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)
062547003800	1761	La Merced Intermediate	Public	6-8	215 East Avenida de la Merced	Montebello	90640	Los Angeles County	Montebello Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 722-7262	756	43	17.5	86.6%	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.3%)	717 (94.8%)	3 (0.4%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	32 (4.2%)	$5,430							31.1	29.6	1833	72
062025002445	1762	Spring Valley Academy	Public	7-8	3900 Conrad Dr.	Spring Valley	91977	San Diego County	La Mesa-Spring Valley	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 668-5750	341	22	15.2	75.1%	38 (11.1%)	36 (10.6%)	218 (63.9%)	16 (4.7%)	1 (0.3%)	2 (0.6%)	30 (8.8%)	$7,243							31.1	32.5	1720	42
063432014500	1763	Mountain View	Public	K-8	3550 Logan Ave.	San Diego	92113	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 344-6210	174	10	17.7	86.8%	14 (8.0%)	2 (1.1%)	146 (83.9%)	3 (1.7%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (4.0%)								31.1	28.1	1899	136
062580010278	1764	Palm Middle	Public	6-8	11900 Slawson Ave.	Moreno Valley	92557	Riverside County	Moreno Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 571-4260	1,042	53	19.6	83.3%	84 (8.1%)	129 (12.4%)	755 (72.5%)	31 (3.0%)	1 (0.1%)	9 (0.9%)	33 (3.2%)	$8,100							31.1	33.1	1697	67
061632502059	1765	Orange Grove Middle	Public	6-8	14505 Orange Grove Ave.	Hacienda Heights	91745	Los Angeles County	Hacienda la Puente Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 933-7000	305	13	22.7	89.2%	9 (3.0%)	0 (0.0%)	271 (88.9%)	17 (5.6%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (2.3%)								31	37.2	1556	209
063063012170	1766	Pixley Middle	Public	6-8	1520 East Ct. St.	Pixley	93256	Tulare County	Pixley Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 757-3018	309	16	18.8	97.7%	6 (1.9%)	3 (1.0%)	294 (95.1%)	6 (1.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$14,670							31	22.6	2158	392
063384005289	1767	Will C. Wood Middle	Public	7-8	6201 Lemon Hill Ave.	Sacramento	95824	Sacramento County	Sacramento City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 395-5380	666	32	20.8	91.0%	28 (4.2%)	51 (7.7%)	295 (44.3%)	238 (35.7%)	0 (0.0%)	38 (5.7%)	16 (2.4%)	$8,602							31	28.9	1859	92
060187514264	1768	MIT Griffin Academy Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	233 Hobbs Ave.	Vallejo	94589	Solano County	MIT Griffin Academy Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 552-6482	66	4	15.1	63.6%	7 (10.6%)	13 (19.7%)	30 (45.5%)	9 (13.6%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (7.6%)								31	38	1530	238
060158410837	1769	PUC Lakeview Charter Academy	Public, Charter	6-8	11465 Kagel Canyon St.	Lake View Terrace	91342	Los Angeles County	PUC Lakeview Charter Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 485-0340	315	16	19.5	93.3%	6 (1.9%)	11 (3.5%)	288 (91.4%)	7 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.0%)								30.9	28	1902	133
060249314408	1770	Scholarship Prep - South Bay	Public, Charter	K-8	24910 S. Avalon Blvd.	Wilmington	90744	Los Angeles County	Scholarship Prep - South Bay District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(424) 251-9089	402	17	23.7	94.3%	8 (2.0%)	70 (17.4%)	306 (76.1%)	7 (1.7%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.5%)	8 (2.0%)								30.9	23.1	2137	367

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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:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

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