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)
062250012117	2011	Lindsey Academy	Public	6-8	5075 Daisy Ave.	Long Beach	90805	Los Angeles County	Long Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 423-6451	715	32	22.6	82.7%	6 (0.8%)	124 (17.3%)	510 (71.3%)	42 (5.9%)	2 (0.3%)	18 (2.5%)	13 (1.8%)	$8,027							25.4	24.2	2090	79
060178812386	2012	Gompers Preparatory Academy	Public, Charter	6-12	1005 47th St.	San Diego	92102	San Diego County	Gompers Preparatory Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 263-2171	1,229	40	30.4	82.1%	12 (1.0%)	49 (4.0%)	1,119 (91.0%)	38 (3.1%)	3 (0.2%)	2 (0.2%)	6 (0.5%)								25.4	14.5	2532	520
060165413597	2013	Alliance Virgil Roberts Leadership Academy	Public, Charter	6-8	2941 West 70th St.	Los Angeles	90043	Los Angeles County	Alliance Virgil Roberts Leadership Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 920-4388	407	20	20.8	97.1%	0 (0.0%)	118 (29.0%)	284 (69.8%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.0%)								25.4	21.8	2190	177
062676009951	2014	Needles Middle	Public	6-8	720 Bailey Ave.	Needles	92363	San Bernardino County	Needles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 326-3894	206	11	17.9	78.2%	86 (41.7%)	7 (3.4%)	73 (35.4%)	3 (1.5%)	19 (9.2%)	2 (1.0%)	16 (7.8%)	$8,590							25.3	20.1	2270	256
062271012207	2015	Roy Romer Middle	Public	6-8	6501 Laurel Canyon Blvd.	North Hollywood	91606	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 505-2200	773	42	18.2	93.5%	46 (6.0%)	5 (0.6%)	696 (90.0%)	12 (1.6%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	11 (1.4%)	$9,958							25.3	20.5	2241	226
060209411199	2016	St. HOPE Public School 7	Public, Charter	K-8	5201 Strawberry Ln.	Sacramento	95820	Sacramento County	St. HOPE Public School 7 District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 649-7850	517	25	20.8	85.5%	11 (2.1%)	288 (55.7%)	145 (28.0%)	12 (2.3%)	5 (1.0%)	1 (0.2%)	55 (10.6%)								25.2	25.8	2006	10
062271003277	2017	Robert E. Peary Middle	Public	6-8	1415 West Gardena Blvd.	Gardena	90247	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 225-4200	1,119	67	16.7	87.6%	20 (1.8%)	308 (27.5%)	711 (63.5%)	44 (3.9%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.4%)	31 (2.8%)	$10,216							25.2	23.5	2123	106
060498000481	2018	Big Springs Elementary	Public	K-8	7405 Highway A-12	Montague	96064	Siskiyou County	Big Springs Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 459-3189	120	8	15	65.0%	62 (51.7%)	0 (0.0%)	17 (14.2%)	21 (17.5%)	1 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	19 (15.8%)	$9,587							25.2	38.5	1507	511
061692002150	2019	Cottonwood	Public	K-8	44260 Sage Rd.	Aguanga	92536	Riverside County	Hemet Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 767-3870	189	13	15	72.0%	76 (40.2%)	1 (0.5%)	105 (55.6%)	2 (1.1%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.1%)	$12,334							25.2	36.1	1591	428
060252014428	2020	Lake View Charter	Public, Virtual, Charter, Alternative	K-12	4672 County Road N	Orland	95963	Glenn County	Lake View Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(916) 957-5877	836	26	31.6	61.2%	615 (73.6%)	9 (1.1%)	112 (13.4%)	6 (0.7%)	3 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	89 (10.6%)								25.2	28.4	1883	137

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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

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.