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)
060141500147	2201	American Union Elementary	Public	K-8	2801 West Adams Ave.	Fresno	93706	Fresno County	Washington Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 495-5650	291	18	16.1	75.3%	48 (16.5%)	0 (0.0%)	222 (76.3%)	13 (4.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (2.7%)	$11,826							21.3	26.1	1992	209
062250008025	2202	Powell Academy for Success	Public	K-8	150 Victoria St.	Long Beach	90805	Los Angeles County	Long Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 631-8794	777	32	24.1	78.2%	13 (1.7%)	199 (25.6%)	492 (63.3%)	27 (3.5%)	0 (0.0%)	20 (2.6%)	26 (3.3%)	$79,332							21.3	22.9	2145	57
060229609067	2203	Long Valley	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	436-965 Susan Dr.	Doyle	96109	Lassen County	Long Valley District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 827-2395	273	14	19	66.3%	184 (67.4%)	6 (2.2%)	51 (18.7%)	1 (0.4%)	6 (2.2%)	0 (0.0%)	25 (9.2%)								21.2	36.5	1572	631
061233001412	2204	James Rutter Middle	Public	7-8	7350 Palmer House Dr.	Sacramento	95828	Sacramento County	Elk Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 422-7590	845	46	18.5	79.6%	36 (4.3%)	102 (12.1%)	343 (40.6%)	294 (34.8%)	1 (0.1%)	25 (3.0%)	44 (5.2%)	$7,591							21.2	20.8	2225	21
062958007529	2205	Shadow Hills Engineering and Design Magnet Academy	Public	6-8	37315 60th St. East	Palmdale	93552	Los Angeles County	Palmdale Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 533-7400	874	40	21.7	89.1%	31 (3.5%)	136 (15.6%)	666 (76.2%)	21 (2.4%)	5 (0.6%)	3 (0.3%)	12 (1.4%)	$254							21.2	24.4	2080	125
062316010902	2206	Cesar Chavez Middle	Public	7-8	3898 Abbott Rd.	Lynwood	90262	Los Angeles County	Lynwood Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 886-7300	846	36	23.5	96.5%	8 (0.9%)	24 (2.8%)	811 (95.9%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	$5,651							21.2	19.1	2326	120
062115002534	2207	Laton Middle	Public	6-8	6065 East Latonia	Laton	93242	Fresno County	Laton Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 922-4030	168	8	21.5	75.6%	16 (9.5%)	3 (1.8%)	146 (86.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.8%)	$2,773							21.2	15.5	2491	284
062271003382	2208	John A. Sutter Middle	Public	6-8	7330 Winnetka Ave.	Canoga Park	91306	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 773-5800	849	57	14.8	88.2%	64 (7.5%)	21 (2.5%)	672 (79.2%)	75 (8.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	16 (1.9%)	$11,884							21.2	16.7	2440	232
061692012275	2209	Rancho Viejo Middle	Public	6-8	985 North Cawston Ave.	Hemet	92545	Riverside County	Hemet Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 765-6287	999	45	22.2	87.5%	123 (12.3%)	114 (11.4%)	698 (69.9%)	16 (1.6%)	3 (0.3%)	6 (0.6%)	39 (3.9%)	$6,469							21.1	20.3	2254	45
062271007118	2210	City of Angels	Public, Alternative	K-12	221 South Eastman Ave.	Los Angeles	90063	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 415-8350	1,180	57	20.8	79.2%	106 (9.0%)	105 (8.9%)	861 (73.0%)	38 (3.2%)	4 (0.3%)	7 (0.6%)	58 (4.9%)	$7,954							21.1	23.9	2104	106

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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:

A high school boy doing homework on a laptop

Virtual Schools: The Future of Online Education

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on 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.