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)
060196412477	1541	iQ Academy California-Los Angeles	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	50 Moreland Rd.	Simi Valley	93065	Ventura County	iQ Academy California-Los Angeles District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(805) 581-0202	1,429	62	23	74.5%	170 (11.9%)	252 (17.6%)	855 (59.8%)	55 (3.8%)	12 (0.8%)	4 (0.3%)	81 (5.7%)								37.5	30.5	1799	258
060429011013	1542	San Gorgonio Middle	Public	6-8	1591 Cherry Ave.	Beaumont	92223	Riverside County	Beaumont Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 769-4391	1,222	55	22.1	70.4%	237 (19.4%)	99 (8.1%)	741 (60.6%)	81 (6.6%)	6 (0.5%)	6 (0.5%)	51 (4.2%)	$6,932							37.5	39.5	1478	64
062586003893	1543	Twentynine Palms Junior High	Public	7-8	5798 Utah Trail	Twentynine Palms	92277	San Bernardino County	Morongo Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 367-9507	415	21	20	57.3%	157 (37.8%)	60 (14.5%)	147 (35.4%)	22 (5.3%)	3 (0.7%)	11 (2.7%)	14 (3.4%)	$7,036							37.5	26.4	1976	433
062772004185	1544	Hamilton Tk-8	Public	K-8	5530 Nave Dr.	Novato	94949	Marin County	Novato Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 883-4691	522	25	20.8	64.6%	54 (10.3%)	20 (3.8%)	385 (73.8%)	31 (5.9%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.4%)	29 (5.6%)								37.4	40.1	1457	87
062691013202	1545	Decoto School for Independent Study	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	725 Whipple Rd.	Union City	94587	Alameda County	New Haven Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(510) 476-2696	279	11	24.9	68.5%	23 (8.2%)	22 (7.9%)	119 (42.7%)	87 (31.2%)	3 (1.1%)	5 (1.8%)	19 (6.8%)	$13,116							37.4	21.8	2186	641
060179014045	1546	Compass Charter Schools of Los Angeles	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	850 Hampshire Rd. Ste. R	Thousand Oaks	91361	Ventura County	Compass Charter Schools of Los Angeles District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(855) 937-4227	956	41	23.4	56.7%	237 (24.8%)	83 (8.7%)	515 (53.9%)	35 (3.7%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	83 (8.7%)								37.4	31.4	1768	222
063684009639	1547	Monte Vista	Public, Alternative	K-12	1220 Fourth St.	Simi Valley	93065	Ventura County	Simi Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 579-6326	425	21	20.4	42.8%	194 (45.6%)	4 (0.9%)	191 (44.9%)	10 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	24 (5.6%)	$9,178							37.4	31.7	1760	213
061336008837	1548	Oakbrook Academy of the Arts	Public	K-8	700 Oakbrook Dr.	Fairfield	94534	Solano County	Fairfield-Suisun Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 863-7930	573	24	23.8	45.9%	113 (19.7%)	55 (9.6%)	192 (33.5%)	132 (23.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.7%)	75 (13.1%)	$5,695							37.3	34.6	1646	98
063852006470	1549	Surprise Valley High	Public	8-12	470 Lincoln St.	Cedarville	96104	Modoc County	Surprise Valley Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 279-6141	46	3	14.2	43.5%	25 (54.3%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (17.4%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (17.4%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (10.9%)								37.3			(n/a)
060245009300	1550	Jackson Junior High	Public	6-8	747 Sutter St.	Jackson	95642	Amador County	Amador County Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 257-5700	351	21	16.9	46.2%	223 (63.5%)	0 (0.0%)	79 (22.5%)	5 (1.4%)	8 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (10.3%)	$4,912							37.3	33.8	1673	123

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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

State-Administered Standardized Tests: 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.