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)
060148312630	431	San Diego Global Vision Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	3430 School St.	San Diego	92116	San Diego County	San Diego Global Vision Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 600-5321	432	21	20.5	62.5%	46 (10.6%)	76 (17.6%)	246 (56.9%)	13 (3.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	50 (11.6%)								82.4	79.7	492	61
061584002001	432	Hillcrest Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	725 Bloomfield Rd.	Sebastopol	95472	Sonoma County	Gravenstein Union Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 823-7653	289	18	16.2	31.5%	176 (60.9%)	0 (0.0%)	65 (22.5%)	9 (3.1%)	2 (0.7%)	3 (1.0%)	33 (11.4%)	$10,156							82.4	85	372	60
062271003299	433	Walter Reed Middle	Public	6-8	4525 Irvine Ave.	North Hollywood	91602	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 487-7600	1,525	63	24.3	52.7%	541 (35.5%)	71 (4.7%)	630 (41.3%)	183 (12.0%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.2%)	96 (6.3%)	$7,996							82.3	79.7	494	61
063697207281	434	Cobalt Institute of Math and Science	Public	7-12	14045 Topaz Rd.	Victorville	92392	San Bernardino County	Victor Valley Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 955-2530	1,111	45	24.8	73.5%	96 (8.6%)	68 (6.1%)	849 (76.4%)	48 (4.3%)	4 (0.4%)	2 (0.2%)	42 (3.8%)	$6,692							82.2	62.4	835	401
060015310942	435	Park Elementary	Public	K-8	301 North Marengo Ave.	Alhambra	91801	Los Angeles County	Alhambra Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 943-3640	604	26	23	59.8%	23 (3.8%)	10 (1.7%)	349 (57.8%)	187 (31.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	35 (5.8%)	$11,375							82.2	76.1	558	123
062271003062	436	George Ellery Hale Charter Academy	Public, Charter	6-8	23830 Califa St.	Woodland Hills	91367	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 313-7400	1,776	74	24.1	42.8%	724 (40.8%)	84 (4.7%)	537 (30.2%)	300 (16.9%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	129 (7.3%)	$7,390							82.2	79	517	81
060750011402	437	Calavera Hills Middle	Public	6-8	4104 Tamarack Ave.	Carlsbad	92010	San Diego County	Carlsbad Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 331-6400	640	29	21.8	22.5%	334 (52.2%)	11 (1.7%)	188 (29.4%)	35 (5.5%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	67 (10.5%)	$7,023							82.2	82.6	422	15
061752002191	438	Hope Elementary	Public	K-8	613 West Teapot Dome Ave.	Porterville	93257	Tulare County	Hope Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 784-1064	219	10	21.9	64.4%	68 (31.1%)	0 (0.0%)	142 (64.8%)	3 (1.4%)	2 (0.9%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (1.8%)	$10,220							82	84	396	42
063462005762	439	Winston Churchill Middle	Public	6-8	4900 Whitney Ave.	Carmichael	95608	Sacramento County	San Juan Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 971-7324	995	43	22.8	44.1%	383 (38.5%)	65 (6.5%)	192 (19.3%)	242 (24.3%)	6 (0.6%)	2 (0.2%)	105 (10.6%)	$6,317							81.9	82.3	434	5
063942006555	440	Casimir Middle	Public	6-8	17220 Casimir Ave.	Torrance	90504	Los Angeles County	Torrance Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 533-4498	625	23	26.8	45.6%	58 (9.3%)	26 (4.2%)	259 (41.4%)	211 (33.8%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.8%)	66 (10.6%)	$5,489							81.9	83	411	29

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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.