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)
063522005964	2241	San Ysidro Middle	Public	7-8	4345 Otay Mesa Rd.	San Ysidro	92173	San Diego County	San Ysidro Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 428-5551	548	28	19.3	64.6%	7 (1.3%)	3 (0.5%)	533 (97.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.7%)	$6,741							20.4	28.3	1890	351
063459005731	2242	Muwekma Ohlone Middle	Public	6-8	850 North Second St.	San Jose	95112	Santa Clara County	San Jose Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 535-6267	620	31	20.1	68.4%	37 (6.0%)	7 (1.1%)	518 (83.5%)	38 (6.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (3.2%)	$13,500							20.4	22.7	2149	93
060133201984	2243	Foothill Ranch Middle	Public	7-8	5001 Diablo Dr.	Sacramento	95842	Sacramento County	Twin Rivers Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 566-3440	493	25	19.9	94.1%	103 (20.9%)	66 (13.4%)	183 (37.1%)	84 (17.0%)	2 (0.4%)	3 (0.6%)	52 (10.5%)								20.4	25.6	2019	224
061104008654	2244	Denair Middle	Public	6-8	3701 Lester Rd.	Denair	95316	Stanislaus County	Denair Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 632-2510	284	15	19	70.1%	105 (37.0%)	2 (0.7%)	157 (55.3%)	3 (1.1%)	3 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (4.6%)	$7,512							20.4	21.4	2203	41
063801001375	2245	Taft Elementary	Public	K-8	419 Downing Ave.	Stockton	95206	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7285	459	22	21.2	86.3%	4 (0.9%)	42 (9.2%)	344 (74.9%)	50 (10.9%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (3.9%)	$7,991							20.4	19.3	2306	61
061899002299	2246	Carquinez Middle	Public	6-8	1099 Pomona St.	Crockett	94525	Contra Costa County	John Swett Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 787-1081	263	12	21.1	85.2%	23 (8.7%)	39 (14.8%)	113 (43.0%)	52 (19.8%)	2 (0.8%)	1 (0.4%)	33 (12.5%)								20.3	18.3	2362	116
069113410217	2247	San Joaquin Elementary	Public	K-8	8535 South Ninth	San Joaquin	93660	Fresno County	Golden Plains Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 693-4321	527	28	19	98.3%	3 (0.6%)	10 (1.9%)	510 (96.8%)	4 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$5,398							20.3	14.7	2523	276
060257514623	2248	KIPP University Park	Public, Charter	K-8	820 North American St.	Stockton	95202	San Joaquin County	KIPP University Park District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 741-7924	269	15	17.9	95.2%	11 (4.1%)	59 (21.9%)	173 (64.3%)	8 (3.0%)	2 (0.7%)	1 (0.4%)	15 (5.6%)								20.3			(n/a)
061734014557	2249	Rancho Santana	Public	K-8	1454 Santana Ranch Dr.	Hollister	95023	San Benito County	Hollister	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 630-6300	653	22	29.6	47.6%	100 (15.3%)	10 (1.5%)	478 (73.2%)	22 (3.4%)	2 (0.3%)	12 (1.8%)	29 (4.4%)								20.2	34	1666	583
063117004819	2250	Chester Junior/Senior High	Public	7-12	612 First St.	Chester	96020	Plumas County	Plumas Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 258-2126	127	10	12.6	59.8%	93 (73.2%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (11.0%)	4 (3.1%)	2 (1.6%)	0 (0.0%)	14 (11.0%)								20.2	40.1	1458	792

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of 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.