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)
060627002958	151	Rolling Hills Middle	Public	6-8	7141 Silva Valley Pkwy.	El Dorado Hills	95762	El Dorado County	Buckeye Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 933-9290	814	40	20.3	13.1%	456 (56.0%)	7 (0.9%)	122 (15.0%)	152 (18.7%)	5 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	71 (8.7%)	$9,246							95.1	95.1	148	3
064251010913	152	Rancho Pico Junior High	Public	7-8	26250 West Valencia Blvd.	Stevenson Ranch	91381	Los Angeles County	William S. Hart Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 284-3260	848	38	22.5	13.7%	279 (32.9%)	33 (3.9%)	222 (26.2%)	246 (29.0%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	66 (7.8%)	$10,257							95	95.2	144	8
060220603050	153	Granada Hills Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	10535 Zelzah Ave.	Granada Hills	91344	Los Angeles County	Granada Hills Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 360-2361	6,014	238	25.2	49.4%	1,403 (23.3%)	253 (4.2%)	2,533 (42.1%)	1,587 (26.4%)	18 (0.3%)	24 (0.4%)	177 (2.9%)								95	94.7	164	11
060162000007	154	Carmenita Middle	Public	7-8	13435 East 166th St.	Cerritos	90703	Los Angeles County	ABC Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 229-7775	627	26	24.5	42.3%	49 (7.8%)	43 (6.9%)	158 (25.2%)	348 (55.5%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	27 (4.3%)	$5,522							94.9	94.8	160	6
062814004340	155	Mesa View Middle	Public	6-8	17601 Avilla Ln.	Huntington Beach	92647	Orange County	Ocean View	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 842-6608	693	29	23.6	43.7%	267 (38.5%)	6 (0.9%)	218 (31.5%)	113 (16.3%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.4%)	84 (12.1%)	$4,423							94.9	95.4	138	17
062271011654	156	Hesby Oaks Leadership Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	15530 Hesby St.	Encino	91403	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 528-7000	534	22	24.2	21.5%	346 (64.8%)	9 (1.7%)	85 (15.9%)	39 (7.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	53 (9.9%)	$8,860							94.8	86.6	345	189
060164508299	157	Arroyo Vista Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	2491 School House Rd.	Chula Vista	91915	San Diego County	Arroyo Vista Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 656-9676	924	38	24.3	26.8%	141 (15.3%)	24 (2.6%)	540 (58.4%)	149 (16.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	69 (7.5%)								94.8	95.4	140	17
063288011421	158	Park View Elementary	Public	K-8	751 Cindy Dr.	Ripon	95366	San Joaquin County	Ripon Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 599-1882	461	19	23.7	16.3%	189 (41.0%)	1 (0.2%)	129 (28.0%)	106 (23.0%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	34 (7.4%)	$8,618							94.8	93.6	185	27
061866002271	159	Jacoby Creek	Public	K-8	1617 Old Arcata Rd.	Bayside	95524	Humboldt County	Jacoby Creek Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 822-4896	462	22	20.9	34.4%	338 (73.2%)	2 (0.4%)	54 (11.7%)	11 (2.4%)	4 (0.9%)	1 (0.2%)	52 (11.3%)	$9,610							94.8	94.2	171	12
060297000228	160	First Avenue Middle	Public	6-8	301 South First Ave.	Arcadia	91006	Los Angeles County	Arcadia Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 821-8362	707	28	25.2	35.9%	48 (6.8%)	18 (2.5%)	105 (14.9%)	504 (71.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	31 (4.4%)	$10,512							94.8	95.7	130	30

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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:

A high school boy doing homework on a laptop

Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

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