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)
062187009389	1151	Lincoln Elementary	Public	K-8	851 North Stanford Ave.	Lindsay	93247	Tulare County	Lindsay Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 562-2571	384	20	19.2	83.9%	20 (5.2%)	0 (0.0%)	360 (93.8%)	2 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.5%)	$7,800							50.6	42.4	1392	241
062271003128	1152	Ernest Lawrence Middle	Public	6-8	10100 Variel Ave.	Chatsworth	91311	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 678-7900	1,072	48	22.2	64.8%	143 (13.3%)	42 (3.9%)	623 (58.1%)	213 (19.9%)	2 (0.2%)	2 (0.2%)	47 (4.4%)	$8,974							50.5	54.4	1047	105
062271003439	1153	Virgil Middle	Public	6-8	152 North Vermont Ave.	Los Angeles	90004	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(213) 368-2800	1,044	60	17.4	94.8%	37 (3.5%)	31 (3.0%)	828 (79.3%)	129 (12.4%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (1.6%)	$9,964							50.5	42.4	1393	240
060797007669	1154	Houghton-Kearney Elementary	Public	K-8	8905 West Kearney Blvd.	Fresno	93706	Fresno County	Central Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 276-5285	212	9	23.5	70.8%	48 (22.6%)	0 (0.0%)	141 (66.5%)	20 (9.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.4%)	$6,685							50.5	65.2	777	377
064098006750	1155	De Anza Academy of Technology and the Arts	Public	6-8	2060 Cameron St.	Ventura	93001	Ventura County	Ventura Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 641-5165	548	22	24.9	74.8%	106 (19.3%)	2 (0.4%)	406 (74.1%)	17 (3.1%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (2.9%)	$7,478							50.4	49.5	1183	28
063432008962	1156	San Diego SCPA	Public	6-12	2425 Dusk Dr.	San Diego	92139	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 470-0555	1,275	57	22.2	57.3%	195 (15.3%)	90 (7.1%)	579 (45.4%)	255 (20.0%)	5 (0.4%)	7 (0.5%)	136 (10.7%)	$6,871							50.4	61.7	861	295
062637003965	1157	Pine Hollow Middle	Public	6-8	5522 Pine Hollow Rd.	Concord	94521	Contra Costa County	Mt. Diablo Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 672-5444	557	24	22.7	34.1%	159 (28.5%)	15 (2.7%)	201 (36.1%)	91 (16.3%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.9%)	86 (15.4%)	$12,331							50.4	46.3	1280	123
060675000595	1158	Excelsior Middle	Public	6-8	14301 Byron Hwy.	Byron	94514	Contra Costa County	Byron Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 809-7530	423	23	18.7	32.2%	214 (50.6%)	35 (8.3%)	106 (25.1%)	30 (7.1%)	1 (0.2%)	7 (1.7%)	30 (7.1%)								50.4	55.7	1017	141
062463003698	1159	Washington Elementary	Public	K-8	4402 West Oakdale Rd.	Winton	95388	Merced County	Merced River Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 358-5679	281	11	25.6	77.6%	112 (39.9%)	4 (1.4%)	156 (55.5%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.1%)	$12,352							50.3	56.6	995	164
060006411825	1160	Sequoia Middle	Public	7-8	1450 West Castle Ave.	Porterville	93257	Tulare County	Porterville Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 788-0923	521	26	20	58.3%	73 (14.0%)	1 (0.2%)	412 (79.1%)	15 (2.9%)	5 (1.0%)	1 (0.2%)	13 (2.5%)	$5,916							50.3	57.7	969	191

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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

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

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