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)
060232510893	751	James Jordan Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	18600 Lanark St.	Reseda	91335	Los Angeles County	James Jordan Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 882-2496	454	18	25.1	87.4%	9 (2.0%)	8 (1.8%)	419 (92.3%)	18 (4.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								66.4	69.8	686	65
063492005901	752	Borel Middle	Public	6-8	425 Barneson Ave.	San Mateo	94402	San Mateo County	San Mateo-Foster City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 312-7670	934	49	19	40.1%	189 (20.2%)	8 (0.9%)	466 (49.9%)	151 (16.2%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (1.3%)	108 (11.6%)	$7,232							66.4	72	643	109
060162000016	753	Haskell (Pliny Fisk) Middle	Public	7-8	11525 Del Amo Blvd.	Cerritos	90703	Los Angeles County	ABC Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 229-7815	442	21	21	72.6%	22 (5.0%)	58 (13.1%)	226 (51.1%)	110 (24.9%)	1 (0.2%)	3 (0.7%)	22 (5.0%)	$6,257							66.4	66.3	757	4
062400011479	754	Mark West Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	4600 Lavell Rd.	Santa Rosa	95403	Sonoma County	Mark West Union Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 524-2741	107	7	16	52.3%	56 (52.3%)	4 (3.7%)	36 (33.6%)	2 (1.9%)	1 (0.9%)	1 (0.9%)	7 (6.5%)	$7,831							66.4	73.2	615	139
060462000423	755	Benicia Middle	Public	6-8	1100 Southampton Rd.	Benicia	94510	Solano County	Benicia Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 747-8340	948	44	21.5	24.6%	392 (41.4%)	47 (5.0%)	254 (26.8%)	103 (10.9%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.2%)	148 (15.6%)	$6,195							66.3	52.4	1096	341
060226004112	756	Sonoma Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	17202 Sonoma Hwy.	Sonoma	95476	Sonoma County	Sonoma Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 935-4232	226	9	25	47.3%	107 (47.3%)	2 (0.9%)	100 (44.2%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	14 (6.2%)								66.3	52.7	1089	333
060223214427	757	High Technical Middle Mesa	Public, Charter	6-8	5331 Mt. Alifan Dr.	San Diego	92111	San Diego County	High Technical Middle Mesa District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 510-4600	338	19	17.3	40.5%	137 (40.5%)	7 (2.1%)	107 (31.7%)	49 (14.5%)	2 (0.6%)	3 (0.9%)	33 (9.8%)								66.3	63.2	815	58
061152001288	758	Royal Oaks STEAM Academy (K-8)	Public	K-8	2499 Royal Oaks Dr.	Bradbury	91008	Los Angeles County	Duarte Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 599-5400	846	35	24	40.5%	72 (8.5%)	38 (4.5%)	507 (59.9%)	154 (18.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	73 (8.6%)	$6,076							66.1	61.8	856	98
062271003167	759	Mark Twain Middle	Public	6-8	2224 Walgrove Ave.	Los Angeles	90066	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 305-3100	955	47	20.2	55.5%	170 (17.8%)	100 (10.5%)	507 (53.1%)	68 (7.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.2%)	108 (11.3%)	$11,686							66.1	63.2	814	55
062193002602	760	Lake Center Middle	Public	6-8	10503 South Pioneer Blvd.	Santa Fe Springs	90670	Los Angeles County	Little Lake City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 868-4977	765	38	20.2	79.9%	26 (3.4%)	8 (1.0%)	696 (91.0%)	17 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (0.4%)	15 (2.0%)	$11,176							66.1	65.6	771	11

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

Public School Districts and Their Services: A Comprehensive Guide

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