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)
060257314621	71	EPIC Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	2760 Penrose Ln.	Lathrop	95330	San Joaquin County	EPIC Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 717-6700	805	31	26.2	25.3%	40 (5.0%)	31 (3.9%)	113 (14.0%)	541 (67.2%)	36 (4.5%)	7 (0.9%)	37 (4.6%)								97.6	98	54	17
068450007062	72	Rancho San Joaquin Middle	Public	7-8	4861 Michelson Dr.	Irvine	92612	Orange County	Irvine Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 936-6500	878	35	25.2	22.7%	272 (31.0%)	26 (3.0%)	102 (11.6%)	391 (44.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	86 (9.8%)	$6,160							97.6	97.6	73	1
061734012565	73	Accelerated Achievement Academy	Public	5-8	1151 Buena Vista Rd.	Hollister	95023	San Benito County	Hollister	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 636-4460	162	7	24.9	43.8%	22 (13.6%)	0 (0.0%)	111 (68.5%)	19 (11.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.2%)	8 (4.9%)	$5,014							97.6	98	57	16
060964010454	74	Sycamore Canyon	Public	K-8	4601 Via Rio	Newbury Park	91320	Ventura County	Conejo Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 498-1573	954	43	22	5.9%	516 (54.1%)	6 (0.6%)	114 (11.9%)	232 (24.3%)	3 (0.3%)	4 (0.4%)	79 (8.3%)	$6,353							97.5	96.9	100	26
060228408546	75	Ocsa	Public, Charter	7-12	1010 North Main St.	Santa Ana	92701	Orange County	OCSA District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 560-9000	2,288	133	17.1	15.4%	552 (24.1%)	18 (0.8%)	500 (21.9%)	873 (38.2%)	1 (0.0%)	7 (0.3%)	305 (13.3%)								97.5	97.4	82	7
062283003495	76	Raymond J. Fisher Middle	Public	6-8	19195 Fisher Ave.	Los Gatos	95032	Santa Clara County	Los Gatos Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 335-2300	998	56	17.7	6.1%	510 (51.1%)	10 (1.0%)	84 (8.4%)	290 (29.1%)	3 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	99 (9.9%)	$8,939							97.4	96.2	115	39
061704002162	77	Hermosa Valley Elementary	Public	5-8	1645 Valley Dr.	Hermosa Beach	90254	Los Angeles County	Hermosa Beach City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 937-5888	575	25	22.9	9.0%	369 (64.2%)	7 (1.2%)	75 (13.0%)	26 (4.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	98 (17.0%)	$9,615							97.4	96.9	99	22
062577003854	78	Easterbrook Discovery	Public	K-8	4835 Doyle Rd.	San Jose	95129	Santa Clara County	Moreland	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 874-3500	965	41	23.3	25.1%	199 (20.6%)	21 (2.2%)	168 (17.4%)	483 (50.1%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.6%)	87 (9.0%)	$5,817							97.3	96.3	111	33
063513005955	79	Pine Valley Middle	Public	6-8	3000 Pine Valley Rd.	San Ramon	94583	Contra Costa County	San Ramon Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 479-7700	990	39	25.6	6.8%	314 (31.7%)	15 (1.5%)	115 (11.6%)	455 (46.0%)	3 (0.3%)	2 (0.2%)	86 (8.7%)	$5,905							97.3	94.9	156	77
060191508012	80	Odyssey Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	725 West Altadena Dr.	Altadena	91001	Los Angeles County	Odyssey Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 229-0993	466	19	25.1	26.2%	205 (44.0%)	32 (6.9%)	129 (27.7%)	28 (6.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	72 (15.5%)								97.3	97.4	81	1

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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

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.