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)
060229110895	2661	Academia Avance Charter	Public, Charter	6-12	115 North Avenue 53	Highland Park	90042	Los Angeles County	Academia Avance Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(323) 230-7270	241	14	16.9	60.2%	1 (0.4%)	2 (0.8%)	226 (93.8%)	4 (1.7%)	3 (1.2%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (2.1%)								10	7.6	2754	93
063801011778	2662	John Marshall Elementary	Public	K-8	1141 Lever Blvd.	Stockton	95206	San Joaquin County	Stockton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 933-7405	418	18	22.8	82.1%	9 (2.2%)	63 (15.1%)	252 (60.3%)	67 (16.0%)	2 (0.5%)	2 (0.5%)	20 (4.8%)	$10,479							9.9	12.5	2616	46
060006206752	2663	Oakdale Charter	Public, Charter	7-12	1235 East D St.	Oakdale	95361	Stanislaus County	Oakdale Joint Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 848-4361	68	3	25	41.2%	45 (66.2%)	0 (0.0%)	18 (26.5%)	2 (2.9%)	1 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (2.9%)	$7,063							9.9			(n/a)
062949006662	2664	Lakeview Middle	Public	6-8	2350 East Lake Ave.	Watsonville	95076	Santa Cruz County	Pajaro Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 728-6455	410	20	20.6	92.4%	5 (1.2%)	2 (0.5%)	396 (96.6%)	6 (1.5%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.2%)								9.9	13	2592	72
063507008975	2665	San Pasqual Middle	Public	6-8	676 Baseline Rd.	Winterhaven	92283	Imperial County	San Pasqual Valley Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 572-0222	136	10	13.2	92.6%	4 (2.9%)	2 (1.5%)	49 (36.0%)	0 (0.0%)	77 (56.6%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (2.9%)	$9,587							9.8	12.4	2618	47
060254410699	2666	Tehama eLearning Academy	Public, Virtual, Charter	7-12	979 Douglass St.	Red Bluff	96080	Tehama County	Tehama eLearning Academy District	Yes	(n/a)	Yes	(n/a)	(530) 527-0188	117	4	26.1	80.3%	56 (47.9%)	1 (0.9%)	27 (23.1%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.7%)	0 (0.0%)	30 (25.6%)								9.8	20.6	2233	433
063462005822	2667	Starr King K-8	Public	K-8	4848 Cottage Way	Carmichael	95608	Sacramento County	San Juan Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(916) 971-7320	854	38	22.6	83.3%	260 (30.4%)	82 (9.6%)	126 (14.8%)	339 (39.7%)	0 (0.0%)	7 (0.8%)	40 (4.7%)	$8,012							9.7	14.6	2526	141
064074006723	2668	Solano Widenmann Leadership Academy	Public	K-8	1025 Corcoran Ave.	Vallejo	94589	Solano County	Vallejo City Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 556-8740	592	32	18.4	85.5%	13 (2.2%)	115 (19.4%)	341 (57.6%)	82 (13.9%)	3 (0.5%)	14 (2.4%)	23 (3.9%)								9.7	10.9	2679	11
062805012048	2669	West Oakland Middle	Public	6-8	991 14th St.	Oakland	94607	Alameda County	Oakland Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(510) 879-2204	160	16	10.3	98.1%	19 (11.9%)	85 (53.1%)	39 (24.4%)	5 (3.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (7.5%)	$8,738							9.6	8.8	2725	56
064256006966	2670	Baechtel Grove Middle	Public	6-8	1150 Magnolia St.	Willits	95490	Mendocino County	Willits Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 459-2417	338	18	19.2	62.1%	129 (38.2%)	3 (0.9%)	108 (32.0%)	3 (0.9%)	26 (7.7%)	0 (0.0%)	67 (19.8%)	$12,917							9.6	11.1	2672	2

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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:

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

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.