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)
061452007974	551	Freshwater Charter Middle	Public, Charter	7-8	75 Greenwood Heights Dr.	Eureka	95503	Humboldt County	Freshwater Elementary	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 442-2969	48	2	24	45.8%	31 (64.6%)	0 (0.0%)	12 (25.0%)	1 (2.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	4 (8.3%)	$8,993							76.6	82.9	413	138
060962011323	552	Clinton William Jefferson	Public	K-8	6500 Compton Blvd.	Compton	90221	Los Angeles County	Compton Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(562) 630-7912	758	27	28	94.6%	2 (0.3%)	32 (4.2%)	716 (94.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	2 (0.3%)	5 (0.7%)								76.6	87	338	214
063441005624	553	Hoover (Herbert) Middle	Public	6-8	2290 14th Ave.	San Francisco	94116	San Francisco County	San Francisco Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(415) 759-2783	948	40	23.9	59.6%	67 (7.1%)	19 (2.0%)	275 (29.0%)	500 (52.7%)	2 (0.2%)	1 (0.1%)	84 (8.9%)	$6,103							76.6	77	550	3
063570006085	554	John Adams Middle	Public	6-8	2425 16th St.	Santa Monica	90405	Los Angeles County	Santa Monica-Malibu Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 452-2326	808	45	17.8	41.3%	262 (32.4%)	85 (10.5%)	397 (49.1%)	39 (4.8%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.1%)	23 (2.8%)	$6,792							76.6	81	468	86
060209810374	555	Literacy First Charter	Public, Charter, Alternative	K-12	799 East Washington Ave.	El Cajon	92020	San Diego County	Literacy First Charter District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(619) 579-7232	2,050	96	21.4	55.0%	650 (31.7%)	34 (1.7%)	413 (20.1%)	863 (42.1%)	3 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	86 (4.2%)								76.5	82.1	438	117
060166505708	556	Chico Country Day	Public, Charter	K-8	102 West 11th St.	Chico	95928	Butte County	Chico Country Day District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 895-2650	574	24	24.2	30.0%	372 (64.8%)	8 (1.4%)	96 (16.7%)	29 (5.1%)	6 (1.0%)	1 (0.2%)	61 (10.6%)								76.5	70.3	679	123
060146413054	557	Community Montessori	Public, Charter	K-8	1441 Montiel Rd. Ste. 143	Escondido	92026	San Diego County	Community Montessori District	Yes	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(760) 743-7880	788	29	27.3	26.3%	381 (48.4%)	3 (0.4%)	194 (24.6%)	56 (7.1%)	1 (0.1%)	0 (0.0%)	152 (19.3%)								76.5	74.6	591	34
060633000551	558	Jonata Middle	Public	6-8	301 Second St.	Buellton	93427	Santa Barbara County	Buellton Union Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 688-4222	174	8	21.6	60.3%	61 (35.1%)	1 (0.6%)	97 (55.7%)	1 (0.6%)	1 (0.6%)	0 (0.0%)	13 (7.5%)	$5,760							76.4	66.8	747	189
063252005005	559	Richmond Elementary	Public	K-8	700-585 Richmond Rd. East	Susanville	96130	Lassen County	Richmond Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 257-2338	185	9	20.5	22.7%	151 (81.6%)	0 (0.0%)	21 (11.4%)	1 (0.5%)	1 (0.5%)	0 (0.0%)	11 (5.9%)	$8,398							76.4	66.8	745	186
060330008624	560	Fine Arts Academy	Public	4-8	6100 Olmeda Ave.	Atascadero	93422	San Luis Obispo County	Atascadero Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(805) 460-2500	221	10	21.4	38.0%	154 (69.7%)	2 (0.9%)	44 (19.9%)	7 (3.2%)	2 (0.9%)	1 (0.5%)	10 (4.5%)	$9,983							76.3	74.6	590	30

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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:

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

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

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