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)
063153004898	491	Twin Peaks Middle	Public	6-8	14640 Tierra Bonita Rd.	Poway	92064	San Diego County	Poway Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 748-5131	1,101	55	20.1	18.8%	613 (55.7%)	11 (1.0%)	257 (23.3%)	91 (8.3%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	125 (11.4%)	$7,175							79.2	86.9	341	150
063087004790	492	Plaza Elementary	Public	K-8	7322 County Road 24	Orland	95963	Glenn County	Plaza Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 865-1250	194	9	21.5	45.4%	106 (54.6%)	0 (0.0%)	77 (39.7%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (5.2%)								79.2	83.1	410	82
062805004299	493	Edna Brewer Middle	Public	6-8	3748 13th Ave.	Oakland	94610	Alameda County	Oakland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 879-3210	791	41	19.1	60.9%	158 (20.0%)	141 (17.8%)	214 (27.1%)	160 (20.2%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	115 (14.5%)	$6,663							79.2	82.7	417	76
062271002875	494	John Burroughs Middle	Public	6-8	600 South McCadden Pl.	Los Angeles	90005	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 549-5000	1,359	61	22.1	76.5%	113 (8.3%)	124 (9.1%)	816 (60.0%)	255 (18.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	51 (3.8%)	$7,797							79.2	77.1	548	54
061233010594	495	Toby Johnson Middle	Public	7-8	10099 Franklin High Rd.	Elk Grove	95757	Sacramento County	Elk Grove Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 714-8181	1,335	59	22.5	37.6%	183 (13.7%)	134 (10.0%)	294 (22.0%)	530 (39.7%)	3 (0.2%)	20 (1.5%)	171 (12.8%)	$6,812							79.1	83	412	83
062271003089	496	Oliver Wendell Holmes Middle	Public	6-8	9351 Paso Robles Ave.	Northridge	91325	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 678-4100	871	43	20.3	71.6%	119 (13.7%)	38 (4.4%)	608 (69.8%)	73 (8.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	32 (3.7%)	$8,895							79.1	70.3	678	182
060744012093	497	Carl Hankey Middle	Public	6-8	27252 Nubles	Mission Viejo	92692	Orange County	Capistrano Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 234-5315	175	12	14.3	48.6%	66 (37.7%)	2 (1.1%)	73 (41.7%)	14 (8.0%)	2 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (10.3%)	$12,158							79.1	92.3	224	273
060224013778	498	Kipp Prize Preparatory Academy	Public, Charter	5-8	1250 South King Rd.	San Jose	95122	Santa Clara County	Kipp Prize Preparatory Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 251-5600	408	20	20.4	78.2%	6 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	303 (74.3%)	98 (24.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)								79.1	82.5	427	71
063386005314	499	Serrano Intermediate	Public	7-8	24642 Jeronimo Rd.	Lake Forest	92630	Orange County	Saddleback Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 586-3221	887	40	21.9	48.0%	294 (33.1%)	20 (2.3%)	396 (44.6%)	105 (11.8%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.2%)	69 (7.8%)	$6,165							79.1	79.8	491	8
060985011710	500	River Heights Intermediate	Public	7-8	7227 Scholar Way	Eastvale	92880	Riverside County	Corona-Norco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 738-2155	1,205	45	26.6	68.5%	126 (10.5%)	103 (8.5%)	583 (48.4%)	332 (27.6%)	5 (0.4%)	7 (0.6%)	49 (4.1%)	$7,728							79	77.7	536	36

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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:

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of 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.