Best Middle Schools in California

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Find the best California middle schools with SchoolDigger.com! Focused on test scores for accurate rankings, our user-friendly site simplifies your search. Empower your decisions by exploring top-rated schools, only on SchoolDigger.com - the ultimate guide to K-12 schools!

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish California test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the CAST and Smarter Balanced Assessments test scores by the California Department of Education. The most recent update was on Thursday, October 10, 2024.

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School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2018)							Ranking (2024 vs 2023)
ID	Rank (of 2777)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Average Standard Score (2024)	Average Standard Score (2023)	Rank (2023)	Rank Change from 2023	SchoolDigger Rating (2024)
060004907416	1161	Santa Lucia Middle	Public	6-8	2850 Schoolhouse Ln.	Cambria	93428	San Luis Obispo County	Coast Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 927-3693	123	10	12.5	83.7%	27 (22.0%)	0 (0.0%)	90 (73.2%)	2 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (3.3%)								50.3	48.7	1207	46
060205113076	1162	Samueli Academy	Public, Charter	7-12	1901 North Fairview St.	Santa Ana	92706	Orange County	Samueli Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 619-0245	822	39	21.1	75.2%	42 (5.1%)	9 (1.1%)	689 (83.8%)	50 (6.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	24 (2.9%)								50.3	59.1	933	229
060813011487	1163	Whitmore Charter School of Art & Technology	Public, Charter	K-8	3435 Don Pedro Rd.	Ceres	95307	Stanislaus County	Ceres Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 556-1610	434	22	19.7	50.0%	126 (29.0%)	2 (0.5%)	228 (52.5%)	59 (13.6%)	5 (1.2%)	2 (0.5%)	12 (2.8%)	$11,377							50.3	59.9	909	254
063801007754	1164	Rio Calaveras Elementary	Public	K-8	1819 East Bianchi Rd.	Stockton	95210	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7270	850	32	26.2	71.1%	25 (2.9%)	73 (8.6%)	349 (41.1%)	343 (40.4%)	3 (0.4%)	12 (1.4%)	45 (5.3%)	$6,360							50.2	46.9	1258	94
060153808721	1165	Multicultural Learning Center	Public, Charter	K-8	7510 DeSoto Ave.	Canoga Park	91303	Los Angeles County	Multicultural Learning Center District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 716-5783	500	22	22.9	52.4%	22 (4.4%)	13 (2.6%)	422 (84.4%)	4 (0.8%)	3 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (7.2%)								50.2	55.2	1025	140
061233003667	1166	Harriet G. Eddy Middle	Public	7-8	9329 Soaring Oaks Dr.	Elk Grove	95758	Sacramento County	Elk Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 683-1302	1,013	52	19.6	46.1%	193 (19.1%)	120 (11.8%)	312 (30.8%)	224 (22.1%)	4 (0.4%)	21 (2.1%)	139 (13.7%)	$8,038							50.1	54.6	1041	125
060207712805	1167	Camino Nuevo Elementary #3	Public, Charter	K-8	1723 Cordova St.	Los Angeles	90007	Los Angeles County	Camino Nuevo Elementary #3 District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 730-7160	710	33	21.6	98.7%	3 (0.4%)	3 (0.4%)	699 (98.5%)	2 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)								50.1	32.9	1705	538
060197514165	1168	Clarksville Charter	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	4818 Golden Foothill Parkway S	El Dorado Hills	95762	El Dorado County	Clarksville Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(916) 957-5802	2,161	74	29	35.5%	1,494 (69.1%)	21 (1.0%)	322 (14.9%)	43 (2.0%)	10 (0.5%)	2 (0.1%)	266 (12.3%)								50	48.7	1209	41
063441005663	1169	San Francisco Community Alternative	Public	K-8	125 Excelsior Ave.	San Francisco	94112	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 469-4739	274	14	19.7	41.6%	65 (23.7%)	27 (9.9%)	109 (39.8%)	26 (9.5%)	1 (0.4%)	2 (0.7%)	43 (15.7%)	$6,103							50	39	1495	326
062271003079	1170	Patrick Henry Middle	Public	6-8	17340 San Jose St.	Granada Hills	91344	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 832-3870	1,039	57	18.1	75.6%	133 (12.8%)	37 (3.6%)	753 (72.5%)	62 (6.0%)	3 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	51 (4.9%)	$9,887							50	47	1253	83

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for CA student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students Pacific Islander Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Migrant Students Homeless Students Military Connected Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy, Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics, CAST Science test scores released by the California Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on October 10, 2024, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the California Department of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the California Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.