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)
063942002214	111	Edward J. Richardson Middle	Public	6-8	23751 Nancy Lee Ln.	Torrance	90505	Los Angeles County	Torrance Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 533-4790	649	26	24.7	17.6%	216 (33.3%)	9 (1.4%)	111 (17.1%)	222 (34.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	90 (13.9%)	$4,931							96.3	95	151	40
060744008539	112	Las Flores Middle	Public	6-8	25862 Antonio Pkwy.	Rancho Santa Margarita	92688	Orange County	Capistrano Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 589-6543	559	30	18.8	23.8%	322 (57.6%)	8 (1.4%)	94 (16.8%)	74 (13.2%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	60 (10.7%)	$9,924							96.3	95.9	124	12
063438005575	113	Earl Warren Middle	Public	7-8	155 Stevens St.	Solana Beach	92075	San Diego County	San Dieguito Union High	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 755-1558	492	21	23.2	16.9%	326 (66.3%)	3 (0.6%)	91 (18.5%)	14 (2.8%)	1 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	56 (11.4%)	$7,865							96.3	97.3	86	27
063513008460	114	Diablo Vista Middle	Public	6-8	4100 Camino Tassajara	Danville	94506	Contra Costa County	San Ramon Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 855-7600	872	36	24.1	8.5%	256 (29.4%)	14 (1.6%)	57 (6.5%)	460 (52.8%)	3 (0.3%)	1 (0.1%)	81 (9.3%)	$6,035							96.2	97.1	91	23
062259004805	115	Oak Middle	Public	6-8	10821 Oak St.	Los Alamitos	90720	Orange County	Los Alamitos Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 799-4740	1,022	38	26.7	13.4%	407 (39.8%)	18 (1.8%)	262 (25.6%)	230 (22.5%)	1 (0.1%)	5 (0.5%)	99 (9.7%)	$4,862							96.2	95.7	129	14
062091002515	116	Hall Middle	Public	6-8	200 Doherty Dr.	Larkspur	94939	Marin County	Larkspur-Corte Madera	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 927-6978	443	23	19.4	11.1%	302 (68.2%)	1 (0.2%)	69 (15.6%)	24 (5.4%)	2 (0.5%)	1 (0.2%)	44 (9.9%)								96.2	95.7	128	12
060226813641	117	Rocklin Academy Gateway	Public, Charter	K-8	6550 Lonetree Blvd.	Rocklin	95765	Placer County	Rocklin Academy Gateway District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 778-4550	1,081	47	23.1	13.9%	362 (33.5%)	10 (0.9%)	147 (13.6%)	467 (43.2%)	3 (0.3%)	3 (0.3%)	89 (8.2%)								96.2	93.9	177	60
063432005527	118	Muirlands Middle	Public	6-8	1056 Nautilus St.	La Jolla	92037	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 459-4211	695	28	24.5	26.5%	405 (58.3%)	4 (0.6%)	136 (19.6%)	62 (8.9%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	85 (12.2%)	$7,702							96.1	95.9	123	5
063153011134	119	Oak Valley Middle	Public	6-8	16055 Winecreek Rd.	San Diego	92127	San Diego County	Poway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 487-2939	1,485	62	23.9	10.1%	495 (33.3%)	18 (1.2%)	120 (8.1%)	701 (47.2%)	2 (0.1%)	2 (0.1%)	143 (9.6%)	$6,377							96.1	97	98	21
061488001826	120	Hilton D. Bell Intermediate	Public	7-8	12345 Springdale St.	Garden Grove	92845	Orange County	Garden Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 663-6466	608	27	22.5	45.7%	186 (30.6%)	2 (0.3%)	189 (31.1%)	180 (29.6%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)	50 (8.2%)	$12,184							96.1	94.1	172	52

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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:

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

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Virtual Schools: The Future of Online 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.