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)
060858000854	1501	Chualar Elementary	Public	K-8	24285 Lincoln St.	Chualar	93925	Monterey County	Chualar Union	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(831) 679-2313	262	14	19.4	84.7%	2 (0.8%)	0 (0.0%)	258 (98.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	$13,111							39	38.2	1524	23
064116004211	1502	La Joya Middle	Public	7-8	4711 West La Vida	Visalia	93277	Tulare County	Visalia Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 730-7921	717	29	24.3	58.4%	133 (18.5%)	8 (1.1%)	533 (74.3%)	18 (2.5%)	2 (0.3%)	0 (0.0%)	23 (3.2%)	$7,278							39	27.8	1918	416
062019002412	1503	Imperial Middle	Public	6-8	1450 South Schoolwood Dr.	La Habra	90631	Orange County	La Habra City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 690-2344	445	25	18.1	83.8%	31 (7.0%)	5 (1.1%)	382 (85.8%)	21 (4.7%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (1.1%)	$11,089							39	35.7	1608	105
062460003307	1504	Herbert H. Cruickshank Middle	Public	7-8	601 Mercy Ave.	Merced	95340	Merced County	Merced City Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(209) 385-6330	630	21	29.7	64.4%	132 (21.0%)	31 (4.9%)	345 (54.8%)	75 (11.9%)	4 (0.6%)	1 (0.2%)	41 (6.5%)	$8,470							39	34.5	1647	143
062985012400	1505	Paramount Park Middle	Public	6-8	14608 Paramount Blvd.	Paramount	90723	Los Angeles County	Paramount Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 602-8052	535	30	17.5	94.0%	7 (1.3%)	33 (6.2%)	480 (89.7%)	6 (1.1%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (0.9%)	4 (0.7%)	$3,877							38.9	39	1496	9
063132012112	1506	School of Extended Educational Options	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	2211 North Orange Grove Ave.	Pomona	91767	Los Angeles County	Pomona Unified	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(909) 397-4900	1,118	39	28.9	71.5%	147 (13.1%)	62 (5.5%)	773 (69.1%)	33 (3.0%)	9 (0.8%)	30 (2.7%)	64 (5.7%)	$85,243							38.9	37.6	1538	32
063960006594	1507	Traver Elementary	Public	K-8	36736 Canal Dr.	Traver	93673	Tulare County	Traver Joint Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 897-0236	245	10	24.5	89.0%	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	238 (97.1%)	6 (2.4%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$13,245							38.9	45.4	1300	207
060297009302	1508	Rancho Learning Center (Alternative)	Public, Alternative	K-12	150 South Third Ave.	Arcadia	91006	Los Angeles County	Arcadia Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(626) 821-6629	72	3	23.6	52.8%	8 (11.1%)	1 (1.4%)	30 (41.7%)	28 (38.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (6.9%)	$20,372							38.9			(n/a)
060207513113	1509	Hawking S.T.E.A.M. Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	489 E St.	Chula Vista	91910	San Diego County	Hawking S.T.E.A.M. Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 349-3700	1,305	63	20.6	61.5%	43 (3.3%)	12 (0.9%)	1,226 (93.9%)	7 (0.5%)	1 (0.1%)	1 (0.1%)	15 (1.1%)								38.9	39.3	1484	25
062955004981	1510	James Workman Middle	Public	6-8	69-300 30th Ave.	Cathedral City	92234	Riverside County	Palm Springs Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 770-8540	1,027	45	23	98.1%	67 (6.5%)	17 (1.7%)	852 (83.0%)	52 (5.1%)	6 (0.6%)	2 (0.2%)	29 (2.8%)	$12,792							38.8	38.3	1521	11

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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:

Per-Pupil Spending: Understanding the Breakdown of Federal, State, and Local Funds

Charter Schools vs Regular Public Schools: Understanding the Key Differences

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