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)
062256012246	161	Loomis Basin Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	5438 Laird Rd.	Loomis	95650	Placer County	Loomis Union Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 652-2642	503	22	22.5	8.0%	344 (68.4%)	0 (0.0%)	62 (12.3%)	26 (5.2%)	2 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	69 (13.7%)	$7,176							94.7	92.5	221	60
060720000674	162	Rolling Hills Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	1585 More Ave.	Los Gatos	95032	Santa Clara County	Campbell Union	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 364-4235	822	41	20.1	20.1%	255 (31.0%)	21 (2.6%)	217 (26.4%)	242 (29.4%)	2 (0.2%)	2 (0.2%)	83 (10.1%)								94.7	93	206	44
061389001571	163	Folsom Middle	Public	6-8	500 Blue Ravine Rd.	Folsom	95630	Sacramento County	Folsom-Cordova Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 294-9040	1,403	53	26.3	10.5%	583 (41.6%)	20 (1.4%)	187 (13.3%)	483 (34.4%)	5 (0.4%)	2 (0.1%)	123 (8.8%)	$6,138							94.7	96.3	113	50
062970004620	164	Miraleste Intermediate	Public	6-8	29323 Palos Verdes Dr. East	Rancho Palos Verdes	90275	Los Angeles County	Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 732-0900	746	35	21.3	9.9%	316 (42.4%)	21 (2.8%)	172 (23.1%)	129 (17.3%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	104 (13.9%)	$6,054							94.6	94.2	170	6
060744007270	165	Fred Newhart Middle	Public	6-8	25001 Veterans Way	Mission Viejo	92692	Orange County	Capistrano Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 855-0162	1,083	55	19.6	34.6%	463 (42.8%)	15 (1.4%)	289 (26.7%)	133 (12.3%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.2%)	178 (16.4%)	$9,940							94.6	92.2	231	66
062271013175	166	Porter Ranch Community	Public	K-8	12450 Mason Ave.	Porter Ranch	91326	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 709-7100	1,396	56	24.9	18.3%	332 (23.8%)	58 (4.2%)	212 (15.2%)	528 (37.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	266 (19.1%)	$7,425							94.6	92.3	226	60
060000608774	167	White Hill Middle	Public	6-8	101 Glen Dr.	Fairfax	94930	Marin County	Ross Valley Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 454-8390	628	34	18.4	14.8%	456 (72.6%)	8 (1.3%)	92 (14.6%)	14 (2.2%)	3 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	53 (8.4%)	$10,777							94.6	93.7	183	16
063441005580	168	Giannini (A.P.) Middle	Public	6-8	3151 Ortega St.	San Francisco	94122	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 759-2770	1,193	49	24.1	37.1%	222 (18.6%)	37 (3.1%)	138 (11.6%)	608 (51.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.4%)	183 (15.3%)	$6,103							94.5	96	118	50
060149313752	169	Downtown Charter Academy	Public, Charter	6-8	2000 Dennison St.	Oakland	94606	Alameda County	Downtown Charter Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 535-1580	259	14	17.9	57.1%	1 (0.4%)	17 (6.6%)	34 (13.1%)	204 (78.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.2%)								94.5	92.3	228	59
063432005532	170	Pacific Beach Middle	Public	6-8	4676 Ingraham St.	San Diego	92109	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 221-5600	631	29	21.6	41.4%	277 (43.9%)	11 (1.7%)	196 (31.1%)	50 (7.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	96 (15.2%)	$8,203							94.5	89.3	290	120

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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:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

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.