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)
060330000248	1111	Atascadero Middle	Public	6-8	6501 Lewis Ave.	Atascadero	93422	San Luis Obispo County	Atascadero Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 462-4360	855	43	19.9	51.2%	506 (59.2%)	8 (0.9%)	288 (33.7%)	18 (2.1%)	7 (0.8%)	3 (0.4%)	24 (2.8%)	$9,497							51.9	59.8	912	199
062271002982	1112	El Sereno Middle	Public	6-8	2839 North Eastern Ave.	Los Angeles	90032	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 224-4700	813	50	16.1	92.4%	21 (2.6%)	8 (1.0%)	734 (90.3%)	40 (4.9%)	2 (0.2%)	0 (0.0%)	8 (1.0%)	$12,489							51.8	42.6	1384	272
064074006722	1113	Cave Language Academy	Public	K-8	770 Tregaskis Ave.	Vallejo	94591	Solano County	Vallejo City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 556-8410	450	17	26.4	68.9%	32 (7.1%)	27 (6.0%)	364 (80.9%)	17 (3.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	10 (2.2%)								51.8	45.6	1293	180
063207004944	1114	Moore Middle	Public	6-8	1550 East Highland Ave.	Redlands	92374	San Bernardino County	Redlands Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 307-5440	1,064	54	19.8	61.3%	310 (29.1%)	56 (5.3%)	579 (54.4%)	56 (5.3%)	2 (0.2%)	2 (0.2%)	58 (5.5%)	$6,296							51.8	57.1	984	130
062223014403	1115	Valley Robotics Academy	Public, Alternative	K-12	13451 North Extension Rd.	Lodi	95242	San Joaquin County	Lodi Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 331-8008	286	14	20.3	55.6%	104 (36.4%)	14 (4.9%)	77 (26.9%)	62 (21.7%)	2 (0.7%)	7 (2.4%)	20 (7.0%)								51.7	47.3	1245	130
060985014184	1116	Academy of Innovation	Public, Virtual, Alternative	K-12	1951 Third St.	Norco	92860	Riverside County	Corona-Norco Unified	No	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(951) 739-6809	588	28	21	69.4%	156 (26.5%)	43 (7.3%)	290 (49.3%)	60 (10.2%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.3%)	33 (5.6%)								51.6	39.9	1461	345
060168312119	1117	Lifeline Education Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	225 South Santa Fe Ave.	Compton	90221	Los Angeles County	Lifeline Education Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 885-1872	691	33	21	95.8%	8 (1.2%)	100 (14.5%)	582 (84.2%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)								51.5	52	1109	8
061518011203	1118	Solorsano Middle	Public	6-8	7121 Grenache Way	Gilroy	95020	Santa Clara County	Gilroy Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(669) 205-5000	789	37	21	52.3%	98 (12.4%)	14 (1.8%)	511 (64.8%)	96 (12.2%)	2 (0.3%)	2 (0.3%)	64 (8.1%)								51.5	47.8	1232	114
062271003301	1119	Reseda Charter High	Public, Charter	6-12	18230 Kittridge St.	Reseda	91335	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 758-3600	1,354	78	17.3	87.5%	169 (12.5%)	46 (3.4%)	1,017 (75.1%)	96 (7.1%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (0.4%)	20 (1.5%)	$15,784							51.5			(n/a)
060186112800	1120	Gateway Middle	Public, Charter	6-8	1512 Golden Gate Ave.	San Francisco	94115	San Francisco County	Gateway Middle District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 922-1001	281	15	18.4	40.9%	77 (27.4%)	54 (19.2%)	82 (29.2%)	35 (12.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	32 (11.4%)								51.5	54.2	1056	64

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

Elementary Schools Middle Schools High Schools Districts Cities

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:

Student-Teacher Ratios and their Impact on Class Sizes & School Selection

Alternative Schools vs Public Schools: A Comparison

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.