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Murray Middle

Summary:

Murray Middle School is a public middle school located in Ridgecrest, California, serving grades 6-8 with a total enrollment of 690 students. The school is part of the Sierra Sands Unified School District, which is ranked 893 out of 1,568 school districts in California and is rated 2 stars out of 5 by SchoolDigger.

Murray Middle School has seen a steady decline in its statewide ranking and rating over the past decade, dropping from a high of 555 out of 2,379 California middle schools in 2012-2013 to 1,673 out of 2,777 in the current 2023-2024 school year. The school's performance varies significantly across different student subgroups, with relatively strong performance for African American students but struggling with Hispanic, White, and English Language Learner (ELL) students. Academically, the school's proficiency rates in English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science are consistently below the state and district averages across all grade levels.

Interestingly, the nearby James Monroe Middle school, which is also part of the Sierra Sands Unified School District, has similar performance characteristics to Murray Middle, suggesting that district-level factors may be contributing to the overall academic challenges faced by these schools. Additionally, Murray Middle School has experienced a significant increase in chronic absenteeism, rising from 10.4% in 2018-2019 to 27.1% in the current 2022-2023 school year, which is well above the state average.


Detail:

Public 6-8

 200 East Drummond Ave.
       Ridgecrest, CA  93555-3119

(760) 499-1820

District: Sierra Sands Unified

SchoolDigger Rank:
1673rd of 2,777 California Middle Schools


Students who attend Murray Middle usually attend:

High:    Burroughs High

Feeder schools for Murray Middle:

Elementary:    Gateway Elementary
    Pierce Elementary
    Richmond Elementary

Student/teacher ratio:  22.6 Help
Number of students:  686

Racial breakdown:

White:
49.3%
Hispanic:
32.7%
Two or more races:
6.0%
more

Free/discounted lunch recipients:  51% Help


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Performance Trends
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Compare Details Murray Middle ranks worse than 60.2% of middle schools in California. (See more...)
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Compare Details In 2024 the calculated Average Standard Score was 33.82. (See more...)
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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: White (49.3%), Hispanic (32.7%), two or more races (6%). (See more...)
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Compare Details 51% of students are receiving a free or discounted lunch. (See more...)
Teachers
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Compare Details The student/teacher ratio at Murray Middle is 22.6. (See more...)
Help
Compare Murray Middle employs 30.2 full-time teachers.
Schooldigger 2024 Rankings:

Murray Middle:

SchoolDigger ranks Murray Middle 1673rd of 2777 California public middle schools. (See Murray 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:
African American students:
Hispanic students:
White students:


Sierra Sands Unified:

SchoolDigger ranks Sierra Sands Unified 893rd of 1568 California school districts. (See district ranking list.)


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Rank History for Murray Middle

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Rank History for all students at Murray Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2004 62.27 561st 1769 68.3%
2005 69.01 461st 1777 74.1%
2006 59.23 644th 1804 64.3%
2007 61.09 659th 1999 67.0%
2008 65.66 576th 2005 71.3%
2009 64.82 634th 2063 69.3%
2010 62.21 731st 2179 66.5%
2011 61.96 761st 2236 66.0%
2012 67.66 634th 2259 71.9%
2013 71.46 555th 2379 76.7%
2015 71.33 622nd 2477 74.9%
2016 61.43 830th 2497 66.8%
2017 62.28 835th 2508 66.7%
2018 50.23 1096th 2480 55.8%
2019 56.25 991st 2715 63.5%
2021 40.56 496th 894 44.5%
2022 43.73 1347th 2740 50.8%
2023 29.53 1836th 2802 34.5%
2024 33.82 1673rd 2777 39.8%
See the entire list of California Middle School Rankings!

Rank History for Multi-racial students at Murray Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2022 31.40 466th 665 29.9%
See the entire list of Best California Middle Schools for Multi-racial Students!

Rank History for English Language Learner students at Murray Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2021 36.30 240th 363 33.9%
2022 40.32 751st 1540 51.2%
2023 28.41 1332nd 1529 12.9%
2024 28.54 1310th 1477 11.3%
See the entire list of Best California Middle Schools for English Language Learner Students!

Rank History for Special Education students at Murray Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2023 41.63 732nd 1538 52.4%
2024 40.54 762nd 1550 50.8%
See the entire list of Best California Middle Schools for Special Education Students!

Rank History for Low Socio Economic Status students at Murray Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 46.20 1080th 2230 51.6%
2019 52.17 957th 2369 59.6%
2021 44.72 360th 721 50.1%
2022 39.78 1341st 2458 45.4%
2023 18.18 2259th 2549 11.4%
2024 25.84 1951st 2575 24.2%
See the entire list of Best California Middle Schools for Low Socio Economic Status Students!

Rank History for Female students at Murray Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 50.66 1011th 2262 55.3%
2019 52.99 984th 2380 58.7%
2021 38.06 432nd 738 41.5%
2022 41.34 1298th 2509 48.3%
2023 27.11 1784th 2547 30.0%
2024 30.30 1659th 2546 34.8%
See the entire list of Best California Middle Schools for Female Students!

Rank History for Disabled students at Murray Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 42.97 626th 1369 54.3%
2019 44.45 653rd 1491 56.2%
2021 51.15 122nd 354 65.5%
2022 52.36 525th 1531 65.7%
See the entire list of Best California Middle Schools for Disabled Students!

Rank History for Male students at Murray Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 48.83 1022nd 2273 55.0%
2019 56.78 887th 2407 63.1%
2021 43.21 393rd 763 48.5%
2022 45.27 1180th 2527 53.3%
2023 31.55 1608th 2558 37.1%
2024 36.35 1456th 2547 42.8%
See the entire list of Best California Middle Schools for Male Students!

Rank History for African American students at Murray Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2022 50.92 259th 637 59.3%
2023 26.47 474th 614 22.8%
2024 31.13 429th 626 31.5%
See the entire list of Best California Middle Schools for African American Students!

Rank History for Hispanic students at Murray Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 48.65 947th 2072 54.3%
2019 43.39 1148th 2213 48.1%
2022 34.00 1490th 2359 36.8%
2023 14.46 2219th 2391 7.2%
2024 23.85 1871st 2383 21.5%
See the entire list of Best California Middle Schools for Hispanic Students!

Rank History for White students at Murray Middle

Year Avg Standard Score Statewide Rank Total # Ranked Middle Schools CA State Percentile SchoolDigger Rating
2018 31.57 1049th 1496 29.9%
2019 38.75 977th 1602 39.0%
2022 27.10 1149th 1555 26.1%
2023 19.54 1259th 1552 18.9%
2024 24.65 1169th 1535 23.8%
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.

Murray Middle Test Scores
Tests: 
  
Grades: 
  
Years: 
  
Group by: 
District Scores:
State Scores:    
  
Subgroup: 
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Data source: California Department of Education

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Enrollment information for Murray Middle

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Year White African American Asian Hispanic American Indian Pacific Islander Two or More Races Not Specified Total
1988 622 23 46 44 29 n/a n/a 0 764
1989 670 22 29 35 2 n/a n/a 0 758
1990 694 36 28 24 5 n/a n/a 0 787
1991 637 24 49 89 39 n/a n/a 0 838
1992 663 29 48 82 33 n/a n/a 0 855
1993 671 20 54 88 35 n/a n/a 0 868
1994 676 46 60 105 18 n/a n/a 0 905
1995 639 30 58 93 29 n/a n/a 0 849
1996 639 30 58 93 29 n/a n/a 0 849
1997 653 30 53 95 24 n/a n/a 0 855
1998 649 39 49 83 23 n/a n/a 0 843
1999 622 28 41 88 16 n/a n/a 0 795
2000 564 25 117 28 20 n/a n/a 0 754
2001 545 23 32 101 6 n/a n/a 1 708
2002 567 39 29 104 11 n/a n/a 21 771
2003 567 39 29 104 11 n/a n/a 21 771
2004 574 47 30 113 15 n/a n/a 31 810
2005 545 46 44 100 17 n/a n/a 25 777
2006 518 41 47 111 12 n/a n/a 35 764
2007 479 29 47 119 11 n/a n/a 36 721
2008 452 42 42 133 11 n/a n/a 0 680
2009 434 37 28 128 7 7 42 0 683
2010 455 35 25 143 10 9 1 0 678
2011 417 31 28 120 11 9 0 0 616
2012 389 34 32 121 12 9 0 0 597
2013 375 33 38 126 14 7 3 0 596
2014 354 40 39 139 11 6 1 0 590
2015 369 36 44 137 12 4 1 0 603
2016 371 35 47 146 11 5 4 0 619
2017 396 32 40 150 15 4 8 0 645
2018 405 34 33 164 14 5 15 0 670
2019 394 25 26 176 14 3 19 0 657
2020 416 29 29 204 10 2 18 0 708
2021 403 29 27 218 10 4 24 0 715
2022 382 41 26 213 6 3 30 2 703
2023 351 40 28 233 7 3 27 1 690
2024 338 38 31 224 8 6 41 0 686

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 Murray Middle

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 764 35.8 21.3 n/a
1989 758 30.9 24.5 n/a
1990 787 35.3 22.2 n/a
1991 838 36.0 23.2 n/a
1992 855 36.6 23.3 17
1993 868 36.3 23.9 28.7
1994 905 38.9 23.3 28.6
1995 849 43.0 19.7 36.6
1996 849 43.0 19.7 36.6
1997 855 41.5 20.6 41.2
1998 843 38.0 22.2 42
1999 795 37.0 21.5 40.1
2000 754 37.0 20.4 39.3
2001 708 33.0 21.5 38.8
2002 771 33.8 22.8 38.4
2003 771 33.8 22.8 38.4
2004 810 34.2 23.7 41.7
2005 777 32.0 24.3 36.8
2006 764 31.9 23.9 42.2
2007 721 32.4 22.3 44.4
2008 680 38.0 17.9 50.7
2009 683 31.2 18.5 46.9
2010 678 30.0 22.6 44.5
2011 616 n/a n/a 43.8
2012 597 29.1 20.5 n/a
2013 596 28.8 20.6 48.8
2014 590 27.8 21.2 53.7
2015 603 24.0 25.1 48.8
2016 619 27.0 22.9 47.7
2017 645 28.9 22.3 47.4
2018 670 29.3 22.8 56.9
2019 657 29.6 22.1 64.1
2020 708 n/a n/a 58.9
2021 715 29.4 24.2 59.7
2022 703 30.7 22.8 50.9
2023 690 30.6 22.5 46.2
2024 686 30.2 22.6 51

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 Murray Middle

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Compare
Year # Students Full-time Teachers Student/Teacher ratio % Free/Discounted Lunch
1988 764 35.8 21.3 n/a
1989 758 30.9 24.5 n/a
1990 787 35.3 22.2 n/a
1991 838 36.0 23.2 n/a
1992 855 36.6 23.3 17
1993 868 36.3 23.9 28.7
1994 905 38.9 23.3 28.6
1995 849 43.0 19.7 36.6
1996 849 43.0 19.7 36.6
1997 855 41.5 20.6 41.2
1998 843 38.0 22.2 42
1999 795 37.0 21.5 40.1
2000 754 37.0 20.4 39.3
2001 708 33.0 21.5 38.8
2002 771 33.8 22.8 38.4
2003 771 33.8 22.8 38.4
2004 810 34.2 23.7 41.7
2005 777 32.0 24.3 36.8
2006 764 31.9 23.9 42.2
2007 721 32.4 22.3 44.4
2008 680 38.0 17.9 50.7
2009 683 31.2 18.5 46.9
2010 678 30.0 22.6 44.5
2011 616 n/a n/a 43.8
2012 597 29.1 20.5 n/a
2013 596 28.8 20.6 48.8
2014 590 27.8 21.2 53.7
2015 603 24.0 25.1 48.8
2016 619 27.0 22.9 47.7
2017 645 28.9 22.3 47.4
2018 670 29.3 22.8 56.9
2019 657 29.6 22.1 64.1
2020 708 n/a n/a 58.9
2021 715 29.4 24.2 59.7
2022 703 30.7 22.8 50.9
2023 690 30.6 22.5 46.2
2024 686 30.2 22.6 51

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.
Pre and Post Pandemic Data

Impact of COVID-19 on Murray 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 991st of 2715 Middle schoolsRanks 1836th of 2802 Middle schools
 29%

Test Scores

% proficient
Pre-pandemic (2018-2019)		 % proficient
Post pandemic (2022-2023)		 Change (%)
6th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Murray Middle)39.526.9
 12.6%
   6th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Sierra Sands Unified)38.230
 8.2%
   6th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (California)48.544.2
 4.3%
6th Grade Mathematics (Murray Middle)30.819.8
 11%
   6th Grade Mathematics (Sierra Sands Unified)27.819.1
 8.7%
   6th Grade Mathematics (California)38.533.2
 5.3%
7th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Murray Middle)56.631
 25.6%
   7th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Sierra Sands Unified)48.230.3
 17.9%
   7th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (California)51.447.4
 3.9%
7th Grade Mathematics (Murray Middle)39.523.3
 16.1%
   7th Grade Mathematics (Sierra Sands Unified)32.418.6
 13.8%
   7th Grade Mathematics (California)37.933.2
 4.7%
8th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Murray Middle)57.935.5
 22.5%
   8th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (Sierra Sands Unified)51.536
 15.5%
   8th Grade English Language Arts/Literacy (California)49.445.7
 3.8%
8th Grade Mathematics (Murray Middle)36.915.5
 21.4%
   8th Grade Mathematics (Sierra Sands Unified)27.914.4
 13.5%
   8th Grade Mathematics (California)36.629.9
 6.7%
8th Grade Science (Murray Middle)39.720.5
 19.2%
   8th Grade Science (Sierra Sands Unified)35.419.9
 15.5%
   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 Students657690
 5%
African American2540
 60%
American Indian147
 50%
Asian2628
 7.7%
Hispanic176233
 32.4%
Pacific Islander33
White394351
 10.9%
Two or More Races1927
 42.1%
% Free/Discounted Lunch Recipients64.1%46.2%
 17.8%

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Frequently Asked Questions about Murray Middle

Students at Murray Middle are 49% White, 33% Hispanic, 6% Two or more races, 6% African American, 5% Asian, 1% American Indian.

Murray Middle ranks 1673rd of 2777 California middle schools. SchoolDigger rates this school 2 stars out of 5.

Students who attend Murray Middle usually go on to attend Burroughs High

In the 2023-24 school year, 686 students attended Murray 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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