to 43.21% for the district and 47.04% for the state. The school also struggles to support the academic achievement of several student subgroups, including Hispanic, White, and English Language Learner students. Additionally, Vaca Pena Middle has a significantly higher chronic absenteeism rate of 30.6%, much higher than the state's 12.1% rate. The school's high percentage of students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds, with 52.69% qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch, may be a contributing factor to its lower academic performance.

Interestingly, nearby schools like Willis Jepson Middle, which is also part of the Vacaville Unified School District, significantly outperform Vaca Pena Middle on standardized tests. Schools with lower percentages of low-income students, such as Green Valley Middle and Ralph Waldo Emerson Junior High, also outperform Vaca Pena Middle, suggesting that the school's socioeconomic challenges may be a key factor in its academic struggles.


Detail:

Public 7-8

 200 Keith Way
       Vacaville, CA  95687-5189


(707) 453-6270

District: Vacaville Unified

SchoolDigger Rank:
2001st of 2,777 California Middle Schools

Per Pupil Expenditures:  $7,196 Help


Students who attend Vaca Pena Middle usually attend:

High:    Will C. Wood High

Feeder schools for Vaca Pena Middle:

Elementary:    Cooper Elementary
    Eugene Padan Elementary
    Fairmont Charter Elementary
    Jean Callison Elementary

Student/teacher ratio:  19.8 Help
Number of students:  689

Racial breakdown:

Hispanic:
46.0%
White:
25.8%
Asian:
10.0%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  52.7% Help


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Performance Trends
Help
Compare Details Vaca Pena Middle ranks worse than 72.1% of middle schools in California. (See more...)
Help
Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 25.77. (See more...)
Help
Chronic absenteeism in a high 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 (46%), White (25.8%), Asian (10%). (See more...)
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Compare Details 52.7% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)
Teachers
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Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Vaca Pena Middle is 19.8. (See more...)
Help
Compare Vaca Pena Middle employs 34.7 full-time teachers.
Finance
Help
Compare Details The average total spent per student at Vaca Pena Middle is $7,196.
Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Vaca Pena Middle:

SchoolDigger ranks Vaca Pena Middle 2001st of 2777 California public middle schools. (See Vaca Pena Middle in the ranking list.)

Middle School Test Score Ratings by Student Subgroup:


Multi-racial students:
Special Education students:
Low Socio Economic Status students:
Female students:
Male students:
African American students:
Hispanic students:
White students:


Vacaville Unified:

SchoolDigger ranks Vacaville Unified 777th of 1568 California school districts. (See district ranking list.)


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Rank History for Vaca Pena Middle

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Compare

Rank History for all students at Vaca Pena Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2004 61.82 566th 1769 68.0%
2005 64.64 536th 1777 69.8%
2006 48.26 849th 1804 52.9%
2007 59.08 698th 1999 65.1%
2008 53.99 835th 2005 58.4%
2009 53.88 883rd 2063 57.2%
2010 55.87 885th 2179 59.4%
2011 55.28 957th 2236 57.2%
2012 61.53 787th 2259 65.2%
2013 64.24 771st 2379 67.6%
2015 48.29 1144th 2477 53.8%
2016 48.98 1137th 2497 54.5%
2017 47.55 1177th 2508 53.1%
2018 46.28 1184th 2480 52.3%
2019 38.45 1506th 2715 44.5%
2022 30.52 1754th 2740 36.0%
2023 29.69 1830th 2802 34.7%
2024 25.77 2001st 2777 27.9%
See the entire list of California Middle School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at Vaca Pena Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 18.74 400th 462 13.4%
2019 9.99 496th 554 10.5%
2022 9.93 604th 665 9.2%
2023 11.99 588th 678 13.3%
2024 7.28 657th 699 6.0%
See the entire list of Best California Middle Schools for Multi-racial Students!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Vaca Pena Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 58.06 319th 1364 76.6%
2022 31.85 1152nd 1540 25.2%
2023 26.96 1406th 1529 8.0%
See the entire list of Best California Middle Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Vaca Pena Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2023 31.20 1038th 1538 32.5%
2024 23.85 1320th 1550 14.8%
See the entire list of Best California Middle Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Vaca Pena Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 45.88 1085th 2230 51.3%
2019 31.67 1616th 2369 31.8%
2022 30.57 1675th 2458 31.9%
2023 23.88 2018th 2549 20.8%
2024 23.26 2051st 2575 20.3%
See the entire list of Best California Middle Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Vaca Pena Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 44.37 1172nd 2262 48.2%
2019 37.34 1387th 2380 41.7%
2022 31.39 1622nd 2509 35.4%
2023 33.13 1546th 2547 39.3%
2024 27.24 1788th 2546 29.8%
See the entire list of Best California Middle Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Disabled students at Vaca Pena Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 40.82 682nd 1369 50.2%
2019 35.53 850th 1491 43.0%
2022 30.24 1049th 1531 31.5%
See the entire list of Best California Middle Schools for Disabled Students!

Rank History for Male students at Vaca Pena Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 45.98 1095th 2273 51.8%
2019 37.00 1407th 2407 41.5%
2022 29.81 1656th 2527 34.5%
2023 26.82 1799th 2558 29.7%
2024 24.04 1914th 2547 24.9%
See the entire list of Best California Middle Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for Asian students at Vaca Pena Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2023 23.83 567th 718 21.0%
See the entire list of Best California Middle Schools for Asian Students!

Rank History for African American students at Vaca Pena Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 54.81 231st 600 61.5%
2019 43.44 342nd 643 46.8%
2022 38.44 369th 637 42.1%
2023 45.92 294th 614 52.1%
2024 35.87 378th 626 39.6%
See the entire list of Best California Middle Schools for African American Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Vaca Pena Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 45.87 1020th 2072 50.8%
2019 43.78 1137th 2213 48.6%
2022 26.07 1782nd 2359 24.5%
2023 24.29 1869th 2391 21.8%
2024 25.60 1812th 2383 24.0%
See the entire list of Best California Middle Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for White students at Vaca Pena Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 32.78 1034th 1496 30.9%
2019 23.33 1245th 1602 22.3%
2022 17.58 1317th 1555 15.3%
2023 22.14 1216th 1552 21.6%
2024 22.17 1212th 1535 21.0%
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.

Vaca Pena 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 Vaca Pena Middle

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Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
1988 513 78 34 93 9 n/a n/a 0 727
1989 538 83 39 99 9 n/a n/a 0 768
1990 623 64 33 88 14 n/a n/a 0 822
1991 771 87 52 114 17 n/a n/a 0 1041
1992 863 87 51 123 11 n/a n/a 0 1135
1993 869 86 54 128 10 n/a n/a 0 1147
1994 821 92 61 123 16 n/a n/a 0 1113
1995 755 110 109 136 24 n/a n/a 0 1134
1996 755 110 109 136 24 n/a n/a 0 1134
1997 799 130 95 162 27 n/a n/a 0 1213
1998 859 131 64 178 25 n/a n/a 0 1257
1999 811 127 84 183 25 n/a n/a 0 1230
2000 780 95 83 185 30 n/a n/a 0 1173
2001 745 98 83 202 28 n/a n/a 0 1156
2002 733 126 72 216 20 n/a n/a 8 1175
2003 733 126 72 216 20 n/a n/a 8 1175
2004 695 118 61 216 14 n/a n/a 78 1182
2005 710 136 63 225 6 n/a n/a 63 1203
2006 640 119 73 229 8 n/a n/a 14 1083
2007 484 103 35 197 4 n/a n/a 185 1008
2008 431 97 41 222 8 n/a n/a 0 799
2009 418 94 39 197 6 10 163 0 927
2010 453 122 52 235 14 10 15 0 901
2011 429 126 58 258 7 14 24 0 916
2012 414 105 59 275 7 14 29 0 903
2013 421 85 53 304 9 9 41 0 922
2014 392 81 51 286 6 11 50 0 877
2015 330 85 50 331 5 12 58 0 871
2016 297 76 52 337 6 13 54 0 835
2017 273 72 55 285 5 9 74 0 773
2018 249 60 58 293 3 0 88 0 751
2019 222 59 58 338 2 3 75 0 757
2020 198 62 42 342 2 7 71 0 724
2021 196 51 44 344 3 8 72 0 718
2022 188 43 64 329 1 12 78 0 715
2023 178 47 69 317 3 7 67 1 689

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 Vaca Pena Middle

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 727 29.8 24.3 n/a
1989 768 31.1 24.6 n/a
1990 822 36.5 22.5 n/a
1991 1041 46.6 22.3 n/a
1992 1135 47.4 23.9 14.6
1993 1147 49.8 23.0 15.8
1994 1113 50.0 22.3 18.9
1995 1134 50.1 22.6 21.1
1996 1134 50.1 22.6 21.1
1997 1213 53.2 22.8 21.4
1998 1257 52.2 24.1 21.5
1999 1230 52.4 23.5 23.9
2000 1173 50.0 23.5 19.4
2001 1156 51.3 22.5 21.5
2002 1175 54.4 21.6 22.5
2003 1175 54.4 21.6 22.5
2004 1182 47.8 24.7 22.6
2005 1203 49.9 24.1 25.1
2006 1083 45.0 24.1 29.5
2007 1008 45.0 22.4 34.9
2008 799 51.4 15.5 42.2
2009 927 42.6 19.5 37.9
2010 901 37.5 24.0 39.2
2011 916 n/a n/a 46.7
2012 903 40.4 22.3 n/a
2013 922 38.7 23.7 40
2014 877 41.2 21.2 44.2
2015 871 41.0 21.2 44.7
2016 835 42.0 19.8 48
2017 773 36.3 21.2 50.3
2018 751 32.7 22.9 49.9
2019 757 35.5 21.3 54.2
2020 724 n/a n/a 58.1
2021 718 34.9 20.5 47.9
2022 715 36.7 19.4 47.6
2023 689 34.7 19.8 52.7

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 Vaca Pena Middle

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 727 29.8 24.3 n/a
1989 768 31.1 24.6 n/a
1990 822 36.5 22.5 n/a
1991 1041 46.6 22.3 n/a
1992 1135 47.4 23.9 14.6
1993 1147 49.8 23.0 15.8
1994 1113 50.0 22.3 18.9
1995 1134 50.1 22.6 21.1
1996 1134 50.1 22.6 21.1
1997 1213 53.2 22.8 21.4
1998 1257 52.2 24.1 21.5
1999 1230 52.4 23.5 23.9
2000 1173 50.0 23.5 19.4
2001 1156 51.3 22.5 21.5
2002 1175 54.4 21.6 22.5
2003 1175 54.4 21.6 22.5
2004 1182 47.8 24.7 22.6
2005 1203 49.9 24.1 25.1
2006 1083 45.0 24.1 29.5
2007 1008 45.0 22.4 34.9
2008 799 51.4 15.5 42.2
2009 927 42.6 19.5 37.9
2010 901 37.5 24.0 39.2
2011 916 n/a n/a 46.7
2012 903 40.4 22.3 n/a
2013 922 38.7 23.7 40
2014 877 41.2 21.2 44.2
2015 871 41.0 21.2 44.7
2016 835 42.0 19.8 48
2017 773 36.3 21.2 50.3
2018 751 32.7 22.9 49.9
2019 757 35.5 21.3 54.2
2020 724 n/a n/a 58.1
2021 718 34.9 20.5 47.9
2022 715 36.7 19.4 47.6
2023 689 34.7 19.8 52.7

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 Vaca Pena Middle

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YearTotal Expenditures Per Pupil
2018 $7,196

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

Impact of COVID-19 on Vaca Pena 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 1506th of 2715 Middle schoolsRanks 1830th of 2802 Middle schools
 9.8%

Test Scores

% proficient
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)
% proficient
Post pandemic (2022-2023)
Change (%)
7th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Vaca Pena Middle)46.633.3
 13.3%
   7th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Vacaville Unified)53.246.4
 6.8%
   7th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (California)51.447.4
 3.9%
7th Grade Mathematics (Vaca Pena Middle)2923.5
 5.5%
   7th Grade Mathematics (Vacaville Unified)34.826.6
 8.2%
   7th Grade Mathematics (California)37.933.2
 4.7%
8th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Vaca Pena Middle)39.625.6
 14%
   8th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Vacaville Unified)43.436.5
 6.8%
   8th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (California)49.445.7
 3.8%
8th Grade Mathematics (Vaca Pena Middle)2617.9
 8.1%
   8th Grade Mathematics (Vacaville Unified)34.823.3
 11.5%
   8th Grade Mathematics (California)36.629.9
 6.7%
8th Grade Science (Vaca Pena Middle)24.320.5
 3.8%
   8th Grade Science (Vacaville Unified)2723
 4%
   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 Students757689
 9%
African American5947
 20.3%
American Indian23
 50%
Asian5869
 19%
Hispanic338317
 6.2%
Pacific Islander37
 133.3%
White222178
 19.8%
Two or More Races7567
 10.7%
% Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients54.2%52.7%
 1.5%


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Frequently Asked Questions about Vaca Pena Middle

Students who attend Vaca Pena Middle usually go on to attend Will C. Wood High

Vaca Pena Middle ranks 2001st of 2777 California middle schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 1 star out of 5.

Students at Vaca Pena Middle are 46% Hispanic, 26% White, 10% Asian, 10% Two or more races, 7% African American, 1% Pacific Islander.

In the 2022-23 school year, 689 students attended Vaca Pena Middle.


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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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