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)
062586009163	1871	La Contenta Middle	Public	7-8	7050 La Contenta Rd.	Yucca Valley	92284	San Bernardino County	Morongo Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 228-1802	645	35	18.2	71.9%	351 (54.4%)	34 (5.3%)	223 (34.6%)	11 (1.7%)	7 (1.1%)	4 (0.6%)	14 (2.2%)	$7,052							28.6	26.8	1963	92
063680006235	1872	James Monroe Middle	Public	6-8	340 West Church St.	Ridgecrest	93555	Kern County	Sierra Sands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 499-1830	542	27	20	57.2%	273 (50.4%)	53 (9.8%)	157 (29.0%)	11 (2.0%)	5 (0.9%)	5 (0.9%)	37 (6.8%)								28.6	27.4	1938	66
060233614059	1873	Contra Costa School of Performing Arts	Public, Charter	6-12	2730 Mitchell Dr.	Walnut Creek	94598	Contra Costa County	Contra Costa School of Performing Arts District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 235-1130	361	15	24.1	46.0%	80 (22.2%)	48 (13.3%)	165 (45.7%)	14 (3.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	52 (14.4%)								28.5	26	1993	120
060196310651	1874	Venture Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2829 Transworld Dr.	Stockton	95206	San Joaquin County	Venture Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 468-5940	1,613	79	20.3	65.7%	196 (12.2%)	111 (6.9%)	1,147 (71.1%)	87 (5.4%)	4 (0.2%)	8 (0.5%)	59 (3.7%)								28.5	22.8	2146	272
060672000594	1875	Buttonwillow Elementary	Public	K-8	42600 Hwy 58	Buttonwillow	93206	Kern County	Buttonwillow Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 764-5166	287	21	13.4	80.1%	18 (6.3%)	5 (1.7%)	262 (91.3%)	1 (0.3%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$13,647							28.5	15.7	2477	602
064308007005	1876	Lee Middle	Public	7-8	520 West St.	Woodland	95695	Yolo County	Woodland Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 662-0251	654	33	19.6	79.5%	104 (15.9%)	7 (1.1%)	488 (74.6%)	14 (2.1%)	5 (0.8%)	2 (0.3%)	34 (5.2%)	$8,455							28.5	24.4	2078	202
063384005217	1877	A. M. Winn Waldorf-Inspired	Public	K-8	3351 Explorer Dr.	Sacramento	95827	Sacramento County	Sacramento City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 395-4505	389	23	16.8	63.5%	154 (39.6%)	27 (6.9%)	135 (34.7%)	14 (3.6%)	4 (1.0%)	2 (0.5%)	51 (13.1%)	$7,179							28.5	11.7	2638	761
062805005701	1878	Independent Study Sojourner Truth	Public, Alternative	K-12	8251 Fontaine St.	Oakland	94605	Alameda County	Oakland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 879-5330	573	33	17.3	97.6%	110 (19.2%)	192 (33.5%)	166 (29.0%)	37 (6.5%)	4 (0.7%)	8 (1.4%)	53 (9.2%)	$12,825							28.5	14.5	2534	656
060170503964	1879	Guajome Park Academy Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2000 North Santa Fe Ave.	Vista	92083	San Diego County	Guajome Park Academy Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 631-8500	1,353	72	18.7	73.2%	217 (16.0%)	16 (1.2%)	977 (72.2%)	32 (2.4%)	6 (0.4%)	3 (0.2%)	96 (7.1%)								28.5	44.4	1328	551
062271002850	1880	Belvedere Middle	Public	6-8	312 North Record Ave.	Los Angeles	90063	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 266-5400	727	42	17.3	96.1%	16 (2.2%)	1 (0.1%)	704 (96.8%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	4 (0.6%)	$10,850							28.5	29.7	1831	49

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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

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.