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)
062361003588	1731	Shasta Elementary	Public	K-8	751 East Edison St.	Manteca	95336	San Joaquin County	Manteca Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 858-7400	797	34	23.5	80.8%	130 (16.3%)	22 (2.8%)	553 (69.4%)	54 (6.8%)	3 (0.4%)	4 (0.5%)	30 (3.8%)	$5,144							31.9	31.5	1763	32
062211002622	1732	Junction K-8	Public	K-8	298 Junction Ave.	Livermore	94551	Alameda County	Livermore Valley Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 606-4720	803	37	21.4	51.6%	146 (18.2%)	20 (2.5%)	580 (72.2%)	36 (4.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	20 (2.5%)	$8,371							31.9	39.1	1490	242
061263001425	1733	Anna Yates Elementary	Public	K-8	4727 San Pablo	Emeryville	94608	Alameda County	Emery Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 601-4916	444	20	21.7	53.8%	59 (13.3%)	193 (43.5%)	92 (20.7%)	42 (9.5%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.9%)	54 (12.2%)								31.8	23.7	2116	383
060183712915	1734	Camino Nuevo Charter Academy #4	Public, Charter	K-8	1018 Mohawk St.	Los Angeles	90026	Los Angeles County	Camino Nuevo Charter Academy #4 District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 353-5300	488	24	20	92.4%	1 (0.2%)	8 (1.6%)	468 (95.9%)	10 (2.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)								31.8	27.9	1914	180
060429000387	1735	Mountain View Middle	Public	6-8	200 Cougar Way	Beaumont	92223	Riverside County	Beaumont Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 845-1627	943	46	20.4	71.8%	221 (23.4%)	59 (6.3%)	540 (57.3%)	60 (6.4%)	4 (0.4%)	4 (0.4%)	55 (5.8%)	$6,742							31.8	37.1	1558	177
062958012870	1736	Dos Caminos Dual Immersion	Public	K-8	39066 Palm Tree Way	Palmdale	93551	Los Angeles County	Palmdale Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 947-1849	902	35	25.5	78.2%	29 (3.2%)	30 (3.3%)	825 (91.5%)	1 (0.1%)	7 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (1.1%)	$2,119							31.8	26.3	1980	244
061389001577	1737	W. E. Mitchell Middle	Public	6-8	2100 Zinfandel Dr.	Rancho Cordova	95670	Sacramento County	Folsom-Cordova Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 294-9050	768	41	18.6	67.6%	190 (24.7%)	60 (7.8%)	288 (37.5%)	91 (11.8%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (2.0%)	124 (16.1%)	$8,422							31.7	33.2	1696	41
060524012774	1738	American River Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	6620 Wentworth Springs Rd.	Georgetown	95634	El Dorado County	Black Oak Mine Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 333-8340	244	8	30	41.4%	198 (81.1%)	2 (0.8%)	16 (6.6%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.2%)	3 (1.2%)	21 (8.6%)	$8,434							31.7	34.4	1652	86
060183310890	1739	PUC CALS Middle School and Early College High	Public, Charter	6-12	7350 North Figueroa St.	Los Angeles	90041	Los Angeles County	PUC CALS Middle School and Early College High District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 239-0063	307	19	16.1	90.9%	8 (2.6%)	4 (1.3%)	291 (94.8%)	2 (0.7%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								31.7	40.3	1452	287
063864006489	1740	National City Middle	Public	7-8	1701 D Ave.	National City	91950	San Diego County	Sweetwater Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 336-2600	678	29	23.1	72.1%	25 (3.7%)	6 (0.9%)	591 (87.2%)	39 (5.8%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.3%)	14 (2.1%)	$7,880							31.7	32.3	1730	10

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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:

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

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Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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