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)
060363002021	2361	Walter Stiern Middle	Public	6-8	2551 Morning Dr.	Bakersfield	93306	Kern County	Bakersfield City	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 631-5480	783	36	21.5	91.7%	41 (5.2%)	29 (3.7%)	699 (89.3%)	4 (0.5%)	4 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.8%)	$7,586							17.5	22.7	2152	209
063432005510	2362	Mann Middle	Public	6-8	4345 54th St.	San Diego	92115	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 560-4460	670	33	20	93.9%	14 (2.1%)	155 (23.1%)	363 (54.2%)	113 (16.9%)	2 (0.3%)	3 (0.4%)	20 (3.0%)	$7,896							17.5	23.8	2113	249
062145009565	2363	Richland Junior High	Public	7-8	331 Shafter Ave.	Shafter	93263	Kern County	Richland Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 746-8630	585	34	17	87.4%	23 (3.9%)	3 (0.5%)	554 (94.7%)	4 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	$5,923							17.5	19.1	2325	38
064015006636	2364	Sycamore Magnet Academy	Public	K-8	1402 Sycamore Ave.	Tustin	92780	Orange County	Tustin Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 730-7360	1,161	46	25	86.8%	42 (3.6%)	13 (1.1%)	1,064 (91.6%)	23 (2.0%)	3 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	14 (1.2%)	$10,694							17.5	16.6	2444	80
062271012144	2365	John H. Liechty Middle	Public	6-8	650 South Union Ave.	Los Angeles	90017	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 989-1200	824	43	19	98.3%	13 (1.6%)	23 (2.8%)	774 (93.9%)	5 (0.6%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.0%)	$11,367							17.5	16.3	2453	88
063720006298	2366	Altimira Middle	Public	6-8	17805 Arnold Dr.	Sonoma	95476	Sonoma County	Sonoma Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 935-6020	351	22	16.2	68.4%	63 (17.9%)	0 (0.0%)	281 (80.1%)	2 (0.6%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.1%)	$10,321							17.5	18.5	2357	9
060939000945	2367	Joe Baca	Public	7-8	1640 South Lilac Ave.	Bloomington	92316	San Bernardino County	Colton Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 580-5014	745	39	19.1	89.9%	21 (2.8%)	25 (3.4%)	683 (91.7%)	10 (1.3%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	4 (0.5%)	$6,585							17.4	17.3	2420	53
060240814146	2368	Alma Fuerte Public	Public, Charter	K-8	524 Palisade St.	Pasadena	91103	Los Angeles County	Alma Fuerte Public District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 204-5265	185	9	19.5	81.1%	12 (6.5%)	44 (23.8%)	121 (65.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	7 (3.8%)								17.4			(n/a)
064206003032	2369	West Park Charter Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2695 South Valentine Ave.	Fresno	93706	Fresno County	West Park Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 233-6501	172	8	21	84.9%	36 (20.9%)	4 (2.3%)	126 (73.3%)	2 (1.2%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.7%)	$10,953							17.4	22.6	2155	214
060185514028	2370	Audeo Charter II	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	3821 Plaza Drive Ste. 402	Oceanside	92056	San Diego County	Audeo Charter II District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 678-2050	237	7	32.9	59.1%	75 (31.6%)	7 (3.0%)	127 (53.6%)	2 (0.8%)	4 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (8.4%)								17.4	21.6	2197	173

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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:

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

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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