Elkhorn Middle School, a public school in Stockton catering to some of the brainiest kids in San Joaquin County, has been labeled a National Blue Ribbon School and a California Distinguished School over the years.
Now it can add another accolade: the third most outstanding middle school in California for 2025 in a ranking by U.S. News & World Report.
The school’s students are excelling at some of the highest rates in the nation. Some 94% scored at or above proficiency levels on math, and 98% did the same on reading, the media company found.
To make the list, U.S. News says it ranks schools based on test scores, graduation rates and how well they prepare students for high school. The outlet assessed more than 7,100 middle schools in the state.
Making the achievement even more impressive is that 45% of Elkhorn’s 266 students are considered as coming from economically disadvantaged families.
There’s one no single secret that has made the magnet school for gifted students stand out so dramatically.
“We do a lot more in-depth work,” principal Matt Huiras said in an interview. The goal when it comes to students is to “keep challenging them.”
That means detailed Socratic discussions in class and exploring topics in new ways by tinkering with ideas or through trial and error.
Elkhorn, with classes for grades 4 through 8, prides itself in recognizing that students have different skills and personalities and tries to coax the best out of each one, Huiras said. Plus, because the school caters entirely to gifted students, it creates a learning atmosphere that doesn’t leave kids feeling isolated.
While Elkhorn’s 10 teachers, some of whom have taught there for decades, work with students academically, the school also strives to address the wide variety of emerging personalities at a critical stage in young people’s lives.
“Students come in all shapes and sizes,” Huiras sad. They are “not always the ultra-studious kid that will follow the rules. We take pride in being able to work with all kind of students.”
Huiras, who has been principal at Elkhorn for three years, said he’s fielded calls from parents in other countries like China and Canada inquiring how their children can be enrolled. He explains that only children already enrolled in the Lodi Unified School District are eligible and must go through the process of applying. Lodi Unified has three schools for gifted students, of which Elkhorn is one.
The Elkhorn enrollment process starts by showing top-notch scores on a battery of assessment tests administered in the second and third grades. Kids then have to be enrolled in a lottery for 30 spots for fourth grade. After acceptance, they must reapply for the 93 spots in the middle-school program.
Some parents drive their kids 20 minutes or more every day to the school.
Graduates of Lodi Unified’s gifted-student programs have gone on to top universities in the nation, including Stanford, Harvard and others.
“We absolutely have super intelligent people,” Huiras said.