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)
061149008253	541	Silverado Middle	Public	6-8	2525 Country Club Dr.	Roseville	95747	Placer County	Dry Creek Joint Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 780-2620	951	38	24.8	32.9%	490 (51.5%)	11 (1.2%)	220 (23.1%)	114 (12.0%)	5 (0.5%)	6 (0.6%)	105 (11.0%)	$6,871							77.3	84.3	388	153
060212908302	542	Greater San Diego Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	14545 Lyons Valley Rd.	Jamul	91935	San Diego County	Greater San Diego Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 669-3050	190	10	19.2	50.5%	58 (30.5%)	11 (5.8%)	103 (54.2%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	15 (7.9%)								77.3	74.9	586	44
063753006356	543	Westborough Middle	Public	6-8	2570 Westborough Blvd.	South San Francisco	94080	San Mateo County	South San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 877-8848	519	30	17.3	26.4%	28 (5.4%)	9 (1.7%)	119 (22.9%)	317 (61.1%)	1 (0.2%)	8 (1.5%)	37 (7.1%)	$5,840							77.3	86.1	351	192
062046002469	544	Ocean Shore Elementary	Public	K-8	411 Oceana Blvd.	Pacifica	94044	San Mateo County	Pacifica	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(650) 738-6650	401	18	21.9	14.0%	140 (34.9%)	6 (1.5%)	83 (20.7%)	90 (22.4%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.2%)	77 (19.2%)	$6,091							77.3	65.3	776	232
060239914352	545	OCS - South	Public, Charter	K-8	119 West Palm St.	Altadena	91001	Los Angeles County	OCS - South District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 209-5635	370	18	20.5	30.5%	121 (32.7%)	28 (7.6%)	130 (35.1%)	38 (10.3%)	1 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	52 (14.1%)								77.2	94	175	370
060780000740	546	Canyon Middle	Public	6-8	19600 Cull Canyon Rd.	Castro Valley	94552	Alameda County	Castro Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 538-8833	1,432	61	23.3	42.6%	257 (17.9%)	92 (6.4%)	422 (29.5%)	468 (32.7%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.4%)	186 (13.0%)	$5,663							77.2	79.5	499	47
060191107296	547	Academy for Academic Excellence	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	17500 Mana Rd.	Apple Valley	92307	San Bernardino County	Academy for Academic Excellence District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 946-5414	1,496	68	21.8	39.7%	607 (40.6%)	41 (2.7%)	673 (45.0%)	70 (4.7%)	4 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	101 (6.8%)								77.2	69.5	690	143
060250614418	548	Shasta View Academy	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	675 Shasta View Dr.	Redding	96003	Shasta County	Shasta View Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 233-3861	491	27	17.8	26.3%	339 (69.0%)	0 (0.0%)	73 (14.9%)	11 (2.2%)	13 (2.6%)	1 (0.2%)	53 (10.8%)								76.9	81.8	443	105
064015006640	549	Hewes Middle	Public	6-8	13232 Hewes Ave.	Santa Ana	92705	Orange County	Tustin Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 730-7348	908	36	24.9	41.9%	373 (41.1%)	4 (0.4%)	389 (42.8%)	66 (7.3%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	74 (8.1%)	$10,066							76.8	80	487	62
062088013989	550	Fulton and Alsbury Academy of Arts and Engineering	Public	6-8	831 East Ave. K-2	Lancaster	93535	Los Angeles County	Lancaster Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 899-7836	419	12	34.9	70.9%	182 (43.4%)	81 (19.3%)	115 (27.4%)	12 (2.9%)	8 (1.9%)	2 (0.5%)	19 (4.5%)	$8,479							76.6	74.3	596	46

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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:

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Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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.