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)
063288008953	391	Weston Elementary	Public	K-8	1660 Stanley Dr.	Ripon	95366	San Joaquin County	Ripon Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 599-7113	439	19	22.8	21.6%	216 (49.2%)	5 (1.1%)	152 (34.6%)	36 (8.2%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	27 (6.2%)	$9,205							84.1	92.3	229	162
060202011324	392	KIPP Los Angeles College Preparatory	Public, Charter	5-8	2810 Whittier Blvd.	Los Angeles	90023	Los Angeles County	KIPP Los Angeles College Preparatory District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 264-7737	515	20	25.8	88.3%	4 (0.8%)	1 (0.2%)	507 (98.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)								84.1	83.3	407	15
060147211464	393	Ocean Grove Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	16900 North Highway Nine	Boulder Creek	95006	Santa Cruz County	Ocean Grove Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 295-3566	3,212	137	23.4	26.9%	1,221 (38.0%)	33 (1.0%)	912 (28.4%)	345 (10.7%)	3 (0.1%)	22 (0.7%)	676 (21.0%)								84.1	83.8	398	5
063877011005	394	Alder Creek Middle	Public	6-8	10931 Alder Dr.	Truckee	96161	Nevada County	Tahoe-Truckee Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 582-2750	513	31	16.6	31.8%	323 (63.0%)	1 (0.2%)	166 (32.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (4.5%)	$14,628							84	80.6	475	81
061440001660	395	Centerville Middle	Public	6-8	37720 Fremont Blvd.	Fremont	94536	Alameda County	Fremont Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 797-2072	1,451	64	22.7	30.5%	194 (13.4%)	32 (2.2%)	326 (22.5%)	815 (56.2%)	7 (0.5%)	15 (1.0%)	62 (4.3%)	$7,409							84	89	300	95
062046002458	396	Cabrillo Elementary	Public	K-8	601 Crespi Dr.	Pacifica	94044	San Mateo County	Pacifica	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 738-6660	534	23	23.2	14.6%	263 (49.3%)	2 (0.4%)	129 (24.2%)	50 (9.4%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	89 (16.7%)	$5,904							84	84.9	378	18
060627000549	397	Camerado Springs Middle	Public	6-8	2480 Merrychase Dr.	Cameron Park	95682	El Dorado County	Buckeye Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 677-1658	492	25	19.6	25.2%	328 (66.7%)	1 (0.2%)	116 (23.6%)	13 (2.6%)	4 (0.8%)	1 (0.2%)	29 (5.9%)	$10,183							83.9	86	353	44
060002912243	398	Dorothy McElhinney Middle	Public	6-8	35125 Briggs Rd.	Murrieta	92563	Riverside County	Murrieta Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 304-1885	1,442	55	26.2	46.5%	498 (34.5%)	101 (7.0%)	547 (37.9%)	128 (8.9%)	2 (0.1%)	5 (0.3%)	160 (11.1%)								83.9	79	513	115
062814004338	399	Marine View Middle	Public	6-8	5682 Tilburg Dr.	Huntington Beach	92649	Orange County	Ocean View	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 846-0624	647	27	24	43.4%	326 (50.4%)	6 (0.9%)	192 (29.7%)	50 (7.7%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.3%)	70 (10.8%)	$4,761							83.9	79.1	511	112
064356012910	400	Competitive Edge Charter Academy (CECA)	Public, Charter	K-8	34450 Stonewood Dr.	Yucaipa	92399	San Bernardino County	Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 797-0174	716	33	21.5	39.8%	379 (52.9%)	8 (1.1%)	270 (37.7%)	40 (5.6%)	5 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (2.0%)	$11,725							83.8	80.7	473	73

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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

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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