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)
063099004803	561	Los Primeros School of Sciences & Arts	Public	K-8	1555 Kendall Ave.	Camarillo	93010	Ventura County	Pleasant Valley	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 383-5330	598	24	24.8	21.6%	258 (43.1%)	6 (1.0%)	204 (34.1%)	69 (11.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	61 (10.2%)	$7,156							76.3	82.4	430	131
060146207308	562	River Valley Charter	Public, Charter	7-12	9707 1/2 Marilla Dr.	Lakeside	92040	San Diego County	River Valley Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 390-2579	220	13	17.3	16.4%	147 (66.8%)	6 (2.7%)	50 (22.7%)	9 (4.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	6 (2.7%)								76.3	85.5	364	198
062250002743	563	Marshall Academy of the Arts	Public	6-8	5870 East Wardlow Rd.	Long Beach	90808	Los Angeles County	Long Beach Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 429-7013	955	40	23.7	49.5%	196 (20.5%)	102 (10.7%)	489 (51.2%)	75 (7.9%)	1 (0.1%)	7 (0.7%)	83 (8.7%)	$8,627							76.2	71.7	646	83
062301003512	564	Rancho-Starbuck Intermediate	Public	7-8	16430 Woodbrier Dr.	Whittier	90604	Los Angeles County	Lowell Joint	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 902-4261	738	32	22.8	58.4%	131 (17.8%)	13 (1.8%)	518 (70.2%)	44 (6.0%)	1 (0.1%)	3 (0.4%)	27 (3.7%)	$6,517							76.2	73.1	617	53
060639003104	565	Earl Warren Junior High	Public	7-8	4615 Mountain Vista Dr.	Bakersfield	93311	Kern County	Panama-Buena Vista Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 665-9210	985	41	23.7	52.6%	216 (21.9%)	61 (6.2%)	451 (45.8%)	177 (18.0%)	5 (0.5%)	7 (0.7%)	67 (6.8%)	$10,494							76	78.3	528	37
060141406020	566	Goleta Valley Junior High	Public	7-8	6100 Stow Canyon Rd.	Goleta	93117	Santa Barbara County	Santa Barbara Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 967-3486	736	38	19.5	48.5%	279 (37.9%)	9 (1.2%)	353 (48.0%)	37 (5.0%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	56 (7.6%)	$11,572							75.9	79.8	490	76
062871012315	567	Orcutt Academy Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	500 Dyer St.	Orcutt	93455	Santa Barbara County	Orcutt Union Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 938-8900	778	35	22.5	34.2%	293 (37.7%)	14 (1.8%)	352 (45.2%)	25 (3.2%)	4 (0.5%)	4 (0.5%)	81 (10.4%)	$7,441							75.8	81.3	456	111
061296010610	568	Heritage Intermediate	Public	6-8	13766 South Heritage Cir.	Fontana	92336	San Bernardino County	Etiwanda Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 357-1345	1,158	51	22.6	35.5%	130 (11.2%)	160 (13.8%)	628 (54.2%)	152 (13.1%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	86 (7.4%)	$5,098							75.8	77.3	542	26
063543011797	569	Don Callejon	Public	K-8	4176 Lick Mill Blvd.	Santa Clara	95054	Santa Clara County	Santa Clara Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(408) 423-3300	545	33	16.5	20.4%	70 (12.8%)	31 (5.7%)	112 (20.6%)	296 (54.3%)	1 (0.2%)	2 (0.4%)	33 (6.1%)	$9,128							75.8	51.2	1126	557
060227114131	570	Temecula International Academy	Public, Charter	K-8	39600 N. General Kearny Rd.	Temecula	92591	Riverside County	Temecula International Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(951) 816-5506	265	14	18.9	24.5%	80 (30.2%)	9 (3.4%)	95 (35.8%)	16 (6.0%)	3 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	62 (23.4%)								75.7	86.6	346	224

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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:

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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