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)
063898006538	251	Oak Avenue Intermediate	Public	7-8	6623 Oak Ave.	Temple City	91780	Los Angeles County	Temple City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 548-5060	840	36	23.4	43.1%	48 (5.7%)	3 (0.4%)	183 (21.8%)	575 (68.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	29 (3.5%)	$5,685							91.1	92.5	219	32
062256008550	252	H. Clarke Powers Elementary	Public	K-8	3296 Humphrey Rd.	Loomis	95650	Placer County	Loomis Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 652-2635	504	23	22	16.5%	386 (76.6%)	2 (0.4%)	68 (13.5%)	7 (1.4%)	5 (1.0%)	0 (0.0%)	36 (7.1%)	$6,406							91.1	92.1	234	18
061336013081	253	Public Safety Academy	Public	5-12	230 Atlantic Ave.	Fairfield	94533	Solano County	Fairfield-Suisun Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 421-3933	739	29	25	49.1%	132 (17.9%)	53 (7.2%)	314 (42.5%)	153 (20.7%)	1 (0.1%)	12 (1.6%)	73 (9.9%)	$5,928							91.1	93.4	190	63
063480005872	254	Laguna Middle	Public	7-8	11050 Los Osos Valley Rd.	San Luis Obispo	93405	San Luis Obispo County	San Luis Coastal Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 596-4055	845	41	20.7	41.8%	472 (55.9%)	15 (1.8%)	254 (30.1%)	40 (4.7%)	3 (0.4%)	2 (0.2%)	52 (6.2%)	$11,622							91	91.2	256	2
062271003027	255	Robert Frost Middle	Public	6-8	12314 Bradford Pl.	Granada Hills	91344	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(818) 832-6900	1,445	61	23.6	55.3%	453 (31.3%)	42 (2.9%)	761 (52.7%)	126 (8.7%)	2 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	60 (4.2%)	$8,006							91	87.4	333	78
063942006553	256	Calle Mayor Middle	Public	6-8	4800 Calle Mayor	Torrance	90505	Los Angeles County	Torrance Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 533-4548	629	26	24.2	23.8%	109 (17.3%)	21 (3.3%)	160 (25.4%)	270 (42.9%)	2 (0.3%)	8 (1.3%)	59 (9.4%)	$4,499							91	93.3	199	57
060141011412	257	Wicklund Elementary	Public	K-8	300 East Legacy Dr.	Mountain House	95391	San Joaquin County	Lammersville Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 836-7200	744	34	21.8	20.0%	118 (15.9%)	29 (3.9%)	169 (22.7%)	358 (48.1%)	9 (1.2%)	5 (0.7%)	56 (7.5%)								90.9	96.8	104	153
063432009189	258	Challenger Middle	Public	6-8	10810 Parkdale Ave.	San Diego	92126	San Diego County	San Diego Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(858) 586-7001	918	38	24	46.8%	132 (14.4%)	19 (2.1%)	181 (19.7%)	440 (47.9%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	143 (15.6%)	$7,394							90.9	92.7	215	43
063386005301	259	La Paz Intermediate	Public	7-8	25151 Pradera Dr.	Mission Viejo	92691	Orange County	Saddleback Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(949) 830-1720	707	31	22.7	41.7%	314 (44.4%)	5 (0.7%)	227 (32.1%)	73 (10.3%)	2 (0.3%)	3 (0.4%)	83 (11.7%)	$6,101							90.8	93.5	187	72
062637003947	260	Foothill Middle	Public	6-8	2775 Cedro Ln.	Walnut Creek	94598	Contra Costa County	Mt. Diablo Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(925) 939-8600	947	36	26.2	9.1%	450 (47.5%)	5 (0.5%)	152 (16.1%)	175 (18.5%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.5%)	160 (16.9%)	$11,145							90.8	93.2	200	60

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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:

State-Administered Standardized Tests: A Comprehensive Guide

Girl in a wheelchair raising her hand in a classroom setting

Understanding an IEP: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Educators

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