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)
060203413656	1171	Gateway International	Public, Charter	K-8	900 Morse Ave.	Sacramento	95864	Sacramento County	Gateway International District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 286-1985	592	28	21.4	75.5%	426 (72.0%)	22 (3.7%)	58 (9.8%)	29 (4.9%)	3 (0.5%)	11 (1.9%)	43 (7.3%)								50	44.4	1327	156
062865014496	1172	OUSD EDGE Virtual Academy	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	250 South Yorba	Orange	92869	Orange County	Orange Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(714) 628-5467	243	14	17.9	43.6%	70 (28.8%)	7 (2.9%)	136 (56.0%)	17 (7.0%)	1 (0.4%)	2 (0.8%)	10 (4.1%)								49.9	66.2	758	414
062181002590	1173	Waterloo Elementary	Public	5-8	7007 North Pezzi Rd.	Stockton	95215	San Joaquin County	Linden Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 931-0818	333	15	21.7	63.1%	134 (40.2%)	0 (0.0%)	185 (55.6%)	3 (0.9%)	3 (0.9%)	2 (0.6%)	6 (1.8%)	$5,773							49.9	42.6	1381	208
060240014025	1174	Feather River Charter	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	4305 South Meridian Rd.	Meridian	95957	Sutter County	Feather River Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(626) 932-1802	2,562	87	29.3	38.1%	1,771 (69.1%)	49 (1.9%)	373 (14.6%)	74 (2.9%)	1 (0.0%)	13 (0.5%)	274 (10.7%)								49.9	51.4	1125	49
060186512528	1175	Alliance College-Ready Middle Academy 4	Public, Charter	6-8	9719 South Main St.	Los Angeles	90003	Los Angeles County	Alliance College-Ready Middle Academy 4 District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 451-3009	464	19	24	97.6%	2 (0.4%)	9 (1.9%)	445 (95.9%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (1.5%)								49.8	39.6	1473	298
061839002248	1176	Centinela Tk-8 Elementary	Public	K-8	1123 Marlborough Ave.	Inglewood	90302	Los Angeles County	Inglewood Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 680-5440	540	20	27.6	86.9%	5 (0.9%)	74 (13.7%)	447 (82.8%)	3 (0.6%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	9 (1.7%)								49.8	53.9	1060	116
062334003547	1177	La Vina Elementary	Public	K-8	8594 Road 23	Madera	93637	Madera County	Madera Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 673-5194	209	11	19.4	96.7%	6 (2.9%)	0 (0.0%)	199 (95.2%)	1 (0.5%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.0%)	$1,537							49.7	59.9	906	271
062454010582	1178	Bell Mountain Middle	Public	6-8	28525 La Piedra Dr.	Menifee	92584	Riverside County	Menifee Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 301-8496	1,090	46	23.8	63.1%	229 (21.0%)	66 (6.1%)	496 (45.5%)	73 (6.7%)	2 (0.2%)	7 (0.6%)	217 (19.9%)	$10,567							49.7	51.2	1129	49
064098006743	1179	Anacapa Middle	Public	6-8	100 South Mills Rd.	Ventura	93003	Ventura County	Ventura Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 289-7900	635	27	23.5	68.8%	110 (17.3%)	6 (0.9%)	474 (74.6%)	24 (3.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (3.3%)	$6,993							49.6	34	1667	488
060194313176	1180	Almond Acres Charter Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	1145 Niblick Rd.	Paso Robles	93446	San Luis Obispo County	Almond Acres Charter Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 221-8550	471	24	19.9	45.6%	263 (55.8%)	3 (0.6%)	155 (32.9%)	4 (0.8%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	44 (9.3%)								49.6	48.5	1213	33

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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:

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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