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)
063018008940	1601	Innovative Horizons Charter	Public, Charter	K-8	1461 North A St.	Perris	92570	Riverside County	Perris Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 657-0728	938	42	22.1	84.2%	18 (1.9%)	43 (4.6%)	854 (91.0%)	7 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	16 (1.7%)	$9,224							35.6	24.4	2082	481
064356001137	1602	Park View Middle	Public	6-8	34875 Tahoe Dr.	Yucaipa	92399	San Bernardino County	Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 790-3285	916	39	23.7	68.0%	360 (39.3%)	11 (1.2%)	501 (54.7%)	16 (1.7%)	7 (0.8%)	3 (0.3%)	18 (2.0%)	$6,111							35.6	41.4	1417	185
062334003546	1603	Howard Elementary	Public	K-8	13878 Road 21 1/2	Madera	93637	Madera County	Madera Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 674-8568	503	21	24.4	80.1%	44 (8.7%)	0 (0.0%)	436 (86.7%)	3 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (3.8%)	$1,256							35.6	25.3	2033	430
060208111200	1604	Community Outreach Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	5637 Skvarla Ave.	McClellan	95652	Sacramento County	Community Outreach Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 286-5170	1,797	81	22.3	84.0%	1,722 (95.8%)	6 (0.3%)	44 (2.4%)	21 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.1%)								35.5	32.5	1721	117
061455001717	1605	Cooper Middle	Public	6-8	2277 West Bellaire Way	Fresno	93705	Fresno County	Fresno Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 248-7050	552	29	18.7	86.2%	38 (6.9%)	41 (7.4%)	432 (78.3%)	21 (3.8%)	4 (0.7%)	1 (0.2%)	15 (2.7%)	$7,999							35.5	37	1561	44
060167812360	1606	Magnolia Science Academy 4	Public, Charter	6-12	11330 West Graham Pl. B-9	Los Angeles	90064	Los Angeles County	Magnolia Science Academy 4 District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 473-2464	124	8	15.5	96.0%	5 (4.0%)	8 (6.5%)	107 (86.3%)	3 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.8%)								35.4			(n/a)
061668007520	1607	Prairie Vista Middle	Public	6-8	13600 South Prairie Ave.	Hawthorne	90250	Los Angeles County	Hawthorne	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 679-1003	736	28	26	86.3%	10 (1.4%)	143 (19.4%)	540 (73.4%)	23 (3.1%)	2 (0.3%)	14 (1.9%)	4 (0.5%)	$7,534							35.3	36.8	1567	40
061647003154	1608	John F. Kennedy Junior High	Public	7-8	1000 East Florinda St.	Hanford	93232	Kings County	Hanford Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 585-3850	521	27	19.3	87.5%	49 (9.4%)	31 (6.0%)	419 (80.4%)	3 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	1 (0.2%)	17 (3.3%)	$10,975							35.3	43.7	1352	256
063237004994	1609	Ben F. Kolb Middle	Public	6-8	2351 North Spruce St.	Rialto	92377	San Bernardino County	Rialto Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 820-7849	898	37	24.2	84.6%	31 (3.5%)	118 (13.1%)	717 (79.8%)	6 (0.7%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.3%)	21 (2.3%)	$7,950							35.3	33.3	1690	81
060369000341	1610	Vineland Elementary	Public	K-8	3609 Vineland Ave.	Baldwin Park	91706	Los Angeles County	Baldwin Park Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 962-9719	475	19	24.4	93.9%	2 (0.4%)	1 (0.2%)	429 (90.3%)	30 (6.3%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (0.8%)	9 (1.9%)	$7,096							35.3	36.8	1568	42

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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:

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): Transforming Education in America

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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